Lidl next Monday (16th)

[Racers]

Hi,

Get your digital calipers http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages ... CI01PAB42U £7.80 cheapest yet!.
Full list of stuff http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages ... .index.ar3

Pete

 

[neilyweely]

Nice one Pete; does anyone have any idea about the stanley intellimeasure gadget? I could do with replacing mine, but will not be able to go in and look at one as I am working in Franglais from the weekend.

And the saw, looks like a pull saw? Might this be ok for site work?

I have digi calipers, which I got cheap, meant to be £50. Bet they are the same model though!!

Thanks again

Neil

 

[Charlotte]

Anyone have any opinion on those jigsaws? My draper steadfastly refuses to start and stopped sawing straight a while back....3 yr warranty sounds good though!

 

[oddsocks]

I've bought a similar digital caliper before (from Aldi) but the batteries go flat very quickly - is that common to all makes - seems even in standby it drains within a week? I do only use the batteries in the poundshop blister packs, so no doubt not the best, but would a dearer one last any longer?

 

[wizer]

My Lidl Digi Calipers have lost battery once in 3yrs

 

[MikeG.]

Draper > Lidl special

Frying pan > fire????

Honestly Charlotte, you are better off spending a few extra pounds and getting something decent. A friend of mine worked in a factory producing cheap power tools a few years back (summer holiday job)....and some of the power tools had a design life of 10 hours!!!!

There very first question you should ask when buying a power tool is "are the gears made of metal or plastic?". I'm guessing that this example will be plastic........

Mike

 

[beech1948]

Whilst Mike G is right in the main. The particular problem with digital verniers is that those that look the same to the point of being identical in, shape, colours, scale layout, button etc etc. range in price from £8-9 to £49.99. How to know who is ripping us off is not so simple.

regards
Alan

 

[MikeG.]

Whilst Mike G is right in the main. The particular problem with digital verniers is that those that look the same to the point of being identical in, shape, colours, scale layout, button etc etc. range in price from £8-9 to £49.99. How to know who is ripping us off is not so simple.
Alan

Sorry, Alan........I didn't make it clear that I was only talking about the jigsaw that Charlotte asked about. I'm quite tempted by the digital calipers (Vernier scales used to be OK when my eyes were 20/20!!)............does anyone know if these things are available in the Lidl shops as well as online?

Mike

 

[Doug B]

I've bought a similar digital caliper before (from Aldi) but the batteries go flat very quickly - is that common to all makes - seems even in standby it drains within a week? I do only use the batteries in the poundshop blister packs, so no doubt not the best, but would a dearer one last any longer?

Hi oddsocks,
I found that when i put mine in the case the on/off button pressed on the internal padding when i shut the lid, this switched the calipers on & ran the batteries down very quickly.
Simply cutting a square of padding away in-line with the on/off button solved the problem & batteries last for ages now.

 

[MikeG.]

James,

does that mean you have the Lidl calipers..............or is it another brand? If Lidl, have you any way of knowing if they are accurate?

Mike

 

[DaveL]

does anyone know if these things are available in the Lidl shops as well as online?

I don't think Lidl sell online, you need to go to a shop, kind of quaint and old fashioned really.

 

[MikeG.]

Ta Dave.....

............I was fooled by their title "Lidl Online"..........which is just a little misleading!!

 

[Doug B]

James,

does that mean you have the Lidl calipers..............or is it another brand? If Lidl, have you any way of knowing if they are accurate?

Mike

Mike,
Mine were from a discount tool store though they are very similar to the Lidl/Aldi ones.
At the time, i bought a few cheap engineering type tools which an engineering friend gave the once over & pronounced them good enough for woodwork :? .

 

[eggflan]

Draper > Lidl special

Frying pan > fire????

Honestly Charlotte, you are better off spending a few extra pounds and getting something decent. A friend of mine worked in a factory producing cheap power tools a few years back (summer holiday job)....and some of the power tools had a design life of 10 hours!!!!

There very first question you should ask when buying a power tool is "are the gears made of metal or plastic?". I'm guessing that this example will be plastic........

Mike

But the jigsaw in question has a 3 year waranty so who cares if it packs up after little use , at least a new one would replace it

 

[oddsocks]

Hi oddsocks,
I found that when i put mine in the case the on/off button pressed on the internal padding when i shut the lid, this switched the calipers on & ran the batteries down very quickly.
Simply cutting a square of padding away in-line with the on/off button solved the problem & batteries last for ages now.

Thanks Doug - I'll do that as I do keep it in the case

 

[Woodmagnet]

I bought my calipers about 4 years ago from Lidl's
Mike and i'm still using the original battery. I tested
mine on known measurements (i.e. drill bits) and
it is spot on. Well worth the money in my opinion. :wink:

 

[Woody Alan]

Mike,

There are some who decry the cheap verniers, but my experience is that they are more than satisfactory and fit for purpose. I have more than one set and if I use one to measure the other I get the same measurement on both, Suggesting they are either pretty accurate or coincidentally as inaccurate as each other.
If you want to take advantage then you'll need to be at a Lidl's the same day as the offer or probably miss out.

Alan

 

[Anonymous]

Lidl calipers for under #8 eh?

Don't confuse a digital readout with an accurate instrument, the two are not necessarily linked (especially at under #8)

You always get what you pay for - particularly in the field of instrumentation and measurement (my area)

 

[dickm]

The other thing to watch out for (DAMHIKT) is that the internal and external jaws read the same. I've got a quite expensive Mitutoyo digital caliper, and there is a 0.002" difference between the jaws. No problem for woodwork, but a right pain in the a*** if you rely on it for fitting metal parts.

 

[wizer]

Lidl calipers for under #8 eh?

Don't confuse a digital readout with an accurate instrument, the two are not necessarily linked (especially at under #8)

You always get what you pay for - particularly in the field of instrumentation and measurement (my area)

It's all relative with woodworking tho isn't it? I've found mine to be perfectly sufficient.