LIDL - tools on offer

[MattV]

Popped into my local LIDL for lunch today and they seem to have loads of tools and workshop equipment on sale:

compressors, air tools, grinders, pillar drills plus the usual screwdrivers and spanners etc. 

Never used their stuff so can’t vouch for quality, but all looked to be good value. 

Mat

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

If they're Parkside they are generally good for DiY use. I've got a few items of that brand including a saw bench and while they aren't trade quality, they do the job if you use them intelligently.

ETA Just looked and I'm in there to get an air hose-reel when I can. Ideal to avoid dragging the compressor around. Thanks for the tip off.

[MattV]

That’s the brand - Parkside. 

Have used a couple of their power tools before and seem to last ok if treated well. 

[Kingster]

I have a three or four year old parkside angle grinder and a “dremmel” copy amongst a few others. They have lasted very well and took plenty of abuse on a regular basis without complaint or breakdown. Great value tbh.

 

 

[Olliebeak]

And they always have packs of cable ties in different colours by way of a bonus.

[DazzyBravo]

Got quite a few of their air tools ,had to change the couplings from the new euro ones to old style though ,cost a couple of quid from Machine Mart to do .Been ok for home use for around 2yrs now 

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I got a hose reel and adapter to offer two outlets from the compressor. I already use Euro couplings as my compressor is Sip (Italian). The hose reel is very useful to top up tyre pressures without lugging the compressor around or using an ungainly long 'normal' hose, but it is small bore so won't like any air tools as it'll drop pressure at higher volumes. The reel was cheaper than the website suggested too.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I had a raft of their air tools in the past; most of the bits I had were fine and still going strong. The drill wasn’t great, if I’m honest - the chuck runs in atrocious bearings resulting in triangular holes! BUT, the filter/regulator exploded with potentially lethal consequences a little over a year in.

I’d just adjusted the pressure, obviously stood right in front of it, and walked out of the garage, when there was a huge bang, followed by a massive hissing sound of escaping air. I shut the compressor down, and when I went to look, the “polycarbonate” water trap bowl was just gone, shattered into a million bits, with sharp fragments blown over most of the garage, the odd few pieces embedded in walls, etc.

[BugMan]

Been using there stuff for quite a while, and don't have a bad thing to say about any of the stuff.  Have drill sharpener - really good, rotating disk sander - not used that much, but it works, soldering station - good, clamps and mag-trays, angle drills and a portable hand led light, oh and a trolley jack.

Only thing I've bought that was a bit of  let down was an air drill, but I suspect its just because i found it easier to use my electric drill,

[Kevin Wood]

9 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

I had a raft of their air tools in the past; most of the bits I had were fine and still going strong. The drill wasn’t great, if I’m honest - the chuck runs in atrocious bearings resulting in triangular holes! BUT, the filter/regulator exploded with potentially lethal consequences a little over a year in.

I’d just adjusted the pressure, obviously stood right in front of it, and walked out of the garage, when there was a huge bang, followed by a massive hissing sound of escaping air. I shut the compressor down, and when I went to look, the “polycarbonate” water trap bowl was just gone, shattered into a million bits, with sharp fragments blown over most of the garage, the odd few pieces embedded in walls, etc.

Much the same happened to mine. Blew the oiler adjusting knob out of my hand and sprayed oil all over the place. Certainly worth avoiding this device.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I'm not sure that oil and polycarbonate are happy bedfellows.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

1 hour ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said:

I'm not sure that oil and polycarbonate are happy bedfellows.

I never actually used oil*. Plus, one side of the device is an oiler, so should be made of comparable materials! It was the water trap that blew on mine, anyway.

*some air tools need oil adding to the air supply, but things like spray guns and media blast  guns don’t or it contaminates the air they’re “spraying” out. Rather tha using an automatic feed in the supply and contaminating all the air lines, you can just manually add a few drops to the tool before plugging it in.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I manually add oil to mine too, but haven't got a water trap. Mine is oil free so oil goes only in the tools themselves. It's a 2hp 50 litre tank type from Sip. My comment about polycarbonate and oil is based on the knowledge that polycarbonate has poor solvent resistance which could mean that oil would attack it, therefore oil bearing air might be incompatible. Whatever the cause, an exploding trap sounds nasty.

[Kevin Wood]

I should point out that mine failed the first time I applied compressed air to it, so, whilst I fully agree that the choice of material was inappropriate, the issue was simply that it was so poorly made that it couldn't safely handle the pressure.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

If it was that quick then it wasn't solvent attack as that usually takes a while. Polycarbonate is a material must be moulded carefully or it loses much of its strength - especially impact strength. The granules must be dried in trays in an oven for hours before moulding and that can add significantly to the cost so is frequently cut short or simply ignored. Material moulded undried sometimes has a pearlescent sheen to it in streaks along the line of flow in the mould.

It has a high degree of notch sensitivity too -  that means a scratch on the surface will dramatically reduce its impact strength. Think of it like comparing the ease of tearing a cellophane crisp packet - once the tear starts it won't stop - with tearing a normal polythene film such as a Tesco vegetable bag or those bags magazines are posted in. The tear in cellophane propagates readily, but in polythene it doesn't. Polycarbonate is like that in respect of its impact strength.