I got one over a year ago and have been very pleased with it - made my own sled which really helped to get square cuts. The only gripe, which I fixed was that the band guide bearings got noisy very quickly, and really ran rough. I have replaced then with both SKF and FAG bearings which are really not expensive if you go to the right place (the latter being a bit cheaper), and they have been performing ever since, Avoid like the plague any generic bearings from Amazon (probably made in China etc) as in some cases even the 6 mm bore is larger than it should be (not my experience - just recounting that of others) - make sure you get ZZ or 2Z versions ie both sides of the bearing is shielded, otherwise sawdust will get in a wreak havoc. So either 626-ZZ or 626-2Z bearings (6mm bore, 6 mm thickness, 19 mm O/D, deep groove plain bearing shielded both sides.)
Thanks for the tip. While I was ordering a couple of new blades (1/2" and 1/4" from Tuff Saws) I ordered 6 bearings. I've just been notified that the saw is arriving this afternoon.
You can grease the bearing. Even though they are shielded. Use a hover and a block with a hole in it the size of the bearing. Plug the center and suck the grease through. 👍
Watched and saved your video review of the Bandsaw. Waited ages for it to come back on sale. Wasn't disappointed. Thanks for the info regarding this Bandsaw. Much appreciated. Thanks.
Bit of an update on the delay. I contacted customer services and they confirmed that these have now been cancelled. Sadly Aldi have been let down by their supplier.
Many thanks Peter Millard I found this review just before it became available at Aldi a week ago. I only ordered it due to your review and the recommended blade from Tuffsaw. Again using your link to James' Man Cave for set up....then ...... everything stopped !!!. Upon trying to initially tension the blade the top knob turned about 4 then the blade TWANGED OFF the upper wheel !!, tried it several more times and did the same thing. Took to bits and noted the top square ended nut thread (cheap rubbish) had stripped threads after 1 cm down, luckily the 'barrel' which the handle turns threads was still intact. Local DIY shop had hardened steel bolt and all was good. Looking forward to good service from now on ;-), Thanks for the guide.
Ahah! Reading through the instructions for the Scheppach HBS261 (I haven't unboxed my Ferrex yet) Note 8.7, 4th Section: "The lower housing door only opens when the saw table is inclined by 45°" So that explains why the door fouls the bolt with the table flat. ETA it’s also in the Ferrex manual - 8.8
That really is bang for your buck, even with the few little oddities, you really cannot complain.👌🏽 Cheers, Peter, great 12 month review. Man that went quick.👍🏽
Hi Peter, thanks for the mention. Very kind of you to do so. Have to agree with everything you have said, for my needs and use it's performed faultlessly. 12 months on I'm still happy with my purchase 👍
Nice pocket review Peter, I bought one last year as well. No vibration issues on mine but I do have it bolted to a baseboard with a rubber underlay. I found that a Tuff Saws blade improved the cut appreciably, with a bit of fiddling I also got it to accept a 1/2 inch (12mm) blade but dropped back to a 10mm as I found that the 12mm needed regular adjustment to keep it running true. I share your annoyance with cheap mains cables and replacing the mains cable with 4-5m of a decent flexible rubber sheathed one is a worthwhile modification as the fitted one is a bit short & stiff .
Dear Peter, I too had unacceptable wobble/shaking - I balanced the upper and lower wheels (gluing lead pellets) and it's much quieter and no shaking. I like the idea of rubber feet too - Great videos as usual - THANK YOU.
Thanks Andrew! That's a great idea with the pellets on the wheels! How did you go about finding where to place them - just trial & error? Thanks again, Peter
Mattias wandel has a video on how to balance bandsaw wheels..but essentially ,with a free running wheel if it repeatedly comes to rest in the same position.. that be the heavy bit at the bottom ..Fix counter balance weight on the opposite side until it comes to rest at a random position.. hope this helps..
@@10MinuteWorkshop I'm very familiar with balancing props for small drones - so as @chevyimp says, use a rod and place the wheel on the rod, and spin slowly and the heavy will fall to bottom, use blue-tak to start with and I then replaced with air-gun pellets and epoxy - worked a treat.
