Aldi air tools this sunday 14th march

[jordan1]

Just another example of 'you get what you pay for'. I bought a combination drill set a couple of years ago on one of their offer days, HSS ones have a job to get through ali, but I half expected that, I just use them for what they will cope with. 'Caveat Emptor'

 

[spaffmonkey]

Hi

just to add to this. over the last few years i've brought a lot of aldi tools and found them all good in comparison to other tools that cost twice the price.

I've had one of there 24ltr compressors for about 3 years now and i've used it to respray half a dozen large factory exteriors (thats a lot of work for a small machine)
and still using the hose that came with it.

The grit blaster has been working very well same with all there talls the only downside
i find is with there sanders as when they are not in stock you cannot get the spare pads.

Like a lot of tools its about how you use them and take care of them.

 

[badersbus]

Got one of the cut off tools Thursday , it has had some serious work today and was very good for the money. Not sure how long it will last though , but seems well made enough.
New store at St Marys Gate in Sheffield , still has loads of all the range left.

 

[reno]

We've found their air tools to be pretty good. I've given the compressor, cut off grinder and saw quite a lot of work over the last year and I have been really impressed with how well they have worked.

Only tool I was disappointed by was the shears. I just couldn't get them to run for long without stalling even on 0.8mm may have to get another pair and do a cheeky little swap...

 

[DannyJigg]

I have been following this forum for a while now but only just signed up. I made a little trip to the local Aldi near Pitsea but alas they only had the rachet and impact gun. Picked them up and moved on to the next nearest in Wickford. They had mountains of everything left, so, after a little thought got one of everything else apart from the blaster. So far not had a problem with them and used the cutoff wheel to go through a 10x15mm steel bar. It did take a while but thats what I get for being lazy and not getting out the angle grinder. The impact gun has managed to free some nuts that were seized on (not even a breaker bar could shift them) and it looks to be money well spent for my general hobby needs. Only problem is I am thinking of all the things I can do with these shiny new tools...

 

[BillJ]

What will you use your Aldi shears for? How many metres of cut will you expect to do per year, and what of, exactly? How can you justify getting out a compressor and rigging it all up, just to cut a bit of metal? Are the cuts as clean, or better, than cuts with manual shears?

I don't have a decent pair of manual shears and a decent pair would cost significantly more than the air shears did. My compressor is permanently rigged up in the garage so for me, using any air tool in there is no more hassle than plugging in an electric power tool. Up to now I've used an air nibbler to cut up to 1mm sheet cleanly. The Aldi shears do the same job (almost - they're a bit more limited when it comes to cutting curves), cut thicker sheet (although for 1.6mm they do struggle a bit and aren't quite so neat) and don't create millions of "clippings". They're also faster than the nibbler and make it easier to cut a nice straight line (or smooth curve).

I'm assuming that piece of sheet in your photo started out completely flat. If you'd been using the Aldi shears instead of the manual shears, it would still have been completely flat after cutting.

I won't be cutting many, many metres of sheet per year but I will be cutting some and since it is so convenient (for me) to use the air shears, I'll get the benefit of a neat, easy cut without any real disadvantages.

Horses for courses, I would say. There must be plenty of people for whom, as you point out, using air shears doesn't make sense.

 

[BillJ]

Just another example of 'you get what you pay for'. I bought a combination drill set a couple of years ago on one of their offer days, HSS ones have a job to get through ali, but I half expected that, I just use them for what they will cope with. 'Caveat Emptor'

I have learned by experience that cheaper versions of certain tools never work well. Drill bits are one of those. Air tools are a bit different - they're fairly simple so it's not too hard to make a cheap one that works. Reliability might be the issue under heavy use where the cheaper materials might wear out more quickly but for occasional use it makes the difference between being able to afford the tool and having to do without.

 

[Robotstar5]

We were getting through air wrenches at an alarming rate mainly due to operator abuse eg engaging bolt with tool running & throwing down when finished, bought a couple of Aldi ones when we ran out and they survived a few weeks of abuse OK.
Main "abusers" were made redundant and new operators are using (with much more care) an air/hydraulic wrench now - still got the Aldi ones in stores, just in case!

 

[BillJ]

Incidentally, I don't believe "you get what you pay for", having got less than I paid for on several occasions in the past. I prefer to say "You seldom get more than you pay for"

 

[Iky]

For me the atual tools are fine, it just the bits that come with them that are crap. A u-joint i used with the impact broke in the first 5 minutes of using it.

 

[droopsnoot]

I was tempted by the Aldi air shears but I was too late - they'd already gone. I wanted to cut out a metal grille for use in a MIG welder which I'm building, so I decided to use my old manual shears. The metal is about 1mm thick so it's a bit thicker than car body panels, and it's still very easy to cut with the manual shears, which begs the question - why on earth would I, or anyone else, need air shears for home use?

I'm restoring an old car, and there's a lot of cutting involved as I make the repair sections. I know what you mean about rigging up the compressor, but I mainly bought this in case I get another problem with my Nibbler. At least I've got an easy way of cutting the steel I need while I get it sorted out. And because of the shape and layout of the shears, I think it will be easier to get a nice straight line that with a nibbler, though I usually use the guillotine for those.

Interesting that you say that at 1mm your metal is a bit thicker than car body panels - the stuff I'm doing (and it's a 70s Vauxhall) is all either 1.2mm or 1.6mm, though I think the shears will be no use for 1.6mm. I'm matching the thickness of what's already there, and I've nothing so thing that it's less than 1mm.

 

[pedrobedro]

why on earth would I, or anyone else, need air shears for home use? Are the cuts as clean, or better, than cuts with manual shears?

I use a drill powered nibbler to cut 18g aluminium and steel sheet for my car bodywork. I have to cut 3 sheets of 2 x 1 metre lengthways and it will save cleaning up all the toenail clippings as it just rolls the cut line like a sardine tin lid and the edge is straight. For £12.99 it does the job perfectly and is less work than a pair of Gilbows. I'm all for using hand tools for the small jobs but something that makes bigger jobs easier always makes sense to me.