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I really don't think its as good as it seems....
I started out with a clarke version a good few years ago, which looks virtually identical. It spent a lot of its life thrown in the back of the shed in frustration.
The main problems i had were accessories, or lack of. the Aldi one is highly unlikely to have morse tapers in the head and tail- this will severely limit the use of things like drilling chucks, drive centres, live centres, pen mandrels and so on.
The only good bit, is i expect the thread on the headstock would be 3/4"x16 (unf) which is fairly standard for smaller woodturning lathes. Chucks and faceplates can be gotten readilly, but a chuck will cost more than the lathe.
Dont get me wrong, there is ways of mounting stuff without a wood turning chuck, hot glue, double sided, sacrficial spacers and so on.
The other problem i had, was the drive, 6mm diameter section rubber belt, really poor power transfer, especially when roughing squares to cylinders, or working on larger bowls etc.
The construction, there will be a lot of flex in it, which can allow the drive centre to loose grip and spin, highly annoying. Flex and poor bearings also allows for missalignment, which will result in off centre turning, chattering and a poor finish.
The tools that come with re probably next to useless too, if they are like the clarke ones.
A basic set of half decent chisels will set you back almost the cost of the lathe again.
I'd reccomend checking local papers/ebay and such for a used lathe, and check the accessories that come with it.
I got rid of my cheapo one and bought a second hand record power, for just £30. It was a revelation, I now like wood turning again.
I started out with a clarke version a good few years ago, which looks virtually identical. It spent a lot of its life thrown in the back of the shed in frustration.
The main problems i had were accessories, or lack of. the Aldi one is highly unlikely to have morse tapers in the head and tail- this will severely limit the use of things like drilling chucks, drive centres, live centres, pen mandrels and so on.
The only good bit, is i expect the thread on the headstock would be 3/4"x16 (unf) which is fairly standard for smaller woodturning lathes. Chucks and faceplates can be gotten readilly, but a chuck will cost more than the lathe.
Dont get me wrong, there is ways of mounting stuff without a wood turning chuck, hot glue, double sided, sacrficial spacers and so on.
The other problem i had, was the drive, 6mm diameter section rubber belt, really poor power transfer, especially when roughing squares to cylinders, or working on larger bowls etc.
The construction, there will be a lot of flex in it, which can allow the drive centre to loose grip and spin, highly annoying. Flex and poor bearings also allows for missalignment, which will result in off centre turning, chattering and a poor finish.
The tools that come with re probably next to useless too, if they are like the clarke ones.
A basic set of half decent chisels will set you back almost the cost of the lathe again.
I'd reccomend checking local papers/ebay and such for a used lathe, and check the accessories that come with it.
I got rid of my cheapo one and bought a second hand record power, for just £30. It was a revelation, I now like wood turning again.