Hello Peter, I had given up on the Aldi Ferrex Band saw as they seemed to have disappeared from their Website forever but thanks to Proper DIY I have just discovered they are back in stock as of today, so have snapped one up. Not sure if any of your other followers are looking for one, hopefully they will see them back in stock but they are going as fast as your "Square Enough" clamps :-) 100 sold in the last 24 Hours.
Hi Colin. They came back in stock on the 24th - I did pin a comment here to that effect, and posted about it here in the community tab, and Twitter. Glad you got your hands on one! 👍👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop Hi Peter, not sure how I missed that LOL. I could probably afford an Axminster Trade one but it is all a case of justification, for the DIY type of work I do, I'm sure it will be absolutely great for the next couple of years at least. I did treat myself to a Router Fence though 😁 from Rutlands, tried to post a link but think RUclips deleted my reply 😁
I would say that the holes in the base are for fixing to a workplace and would probable stop vibration but you would need a hell of a sized workshop if everything was fastened down
Hellooo! at here are a few other Millard’s around, though the name doesn’t come up very often, so nice to have you here. My branch of the Millard’s were from South Wales, though originally over Bristol way, I believe. 👍👍
You made me miss my old Ryobi bench top bansaw. Never knew I needed one so much until I bought one. Now in my smaller shop, I have to make do with my scroll saw and a jigsaw in my router table, and wishing I could get a new bench top again.
Peter, I bought the little brother to this machine and as part of my initial set up I balanced the top wheel using blobs of hot glue one the wheel inner edge.No vibration problems at all.
I Live in Idaho USA about 3 months ago I pulled the meat saw version of this saw out of a trash container, the table was missing so my plan is to set it up as a metal saw as I have a larger band saw. This version the wheels have no rubber bands on them. These are nice little saws.
i just bought this saw from Aldi and the screw that gets in the way of the door i just removed the jagged washer and just put the screw back in on its own and now the door opens perfectly without touching the screw
Nice review and very good value for money as a saw for a small workshop. One observation though...you need to get some O'Keeffes working hands! It really works on dry woodworkers skin...you'll notice the difference in a couple of days and I'm sure Mrs. Millard will approve!
Mine arrived around noon today (Wednesday) and I've spent an hour or so cleaning up castings, particularly the slot in the table angle quadrant. The top wheel now has 3g of copper wire on one spoke to temporarily balance it until I've come up with a permanent method. Next up is dismantling the clamp for the table extension to slacken it off a turn or two so the extension can be fitted followed by a cup of tea and a read of the instructions.
A non-exhaustive list of things done: Top wheel balanced temporarily. Lower door hinges modified and welds filed back. Tensioner taken out, parts de-burred so they move cleanly and holes slotted for adjustment. Deadblow hammer used to true up the face the upper guide runs on Washers replaced, added and 'shakeproof' ones removed One bolt properly tightened (lower roller guide plate) Spacer made to better align a safety switch There's a slight out-of-round on or under the top wheel's tyre but I can live with it. Tried it with the disposable blade supplied on some ply, 3mm acrylic and some half-hard Al and I'm well pleased with it. Next is watch some bandsaw setup videos.
@@kristoffscuba5466 Didn't actually run it as it clear it was unbalanced when I went to fit the blade as one spot would always end up the bottom, even if you set it to 1 or 11 o'clock. Some scrap 2.5mm² wire and trial and error quickly found what was needed to get it to stop in a random position when spun which should be good enough. Checked the lower wheel and that's OK.
I bought the same last year and for the money I can't fault it - as a diy'er it's never let me down and cutting cardboard smaller for the recycling bin has never been easier!
@@10MinuteWorkshop And polystyrene blocks or slabs. Works a treat. I also used mine to cut a frozen pork loin in half after thoroughly cleaning the blade and the cut surfaces. Goes through like butter. Rather faster than a clean hand saw.
After watching this I checked the Aldi web site and found this years model looks even better, and has 120mm cutting height that I could make good use of. It was shown as "delayed, coming soon", but with a price showing. Today it's changed to "Product no longer available", so either they sold out in a couple of hours today and I missed it, or they've given up waiting! I've just found the Zipper ZI-BAS250 on eBay with a Black Friday 20% discount making it about £17 more than the Aldi, but it's only got a tinny bed compared to the solid Aldi one. It's the only one I could find in the price range that almost matches the Aldi cutting height (115mm), so I thought I'd take the risk. No idea what it will be like, but it probably comes from the same factory.
