Thank you Andy, much appreciated. I did work hard to make my contribution a sort of Standard Text.
To those thinking of buying this:
I've never seen this model, so I can't comment first-hand on the particular machine, but please do the maths first.
The machine, IIUIC, costs £80 retail, including delivery. So let's work backwards from that.
1/6 of that is VAT and goes directly to Mr Hammond. As does Import Duty, another few %, I can't remember what it is, but it is not insignificant.
It has to be shipped half way around the world, from the factory to the port, across the sea, through the port and on to the warehouse.
Hermes, or DHL or whoever gets it to your door charge a few quid. What, another Fiver, maybe?
We are already down well below £60.
The manufacturer has to make a profit and pay tax on that profit.
The retailer makes a profit and pay tax on that profit. How much? I don't know, but I guess somewhere between 50% and 100% markup. Quite possibly more, actually.
So what are we left with as the actual cost of the manufacture of the machine, in terms of materials and manpower? It's not very much, is it?
So by all means buy this if it is suitable for your needs. Every machine has its place in the hierarchy. But don't buy a machine at this price point expecting the same performance as a Startrite, because you will be disappointed.
I'm not knocking Lidaldi machines in general. I have a few myself - angle grinder, muti-tool, soldering iron, drill. The drill is the best one, it seems to perform every bit as well as my (much) more expensive Makita and Festool. It doesn't have the nice extras such as a spare battey, or LED, or magnetic bit-holder, but as an actual drill, it's great.
I'm just suggesting that buyers should go in with their eyes open about just how much has been spent on this machine's production, invest in some good blades and learn how to set it up to the best of its capability. And if my work has made that easier, then it was not in vain.
Happy bandsawing!
