OT: Aldi tools

[keithr]

Weekend before last I saw that Aldi had a belt and disk sanding machine
for $89.99. Having been wanting one for some time, I drove the 50km to
the nearest store and bought one. Total disappointment, it was complete
rubbish, there was slack in almost every part. Given that the machine is
supposed to be a precision tool, that makes it completely useless. So
this weekend it meant a 100km round trip to take it back. They did
refund the price without question, that is the only good aspect.

I ended up paying more than double for a Ryobi at Bunnings, but the
difference is night and day, the Ryobi machine is actually useful.

Its a pity because everything else that I have bought from Aldi has been
good value, although not necessarily top quality.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

Weekend before last I saw that Aldi had a belt and disk sanding machine
for $89.99. Having been wanting one for some time, I drove the 50km to
the nearest store and bought one. Total disappointment, it was complete
rubbish, there was slack in almost every part. Given that the machine is
supposed to be a precision tool, that makes it completely useless. So
this weekend it meant a 100km round trip to take it back. They did
refund the price without question, that is the only good aspect.

I ended up paying more than double for a Ryobi at Bunnings, but the
difference is night and day, the Ryobi machine is actually useful.

Its a pity because everything else that I have bought from Aldi has been
good value, although not necessarily top quality.

**I've found that their power tools are less than brilliant as well.
Their hand tools, however, are another matter. Last week, I picked up a
very nice socket set (4mm - 32mm), including extension bars, T-bars,
spark plug sockets, along with some screw drivers, open ended spanners,
ring spanners and some hex bits. All for $60.00. 3 year warranty and
made in Taiwan from chrome vanadium and S2 steel. Nicely made and looks
the part. I've used some of the tools and they certainly appear to be
plenty strong.

Funnily enough, I didn't see the set advertised.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

I ended up paying more than double for a Ryobi at Bunnings, but the
difference is night and day, the Ryobi machine is actually useful.

**Yikes! If the Ryobi was much better than the Aldi tool, then the Aldi
tool must have been absolute crap. I've found Ryobi tools to be pretty
much bottom of the heap. Their latest stuff LOOKS nice, but once bitten.

 

[keithr]

**Yikes! If the Ryobi was much better than the Aldi tool, then the Aldi
tool must have been absolute crap. I've found Ryobi tools to be pretty
much bottom of the heap. Their latest stuff LOOKS nice, but once bitten.

I haven't found them too bad. I did break my Ryobi reciprocating saw,
but I was abusing it to cut tree roots out of the ground. Took ages to
get it fixed and not too cheap either, if I had known the price and
delay in advance, I'd just have bought a new one and put the old one in
a garage sale for a few bucks. I suppose that I can't really complain,
I've had it for 7 years and used it for everything from cutting metal to
lopping trees, and sawing up hardwood sleepers.

The Ryobi sander is nicely made with a strong die cast base, and all the
parts fit nicely whereas the Aldi unit was made of pressed tin and
everything moved when you pressed on it. I don't know whether the Aldi
unit was bottom of the heap, but, if it wasn't, I wouldn't like to see
what was under it.

Using the Ryobi on some pieces of rough sawn Huon pine that I bought in
Tasmania last year, its a case of so far so good.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

I haven't found them too bad. I did break my Ryobi reciprocating saw,
but I was abusing it to cut tree roots out of the ground. Took ages to
get it fixed and not too cheap either, if I had known the price and
delay in advance, I'd just have bought a new one and put the old one in
a garage sale for a few bucks. I suppose that I can't really complain,
I've had it for 7 years and used it for everything from cutting metal to
lopping trees, and sawing up hardwood sleepers.

The Ryobi sander is nicely made with a strong die cast base, and all the
parts fit nicely whereas the Aldi unit was made of pressed tin and
everything moved when you pressed on it. I don't know whether the Aldi
unit was bottom of the heap, but, if it wasn't, I wouldn't like to see
what was under it.

Using the Ryobi on some pieces of rough sawn Huon pine that I bought in
Tasmania last year, its a case of so far so good.

**There you go. I won't be such a tool snob next time I'm at Bunnings.
My experiences with Ryobi have not been quite as stellar. I had an old
(expensive) battery drill, which had a major gearbox fault. None of my
Bosch drills have ever suffered that, or any other fault (except
batteries). My Ryobi Chainsaw was a real POS. A bolt broke and there was
no way to substitute. Ryobi couldn't supply spares, so I swore off the
product forever more.