JohnB's Videos the same for me been checking aldi website daily and 5 days ago it came as no longer available. today now the 22/11/21 it is available to buy on website as i just ordered it 20 minutes ago through the site
@@necrosbowen !%**$£. My Zipper arrived on Friday, but I don't think it's as good as the Aldi one, and cost a bit more. Too late now, as I can't justify having two!
@@EcoHamletsUK agree been waiting for this aldi one checking pretty much daily for 3 months now. i know its only a rebadged scheppach hbs261, but wasnt willing to pay £100 more minimum just for a different sticker
Similar situation for me, been waiting for it to come in stock and then it went to ‘unavailable’. Hurrah, now available and I’ve just ordered one. The £9.95 ‘extra large item’ delivery charge was a bit unwelcome, but nowt I can do about it. Now just got to break it to the Mrs that I’ve bought another tool …
@@geoffreycoan i was lucky the wife told me no more large tools. so i worked it as thats what i want for christmas so the wife bought it for me, the large item delivery was not expecting either but considering the scheppach is £250 not including delivery for exactly the same band saw. £160 i still seen as a bargain
With all of these products, the QC Dept is in the user's workshop (I keep trying the WorkZone / Ferrex gear, but most of it has gone back or swapped under warranty). The vibration is likely imbalance in the Chinesium wheels. If you take the blade off and gently spin them while free you may find one or both always settle with a heavy spot at the bottom. My Ryobi bandsaw had a vibration issue so I grabbed a stick-on car wheel weight and cut it up, stuck pieces inside the rim opposite the heavy spot until it was perfectly balanced and it made a world of difference, noise wise as much as the actual vibration. It only required a couple of grams, a slice off the wheel weight. Ironically now, I only have vibration with a particular Tuffsaws blade which has a slight distortion at the weld. 'Keep up the good work!'
Mine arrived today and first thing I did was temporarily deal with the obviously unbalanced top wheel using some 2.5mm² copper wire. As you say it's not much, say 3g in my case.
Hey peter. i bought Aldies ferrex 20v random orbital sander with 20v battery. I borrowed a Milwaukee one similar. prefer the ferrex. now Aldi is bringing out spare bateries and more cordless tools that use the same battery im sure its going to appeal to even more ppl. sure has for me.
That looks nice. If you remember before Ferrec was Workzone and before that Powercraft. I bought the Powercraft but I've never been happy with it. I've repeated the set-up procedures many times but the blade still won't cut a straight line so an upgrade is in order! I will be on the lock-out for the Ferrex version. Many thanks.
Just ordered the new one from aldi. The other half has the workzone hbs20😏. My scheppach hbs261 has gave up on me. By all accounts it's been ran 5 hours a day 3 days a week. For close to 2 years. The aldi one is by all accounts the same bandsaw. Oh Aldi just put it live an hour ago. 😁👍
Just managed to buy the new one off the website! They finally have them in stock! Christmas present so need to wait a bit before I get to play with it. Thanks for the great review of your one. Love the channel
@@10MinuteWorkshop hi Peter. I had all but given up because the website said they were awaiting stock and then changed to no longer available. I then checked a few days later only as I still had the tab open on my phone and they were in! Couldn’t type in my card details fast enough. Technically that means I have bought my own Christmas present but that’s fine. Now just need to tidy the garage / micro workshop and I’ll be sorted. Thanks again for the great channel. Next purchase will be a track saw
Here in the States, I got a 9 inch Ryobi on sale for $100 and it had a violent shake. It turns out it was the motor not being properly mounted at the factory. Identical to yours, I just had to loosen the holding bolt for the motor, pull the motor until the belt was fairly snug and lock it back down. Resolved the issue for me, so maybe that will help you.
My 2021 Ferrex bandsaw appears to be identical to Peter's in blue and grey, not the all-grey as was depicted on the Aldi website. I've been making much use of the bandsaw for cutting and thinning polystyrene insulation boards. Even with the stock blade it cuts very straight and clean; much better and less dust than using a hand saw. The fence is excellent although I'd forgotten about the table extension which would have been useful for large sheets - doh! The mitre guide works well, both 90 degrees and other angles with ease. I was able to stop the slop of the mitre guide by sticking gaffer tape underneath the guide rail, taking up the slack it naturally has. No issues with vibration with mine. Only problem is that the blade wanders when cutting thicker wood, I've just ordered a tuffsaws blade as recommended by Peter to fix this
Looks like an OK saw. Especially considering what you paid for it. I'll keep a look out for one . Looks much better than the smaller ones they sell at lidl and aldi.
