Thread: Improving a cheap table saw

Last time (boxing day) I was at my local Aldi (Footscray/Maribyrnong) they had a stack of about 10 tables, discounted to $149. You can actually buy it a second time and then return it unopened to a different Aldi using your old receipt for $219 (if that is less than 60 days old). Makes a good value table a basement bargain. Or buy a second one for spares. They also has a ridiculously large axle grinder for $49 (?) and an 18v cordless drill for $34. No use for either of them and both of them seem to have 'lingered around' for quite a while. Based on offers from last year I speculate the dust collector (wet/dry vac) will return for $99 sometime in May. Until then a bit of an Aldi-break for me.

Do aldi have tools all the time or are they just one off specials?

They are always one-off specials. They have a weekly rotating stock of non-food items that go on sale every Thursday (at least in Melbourne). If the deal is incredibly good you have to be there when they open at 9. When you visit their website they only show what will go on sale next Thursday. You can also make life easier and subscribe to their email list so you don't have to manually check. I don't work for them by the way, but I do recommend them, especially for your groceries. Cheers.

Damn. Why aren't Aldi in Perth?

There is a bit of a trick with the Aldi Stores. ANything within 400k is considered to belong to the nearest Aldi stores, what I ma trying to say is this Coffs Harbour is in NSW but it is inside the 400k limit for Brisbane, so the Aldi store in Coffs is considered a Queensland store.

Again what this means is that we get the specials inline with the Queensland stores and not the NSW stores, I guess the same would apply to the Melbourne store where Albury and places inside the 400k limit would be considered Victorian stores.

Aldi like to do a round trip in one day with its stockups. hence the 400k limit.

Eventually all stores will get the same specials but not at the same time

With WA, it may be a matter of distance from the main stores. (not like in shops)

I agree with the shopping, not only do Aldi keep the other supermarkets on their toes it still sells for less and a parcel of goods for $40 at the others will cost you around about $30 at Aldi.

I have calculated that it is cheaper and better to shop at Aldi, with no petrol vouchers and shop around town for petrol discounts than to shop at woolies for a 4c litre "bonus", Your 4c is already factered into the cost of your purchases so you really don't get anything at all.

Sorry Admin, getting off topic a bit.

Originally Posted by Wongdai

Damn. Why aren't Aldi in Perth?

For the same reason they are not in SA?

At the same time they are building store #2 and #3 in Bendigo (pop 90,000).

On a Thursday it is almost impossible to get in to the Aldi car park!

I hope this is going to work as it is the first time I try to post photos. Somewhere earlier in this thread you can see photos of the slop in the mitre gauge. Several suggestions were offered but they seemed complicated (too me). I hope if you still have the problem you can use this.

I followed really excellent advise by Black Bear after I emailed him (thanks for that Black Bear) who suggested to use a hack saw (I used an electric jig saw because it was to hot for manual labour) and cut a slit of about half an inch on each side of the runner and then pry it open using a chisel. I used a screw driver that I use for anything but driving screws. Anyway, it may not look all that elegant but it works wonderfully. Just lightly greased the tracks a bit and it is perfectly smooth with just the tiniest weenie bit of left-over slop. Taking that last bit out would mean it would not slide smoothly anymore.

No Aldi in WA is paypack for having Timbecon in Perth only.

Cheers

What a great solution!

Another (more involved) solution would be to drill and tap a pair of holes in the side of the mitre gauge bar and screwing in Nylon grub screws to take up the slack.

Originally Posted by Hielke

I hope this is going to work as it is the first time I try to post photos. Somewhere earlier in this thread you can see photos of the slop in the mitre gauge. Several suggestions were offered but they seemed complicated (too me). I hope if you still have the problem you can use this.

I followed really excellent advise by Black Bear after I emailed him (thanks for that Black Bear) who suggested to use a hack saw (I used an electric jig saw because it was to hot for manual labour) and cut a slit of about half an inch on each side of the runner and then pry it open using a chisel. I used a screw driver that I use for anything but driving screws. Anyway, it may not look all that elegant but it works wonderfully. Just lightly greased the tracks a bit and it is perfectly smooth with just the tiniest weenie bit of left-over slop. Taking that last bit out would mean it would not slide smoothly anymore.

No Aldi in WA is paypack for having Timbecon in Perth only.

Cheers

That's it mate, ya' dun good! I am going to experiment with the compound you use to grinding valves in cars with. I will open the gap tight and push it back and forth in the slot with some grinding compound.

My theory is that this should both smooth the guage slide nd the sides of the tracks.

ALso have a look at the plastic part of the Mitre guage, the half round bit, as there is some slight movement there that can be fixed by using self tappping screws. IF you take the fence of the guage over to just about touching the saw blade and fix the self tappers at that position, they should never have to be shifted.


Quick Tip just learned

Sometimes we play around with the innards of things (electric motors to chang the rotation, trigger system of tools etc) Then comes the time to put them back together, Hmmm now did that spring go in first or....

Use you mobile phone photo facility to take a photo of the innards before you start.

I think that is a great usage of the pesky mobile...Just saw it done yesterday. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Disclaimer....
Try this at your own risk.
It will require a reasonable amount of skill & accuracy.
YOU MUST TAKE YOUR TIME AND TEST FIT THE TABLE SAW GROOVE OVER AND OVER.
If your slide bar is aluminum I wouldnt recommend it. It may crack, bend or split.
I did tighten my steel miter gauge with no loss in accuracy when done correctly.
A professional cabinet maker showed me a way to tighten a miter gauge slide bar.
First remove the protractor.
You must place it on a flat solid surface preferably metal, NOT WOOD it may give & distort the slide bar.
Next mark the rectangular slide bar equally.
Use a pointed metal punch for minor adjustments.
Sometimes using a small ball pein hammer for more sever cases. USE THE ROUND END.
TAKING YOUR TIME VERY GENTLY use the same hammer force / tap to make VERY SHALLOW DENTS THAT ARE ALMOST INVISBLE the length of the slide bar.
This GRADUALLY WIDEN the slide bar that fits the table saw groove.
TEST THE FIT OFTEN
If it's not tight enough repeat using the same dents & less stike force with the hammer.
Once again take it slow.
If you make it too tight you can't reverse it.
Good luck I hope ths helps anyone who reads it.

Thanks Woodhog. I think this is a good tip for people not content with taking the easy route ;-). The one in the Aldi table saw is actually aluminum. The cut-a-slit-and-pry-open technique is very forgiving. I pried it open too much and then the gauge didn't fit anymore. I then simply squeezed it back together a bit using big pliers. The whole 'endevour' took about 10 minutes.

Aluminum may eventually weaken & may break off (develop hairline cracks) if bent too many times.
Heres an idea...Once you get the split design sliding smooth, pack some steel putty in that slot to keep it adjusted.