 

[bristan]

"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message (snip)
< My Ryobi Chainsaw was a real POS. A bolt broke and there was
no way to substitute. Ryobi couldn't supply spares, so I swore off the
<product forever more.

I agree.
My Ryobi chainsaw from bunnings is sitting in a pool of oil in my shed, The
bar oil seeps out and I can see no way to stop it other than empty the tank
myself. I gave up trying to tune it as if I tuned it to start, as soon as
it warmed up it wouldn't idle and vice versa.
I gave up and bought a stihl.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

in message (snip)
< My Ryobi Chainsaw was a real POS. A bolt broke and there was
no way to substitute. Ryobi couldn't supply spares, so I swore off the
<product forever more.

I agree.
My Ryobi chainsaw from bunnings is sitting in a pool of oil in my shed,
The bar oil seeps out and I can see no way to stop it other than empty
the tank myself. I gave up trying to tune it as if I tuned it to start,
as soon as it warmed up it wouldn't idle and vice versa.
I gave up and bought a stihl.

**That's the ticket. I have a Stihl 'whipper-snipper' (electric). It is
beautifully balanced, powerful and never lets me down. It was expensive,
but I'll buy Stihl again in a heartbeat.

 

[keithr]

**That's the ticket. I have a Stihl 'whipper-snipper' (electric). It is
beautifully balanced, powerful and never lets me down. It was expensive,
but I'll buy Stihl again in a heartbeat.

I have an el cheapo Ozito electric chainsaw from Bunnings that I have
been using to cut up old hardwood sleepers for firewood. Apart from
having to sharpen the chain after about 4 cuts (it is old hardwood) it
has performed faultlessly and has more than paid for itself.

 

[Charlie+]

I have an el cheapo Ozito electric chainsaw from Bunnings that I have
been using to cut up old hardwood sleepers for firewood. Apart from
having to sharpen the chain after about 4 cuts (it is old hardwood) it
has performed faultlessly and has more than paid for itself.

I think generally with cheapo complex equipment, if you buy cheap you
have to be prepared to repair and improve as the thing ages - it will
probably work fine till the warrantee runs out! ... if you dont want to
or havnt got the skills for that engineering then your better to go for
the high spec item in the first place and pay the dosh to keep it
serviced properly. I baught a cheap McCulloc chainsaw about 14 years
ago but over the years, safety handle, fuel leaking, oil leaking, clutch
etc. have been repaired; all of the above needing the strip/rebuild of
the chainsaw without manuals (which dont exist for cheap lines) - if the
motor goes then that'll be it, but so far - apart from sharpening and
buying chains - works like a champ!!
C+

 

[atec77]

I think generally with cheapo complex equipment, if you buy cheap you
have to be prepared to repair and improve as the thing ages - it will
probably work fine till the warrantee runs out! ... if you dont want to
or havnt got the skills for that engineering then your better to go for
the high spec item in the first place and pay the dosh to keep it
serviced properly. I baught a cheap McCulloc chainsaw about 14 years
ago but over the years, safety handle, fuel leaking, oil leaking, clutch
etc. have been repaired; all of the above needing the strip/rebuild of
the chainsaw without manuals (which dont exist for cheap lines) - if the
motor goes then that'll be it, but so far - apart from sharpening and
buying chains - works like a champ!!
C+

I bought an 090 Stihl 30 years ago , done lots of work and still starts
2nd pull every time

--









X-No-Archive: Yes

 

[bristan]

"keithr" wrote in message

**That's the ticket. I have a Stihl 'whipper-snipper' (electric). It is
beautifully balanced, powerful and never lets me down. It was expensive,
but I'll buy Stihl again in a heartbeat.

I have an el cheapo Ozito electric chainsaw from Bunnings that I have
been using to cut up old hardwood sleepers for firewood. Apart from
having to sharpen the chain after about 4 cuts (it is old hardwood) it

has performed faultlessly and has more than paid for itself.

I have a cheap electric "talon" chainsaw. I found out the hard way that it
has a fibre gear wheel as the main drive. After a couple of years the gear
stripped after using it to cut through some hardwood logs. I managed to get
another talon chainsaw which was not working, from a lawnmower shop, and
took the gear wheel from it.
I now only use it for light duty firewood cutting. With cheap tools, I
reckon the nuisance factor is not worth the savings. That is, you go to a
the job and the thing needs fixing or replacing before you start. BTW the
only thing wrong with the "not working" chainsaw which cost me $20, was
frozen brushes!