Hi Peter Great review mate, I treated myself at the beginning of the year to a Record Power Sabre 250 and I love it to bits, But it did cost me nearly three times yours did.. But it does everything I need it to do 👍👍👍👍
G'Day,,well you have just talked me into getting another,,my first was the work zone,,had a flimsy tin plate table,and not a lot of adjustment,,so will convert to cut metal,,It Is hard to find Baldes for this saw,,for metal and your right 12.7 mm,are the only ones available,, Diid have trouble with one of the tyrers coming unclued but fixed that,,Not sure but think steel frame is wilting a little,from continuous tension,, but as stated for what it is ,,extremly good,,who can argue over price on this,, So Thank you for this,,i will be at the doors as soon as possible to get another,, this new one just for wood,,
If it helps.......I had a similar amount of play in the mitre fence gauge slot on my cheapy Aldi disc sander plate, and also on my cheapy wolfcraft router table. ( Not that you should be using a mitre gauge on the Router table). I found 1 wrap of duct tape around the the arm which drops into the groove on the table was just the right amount to get a snug fit. Hope this helps. Cheers Peter
Aldi do a Ferrex drill for £25? 14v. I love it and seems well made and the chuck retains the bit better. For the price of the traditional brands you can buy three. One for the pilot, one for the clearance and one for the countersink or screwdriver bit. Actually, best to buy four.
Thanks for the review. I have just ordered one! I was looking at the Scheppach 261 and wanted to buy one but there were out of stock everywhere. Then by chance I found out that this model is almost identical. I think it has an alloy table instead of steel. Looking forward to using it. Up to now I have only owned 3 wheelers B&D but they kept breaking blades. I wondered whether the 3 wheel design was a factor so I sold them and going for a 2 wheeler. It seems Tufsaw blades are very well thought of so will order some when I get the saw.
Had to bend the frame a little on mine to get the back bearing to stay with the blade in both top and bottom positions, but that aside, its performing well. Nice Review Peter.
I have an even more basic ferrex bandsaw….with no roller bearing and joke of a fence, but what a fantastic little ripper for A$130 only! It allowed to me to cut guitar body (sapele) like butter! I wish they sold this model with decent fence in Australia.
Hi Peter, I recently purchased a small bench top band saw. Although I think it is only 9inch (might be smaller, cant check right now) It was £118. I had a second hand Fox band saw which is similar to the Aldi one here, but It has an issue with alignment of drive and idle wheel so I decided to invest in new machine. I purchased the Dirty Pro Tools band saw, which am rather impressed with. Very heavy weight chassis, what seems to be cast and ground table, strong tilt mechanism with a little candle wax on the faces, and a quick release blade tension. I've been quite impressed with it so far. I just sometimes don't know if the blade has enough tension due to the quick release mechanism. If you ever get chance to take a look, It would be great to know your opinion on the tool. Keep up the great work, In awe of your skill!
Great explanations as always great saw for the money they are asking for it, cheap tools nearly always need their blade replacing regardless of which type of tool. Thumbs up
I bought one two years ago its been a really good saw only problem was the very top adjuster sheared probably over tightening by me . so i just fitted a longer bolt so i can fit smaller blades if needed but still worth the money
Looks very like the Metabo I bought in 2017 at 2½ times the price. Main differences are the colour and the quick releases on the doors: the Metabo doors have a double-screw-knob hookum-snivey that requires ~30 sec of twiddling to undo. Also, the blade guides were so poorly made that the bearings wouldn't come near the blade without a good bit of filing. I'd sell the bugger on, but with virtually identical saws going for so little I'd get half nothing for it.
I have the same one, but with a Scheppach HBS261 sticker on it. Same story with the bad vibrations. I noticed the blades that it came with has some irregularity where it's welded, so I guess that doesn't help much. Will be changing it soon and hope it helps somewhat.
