Thread: Aldi drill press -not for those obsessed with precision.

You sure it's not designed to flex into square when you apply pressure via the drill bit?

The casting looks like a rough n ready job overall, but all raw castings will have the edges cast slightly out of square to the faces, like you are showing in the pic.

The casting process involves making a timber pattern of each part to be cast, then preparing 2 part sand moulds to cast the part in. The wooden pattern is incorporated in the sand moulds to create a void for the casting to be formed in, but needs to have a 'taper' on the sides (edges in this case) to allow the pattern to be drawn out of the moulding without damaging it. Hence when the part is cast, it to has the 'taper' on the edges. For castings that have to mate accurately with other components, the mating surfaces will be machined later, but for surfaces where mating is not relevant, they are often left raw.

What really matters with the drill press is whether the bore for the spindle is machined into the head casting so that the spindle and items gripped in the chuck are at right angles to the drilling surface so that you can drill holes perpendicular to the reference face of the material, and that the spindle bore is accurately sized so that the spindle and drill bit cannot wander around when starting or drilling a hole.

I describe the casting as rough and ready as there is a portion missing from the edge corner near where you have clamped the square, due to loose moulding sand collapsing into the void before or during casting, and insufficient reserve casting capacity, allowing the base or table top metal to shrink as it cools drawing in the edge at the other end of the casting. Unfortunately, our Chinese suppliers will utilise components that should have gone back into the blast furnace to make their lowest priced/lowest cost products, because the customer (ALDI) gets a price for x quantity of product then screws them down regarding price, and are too cheap to have knowledgeable QC staff onside to check and test product. A lot of Chinese stuff imported here is done to the cheapest price that allows it to look like item X without ensuring that it can perform like a knowledgeable purchaser might expect product X to perform.

Actually the table is pressed steel welded together rather than cast. Chief Tiff may have been more accurate with his tongue in cheek comment than he thought. 2.5mm pressed steel but so maybe not. Definitely made to a price point rather than a specification.

I think you'll find that the factory QA process is pretty much:

"Does it look a bit like the picture on the box?"
"Sort of - it's the right colour"
"PASS....next please"

You get what you pay for

Now they have a table saw on sale:

Compact and powerful table saw for easy carpentry
Includes a 210 TCT saw blade
Maximum cutting depth of 48mm at 90°
0°-45° bevel and mitre gauge
Dimensions of saw table: 525 x 400mm

1200w_table_saw_210a64214f8_af9c_4e7e_847b_74c5046324cc_00000001_org.jpg

Originally Posted by US-Oz

Now they have a table saw on sale:



1200w_table_saw_210a64214f8_af9c_4e7e_847b_74c5046324cc_00000001_org.jpg

I didn't know Fisher Price made table saws!

It took a bit of "tuning" ie. dismantling some components repositioning then alignment but my Aldi bandsaw is working great with blades from 1/2" down to 1/8" for the light work I have used it for.

Originally Posted by US-Oz

Now they have a table saw on sale:



1200w_table_saw_210a64214f8_af9c_4e7e_847b_74c5046324cc_00000001_org.jpg

Apart from the colour, looks pretty much like this one...

Originally Posted by burraboy

Apart from the colour, looks pretty much like this one...

Scheppach make the majority of Aldi's woodworking gear. Table saw, bandsaw, chisel and drill sharpener, jointer/ planer just to name a few.

You need a bevelbox/inclinometer to confirm the real angles - once you have one you'll be amazed that you have ever setup a tool without one previously.

Originally Posted by Lappa

Scheppach make the majority of Aldi's woodworking gear. Table saw, bandsaw, chisel and drill sharpener, jointer/ planer just to name a few.

It's not so much that Scheppach 'make' them Lappa it's more that they are sourced from the same Chinese factory.

Originally Posted by aldav

It's not so much that Scheppach 'make' them Lappa it's more that they are sourced from the same Chinese factory.

The manuals that come with two of the Aldi tools I have purchased that are identical to the Scheppach units have a phone number for warranty and help and it's for Scheppach Australia so on that basis I would say that Scheppach is most likely supplying Aldi (both Germsn companies) even though the items may be made in China.

Originally Posted by Lappa

Originally Posted by aldav

It's not so much that Scheppach 'make' them Lappa it's more that they are sourced from the same Chinese factory.

The manuals that come with two of the Aldi tools I have purchased that are identical to the Scheppach units have a phone number for warranty and help and it's for Scheppach Australia so on that basis I would say that Scheppach is most likely supplying Aldi (both Germsn companies) even though the items may be made in China.

Right, that's interesting. A cordless drill that my son-in-law bought from Aldi had the extra batteries and service support provided by the same company that does it for Ozito. I guess it was Ozito Australia.