 

[keithr]

in message

I have an el cheapo Ozito electric chainsaw from Bunnings that I have
been using to cut up old hardwood sleepers for firewood. Apart from
having to sharpen the chain after about 4 cuts (it is old hardwood) it

I have a cheap electric "talon" chainsaw. I found out the hard way that
it has a fibre gear wheel as the main drive. After a couple of years the
gear stripped after using it to cut through some hardwood logs. I
managed to get another talon chainsaw which was not working, from a
lawnmower shop, and took the gear wheel from it.
I now only use it for light duty firewood cutting. With cheap tools, I
reckon the nuisance factor is not worth the savings. That is, you go to
a the job and the thing needs fixing or replacing before you start. BTW
the only thing wrong with the "not working" chainsaw which cost me $20,
was frozen brushes!

I don't really care, the $99 tool has already saved me at least $120 in
firewood, and when I have used up all the old sleepers that I have
pulled out of retaining walls in my garden, I'll flog it for $50 in a
garage sale. I bought an electric one because I don't need to use it
away from the house, I don't have to buy fuel for it, it starts every
time, and it was cheap. It probably has as much power as a cheap 35cc
petrol one.

Its like the el cheapo jackhammer that I got off ebay for $75, when I'm
done with it, I can easily get what I paid for it.

Getting a precision tool for life is one thing, getting a "Good enough"
one for something specific is quite another.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

I don't really care, the $99 tool has already saved me at least $120 in
firewood, and when I have used up all the old sleepers that I have
pulled out of retaining walls in my garden, I'll flog it for $50 in a
garage sale. I bought an electric one because I don't need to use it
away from the house, I don't have to buy fuel for it, it starts every
time, and it was cheap. It probably has as much power as a cheap 35cc
petrol one.

Its like the el cheapo jackhammer that I got off ebay for $75, when I'm
done with it, I can easily get what I paid for it.

Getting a precision tool for life is one thing, getting a "Good enough"
one for something specific is quite another.

**Pre-zactly. It's why I spent $400.00 on my soldering iron and $69.95
for my rotary hammer drill. In defence of my Ozito rotary hammer drill,
it has lasted beyond my wildest expectations. I've even worn out a
couple of chisel bits and innurable drill bits. It just keeps going.
Mind you, I borrowed a mate's Bosch Blue series hammer drill, when I was
ouot on a job one day. MUCH better tool. Still, difficult to justify
$400.00 for a weekend warrior.

 

[bristan]

"keithr" wrote in message

in message

I have an el cheapo Ozito electric chainsaw from Bunnings that I have
been using to cut up old hardwood sleepers for firewood. Apart from
having to sharpen the chain after about 4 cuts (it is old hardwood) it

I have a cheap electric "talon" chainsaw. I found out the hard way that
it has a fibre gear wheel as the main drive. After a couple of years the
gear stripped after using it to cut through some hardwood logs. I
managed to get another talon chainsaw which was not working, from a
lawnmower shop, and took the gear wheel from it.
I now only use it for light duty firewood cutting. With cheap tools, I
reckon the nuisance factor is not worth the savings. That is, you go to
a the job and the thing needs fixing or replacing before you start. BTW
the only thing wrong with the "not working" chainsaw which cost me $20,
was frozen brushes!

I don't really care, the $99 tool has already saved me at least $120 in
firewood, and when I have used up all the old sleepers that I have
pulled out of retaining walls in my garden, I'll flog it for $50 in a
garage sale. I bought an electric one because I don't need to use it
away from the house, I don't have to buy fuel for it, it starts every
time, and it was cheap. It probably has as much power as a cheap 35cc
petrol one.

Its like the el cheapo jackhammer that I got off ebay for $75, when I'm
done with it, I can easily get what I paid for it.

Getting a precision tool for life is one thing, getting a "Good enough"
<one for something specific is quite another.

Well I don't think many would argue that if you only have a casual or
temporary use for a piece of equipment then there is no point buying a "the
Rolls Royce". I have an gmc air compressor, an Aldi rotary hammer drill and
a cheap hedge trimmer. All cheap and seldom used. They should last me as
long as I need them. However as I live on acres my chainsaw and line trimmer
are used frequently and I have stihl equipment. It is reliable and I feel
confident that they will work when required.

 

[Yaputya]

**Pre-zactly. It's why I spent $400.00 on my soldering iron

I bought a Weller WTCPN soldering station around 1982 for about $80 or so, a lot of money at the time but it is still working, and I
have never needed another iron.
The plug/socket eventually got a bit loose so I replaced it a few years ago, but it still has the original trannie,element and
barrel.
These brilliantly simple Curie-point temperature-controlled irons will still be working when fancy 'modern' electronic units have
long since failed.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

I bought a Weller WTCPN soldering station around 1982 for about $80 or so, a lot of money at the time but it is still working, and I
have never needed another iron.
The plug/socket eventually got a bit loose so I replaced it a few years ago, but it still has the original trannie,element and
barrel.
These brilliantly simple Curie-point temperature-controlled irons will still be working when fancy 'modern' electronic units have
long since failed.