Update 16th Nov 2021, Ive been watching on the Aldi sight for these and up to today the message was "Delayed coming soon " Today its marked as No Longer Available, i think thats an error as thats the message on the Older Blue version as of last week, i bet it changes so dont give up if you are waiting,
A useful review of a piece of kit that looks very good value. However, you state that you have had several bandsaws, which does suggest that buying by quality rather than price is a better way forward. I have a Startrite bandsaw that I bought new in 1987 and have used it in my one man joinery business ever since. I have had to replace switchgear, but otherwise it is as bought and I could probably sell it for what I paid for it........Just some food for thought.
Whilst I don’t disagree with buying quality Tim, may I ask if you’d ever used a bandsaw before you bought your Startrite? Did you know what they did? What their strengths were? I didn’t know any of those things, so starting with a cheap supermarket special and trading up is a reasonable move, I’d say, for someone without any previous experience of bandsaws. 👍👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop Hi, yes I had used bandsaws prior to my purchase and knew that they were a workshop essential. Possibly more versatile than a circular table saw. I totally understand the logic behind buying cheap and if you don't know how much you are likely to use an item, then it can initially make sense. I know a chap who gets through a couple of cheap multi tools each year and could save himself a fortune by buying better quality tools less frequently. Buy cheap, buy twice...........or even more...... Your reviews are honest and of great value to many. I just wanted to add a different perspective.
Got one of these and set it up today. I’m getting horrendous vibrations, the whole thing is wobbling like a washing machine on a spin cycle. I’ve ordered a tuffsaw replacement blade so I hope that helps. I’ll also try the rubber feet trick. Fingers crossed. Out of stock again so it’ll be a refund if not.
Great review Peter. I had the Scheppach badged version before sending it back. Vibration was awful, worse the table dipped in the centre. Was impossible to square the blade to the table. I put an engineers square to the right of the blade set table square, put the square left of the blade and it was out. Also varied depending on the size of the square! Ended up spending loads more for one with a cast iron table.
@@chrisohanlon69 I got Record Sabre 350. Which does very well. The job I needed the saw for was completed successfully, it was to cut out the mould for a small cello from a 70mm thick plywood sandwich. The cut was easy (using an appropriate blade) and importantly square! Of course the Sabre is a considerable investment compared to the Scheppach, but does open up further possibilities, such as resawing ribs (I’m a hobby luthier). I probably could have managed with the smaller Sabre but they were out of stock.
I tried to buy one of these last year, but Aldi flat out refused to sell me one online as I live in a 'remote area'. I'm 15 miles north of Aberdeen, which is hardly remote! In Scotland we are regularly penalised with higher delivery charges, but for a national retailer to simply exclude a large part of the country seems unjust. This is especially frustrating when they featured the bandsaw in their special 'Scottish' leaflet, and I have an Aldi store 10 minutes from my house! What's the furthest north anyone has managed to get a bandsaw delivery from Aldi? And how about Cornwall, Wales, Isle of Man etc as I know you folks can also suffer the same delivery issues.
Welcome to our world. In Northern Ireland we are pretty sick of "Mainland Delivery Only". Even worse are the ones that say "free UK delivery" when they mean free GB delivery.
Dang that seems to be a nice saw. I have a JET 14" and have been tempted to get a smaller bandsaw for those small jobs. So far the need has been equally small. :^)
They make an 8” which is a lot lighter-weight - maybe it was that one? I had one of those ~3 years ago, and it was decent for the money, but later versions were progressively poorer, esp. with the blade running off the wheels. 🤷♂️👍
Great video Peter. I bought one of these when they first came out as its 550w motor outshone most of the competition. I really liked the fence and extending table, had no vibration issues and the blade squared up nicely, however after 9 months daily use, the blade tensioner bolt sheared when I was re -tensioning the blade. Having released the tension on the blade many times, it was a bit of a puzzle why this happened. I was within my 3 year warranty and to be fair Aldi offered me a refund, but not a replacement due to being out of stock. So I decided to seek a replacement part. Said part came from Sheppach Germany and took 3 months to arrive. Fitted and within two months sheared again! Then Brexit happened and the replacement took five months to arrive and came with no less than eight customs forms, but the same problem happened again. I called Sheppach spares to see if I could buy half a dozen of these tensioner bolts only to be told it was a common fault due to manufacturing issues in China and there was a long waiting list for the parts! So I called Aldi customer services and after a lot of wrangling, received my full refund. Pity as apart from this fault with the blade tensioner, I really liked the saw and agree completely with your assessment.
Thanks Dawn! Wow, what a tale of woe! I haven't take n a close look at the tensioner bolt, I must confess, but I may well do now! Such a shame, as it's a cracking little saw! 👍
Had the same issue. I replaced the nut with some washers an a connection nut (i dont know how you Call that sort of nut in english but its more than twice as long as a normal nut and you use it for the connection from threaded rods) and a ratchet replaced the original knob for tension.
Hi Peter, my not overly expensive Metabo BAS 260 swift bandsaw has balanced wheels - with a kind of weights clamped on the wheels as you find on car wheels as well to balance for the tiers. And apart from that may be and apart from the colour it looks remarkably the same. May be next to “drill-press-city” there is a “band-saw-city” in China, where all these are manufactured?
Unfortunately it looks like the saw is no longer going to be available. It does not appear on the 'coming soon' page, and the header to the product description has been updated to note it is no longer available. If anyone can recommend something like for like under £250, that would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your recent e-mail link re this saw. I have ordered one and also ordered a new blade via your link on this page so the only thing left to get are the rubber feet or a set of the Staedtler rubbers. Decisions, decisions! I'm a bit wary of buying rubber feet as sometimes the rubber is very hard. Can you please recommend some feet that are as soft as the Staedtler rubbers (which are great pencil erasers by the way). Thanks.
I changed my blade over after the first time of use when it flew off the wheels, jammed and broke. Blades of the required length were not available in retail stores here, so one had to be made. I like my saw, it does everything I want of it. HOWEVER, the vertical sliding mechanism for height adjustment of the bearings has a metal toothed gear running in a plastic toothed strip attached to the frame. The first time I tried winding it, it jammed, and I took it apart to find that the teeth on the wheel do not mesh with the strip as required. The is exacerbated by sawdust collecting in the gear wheel. It is very frustrating and so I rarely adjust this function as it takes 30 minutes or so to dismantle, clean, adjust and reassemble the fixture. My cost about half your cost, $159 in Ozzie Dollars from Aldi.
@@constanttruth1751 Hi 6TPI is a great general purpose pitch as long as the timber being cut is not too thick (say over 3 inches). I have a 14 TPI blade I keep for cutting acrylic sheet, and any thin material where I need a better cut finish - It will also cut thin aluminium quite well too.
![A plywood square that's accurate, cheap and easy to make. [video 415]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aNjO4SBe5kw/mqdefault.jpg)
For anyone following this, they came back on sale today, 24th Nov (I just bought one!) :)
Now sold out - I guess you have to move fast on these.
They were selling 60+ a day. Mine has just arrived
Yeah mine came today. I'll have to set it up. 🤪Fun🤞👍
@@The-Old-Scotsman Mine too :)
Mine came today also.
I got one over a year ago and have been very pleased with it - made my own sled which really helped to get square cuts. The only gripe, which I fixed was that the band guide bearings got noisy very quickly, and really ran rough. I have replaced then with both SKF and FAG bearings which are really not expensive if you go to the right place (the latter being a bit cheaper), and they have been performing ever since, Avoid like the plague any generic bearings from Amazon (probably made in China etc) as in some cases even the 6 mm bore is larger than it should be (not my experience - just recounting that of others) - make sure you get ZZ or 2Z versions ie both sides of the bearing is shielded, otherwise sawdust will get in a wreak havoc. So either 626-ZZ or 626-2Z bearings (6mm bore, 6 mm thickness, 19 mm O/D, deep groove plain bearing shielded both sides.)
Thanks for the tip. While I was ordering a couple of new blades (1/2" and 1/4" from Tuff Saws) I ordered 6 bearings. I've just been notified that the saw is arriving this afternoon.
You can grease the bearing. Even though they are shielded. Use a hover and a block with a hole in it the size of the bearing. Plug the center and suck the grease through. 👍
Great piece of advice re the bearings, I'm waiting for my ferrex 10" to be delivered, should be here tomorrow 😀 I can't wait
oh no, i dont need or have the room for this but now i want it. If only i had a a bigger shed than my 6x5 :(
I have an 8 x 12 shed and that isn't big enough!!