**In your dreams. I've owned several Wellers (Curie point types).
They're crap (poor temperature regulation), parts are expensive and
they're unreliable (I've had transformer, heater and switch failures).
My Ersa has been brilliant. Apart from tips, it simply keeps working.
Best of all, I keep it at 150 degrees C, so it can be ready for work in
a few seconds. Tips last longer. I also use a Hakko, which is also
excellent and VASTLY better than any Weller. I prefer the Ersa. I have
vowed never to buy a Cooper Tools product again. The company is huge and
doesn't give a crap about delivering quality at a decent price.

 

[Yaputya]

**In your dreams. I've owned several Wellers (Curie point types). They're crap (poor temperature regulation), parts are expensive
and they're unreliable (I've had transformer, heater and switch failures). My Ersa has been brilliant. Apart from tips, it simply
keeps working. Best of all, I keep it at 150 degrees C, so it can be ready for work in a few seconds. Tips last longer. I also use
a Hakko, which is also excellent and VASTLY better than any Weller. I prefer the Ersa. I have vowed never to buy a Cooper Tools
product again. The company is huge and doesn't give a crap about delivering quality at a decent price.

Not dreaming, fuckwit.
You experience is vastly different from mine, then. Bad luck for you, good luck
for me perhaps.
Makes me wonder why you went back and bought more than one. Idiots repeat
their mistakes, I suppose.
I can only report that the only Weller WTCPN that I have EVER bought is still
working after nearly 30 years and if you come back in 30 years with a similar
report on your Asian purchases I would be amazed. I have had NO PROBLEMS
with the heater, transformer or switch. Only the plug/socket became loose.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

Not dreaming, fuckwit.

**You're a nice peice of work.

You experience is vastly different from mine, then. Bad luck for you, good luck
for me perhaps.

**I've been using soldering irons for a long time. I know quality and
Weller is not.

Makes me wonder why you went back and bought more than one.

**Because back then, there were few choices, other than Weller.


Idiots repeat

their mistakes, I suppose.

**There you go again. What's your problem?

I can only report that the only Weller WTCPN that I have EVER bought is still
working after nearly 30 years and if you come back in 30 years with a similar
report on your Asian purchases I would be amazed.

**Ersa is made in Germany. Hakko is Japanese and better than Weller
could dream about manufacturing.

I have had NO PROBLEMS

with the heater, transformer or switch. Only the plug/socket became loose.

**Lucky you. After you use a decent iron, you may decide that the Weller
is not so great after all.

 

[Yaputya]

**You're a nice peice of work.

Come on, you deserved it. "**in your dreams" is not exactly polite.

**I've been using soldering irons for a long time. I know quality and Weller is not.

So have I, and the Weller I bought in the 80's still works.

**Because back then, there were few choices, other than Weller.

Mine is MADE IN AUSTRALIA. Still works fine.

Idiots repeat

**There you go again. What's your problem?

Your lack of respect for my experience, even if it conflicts with yours.

**Ersa is made in Germany. Hakko is Japanese and better than Weller could dream about manufacturing.
Wunderbar.

I have had NO PROBLEMS

**Lucky you. After you use a decent iron, you may decide that the Weller is not so great after all.

My Weller WTCPN is not in need of replacement. I am only reporting my
experience with my good AUSSIE-manufactured iron from the '80's.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

I would agree with all of that. The only interesting point to make is
that I bought my first
Weller magnastat iron about 1987, and it did work for many years with
moderate workshop use until the element
failed. Unfortunately the replacement elements I bought only lasted a
1-2 years at most before going open,
and I gave it up as a bad joke after copping this expense a couple of
times and dumped the iron in the bin.

It is possible that 1980's Weller models had a much better element
than was used later
and/or sold as a spare part. If what the OP is true, and they are not
referring to an iron that
is only used a few times a year and will take forever to wear out -
then this is likely the reason.
One word of advice - If your element ever fails, DONT replace it, dump
the iron in the bin and buy Ersa or Hakko.

**I have no evidence, but I bet the rot set in when Cooper Tools
purchased Weller. Cooper Tools is Hell-bent on ensuring that all their
products are rooted in mediocrity.