Watched and saved your video review of the Bandsaw. Waited ages for it to come back on sale. Wasn't disappointed. Thanks for the info regarding this Bandsaw. Much appreciated.
Thanks.
So glad you timed the review to it becoming available soon! I really want one, so will look out for it!
Thanks Vikkie! Yes, don't know why they're delayed, but at least it gives everyone a chance to dive in and get one when they're available! 👍
Bit of an update on the delay. I contacted customer services and they confirmed that these have now been cancelled. Sadly Aldi have been let down by their supplier.
@@rosspolo back on sale today!
@@OldCharlieRum1903 thanks for the heads up I've just ordered one. Their customer services were obviously wrong!
Bought mine today, Aldi Isle of Shite online
Many thanks Peter Millard I found this review just before it became available at Aldi a week ago. I only ordered it due to your review and the recommended blade from Tuffsaw. Again using your link to James' Man Cave for set up....then ...... everything stopped !!!. Upon trying to initially tension the blade the top knob turned about 4 then the blade TWANGED OFF the upper wheel !!, tried it several more times and did the same thing. Took to bits and noted the top square ended nut thread (cheap rubbish) had stripped threads after 1 cm down, luckily the 'barrel' which the handle turns threads was still intact. Local DIY shop had hardened steel bolt and all was good. Looking forward to good service from now on ;-), Thanks for the guide.
Ahah! Reading through the instructions for the Scheppach HBS261 (I haven't unboxed my Ferrex yet) Note 8.7, 4th Section: "The lower housing door only opens when the saw table is inclined by 45°" So that explains why the door fouls the bolt with the table flat.
ETA it’s also in the Ferrex manual - 8.8
That really is bang for your buck, even with the few little oddities, you really cannot complain.👌🏽
Cheers, Peter, great 12 month review. Man that went quick.👍🏽
Thanks Bill - sure did! 😂👍
Pretty impressive Bill, the Ferrex range looks genuinely pretty good 👍
@@sumosprojects
Hey man, good to see you here, I didn't know you followed Pete?
Yeah, the Ferrex is starting to pop up here in Oz too.
Hi Peter, thanks for the mention. Very kind of you to do so. Have to agree with everything you have said, for my needs and use it's performed faultlessly. 12 months on I'm still happy with my purchase 👍
Fantastic, cheers James! 👍
Nice pocket review Peter, I bought one last year as well. No vibration issues on mine but I do have it bolted to a baseboard with a rubber underlay. I found that a Tuff Saws blade improved the cut appreciably, with a bit of fiddling I also got it to accept a 1/2 inch (12mm) blade but dropped back to a 10mm as I found that the 12mm needed regular adjustment to keep it running true. I share your annoyance with cheap mains cables and replacing the mains cable with 4-5m of a decent flexible rubber sheathed one is a worthwhile modification as the fitted one is a bit short & stiff .
Good idea about changing the mains cable! 👍👍
Dear Peter, I too had unacceptable wobble/shaking - I balanced the upper and lower wheels (gluing lead pellets) and it's much quieter and no shaking. I like the idea of rubber feet too - Great videos as usual - THANK YOU.
Thanks Andrew! That's a great idea with the pellets on the wheels! How did you go about finding where to place them - just trial & error? Thanks again, Peter
Mattias wandel has a video on how to balance bandsaw wheels..but essentially ,with a free running wheel if it repeatedly comes to rest in the same position.. that be the heavy bit at the bottom ..Fix counter balance weight on the opposite side until it comes to rest at a random position.. hope this helps..
@@10MinuteWorkshop I'm very familiar with balancing props for small drones - so as @chevyimp says, use a rod and place the wheel on the rod, and spin slowly and the heavy will fall to bottom, use blue-tak to start with and I then replaced with air-gun pellets and epoxy - worked a treat.
Hello Peter, I had given up on the Aldi Ferrex Band saw as they seemed to have disappeared from their Website forever but thanks to Proper DIY I have just discovered they are back in stock as of today, so have snapped one up. Not sure if any of your other followers are looking for one, hopefully they will see them back in stock but they are going as fast as your "Square Enough" clamps :-) 100 sold in the last 24 Hours.
Hi Colin. They came back in stock on the 24th - I did pin a comment here to that effect, and posted about it here in the community tab, and Twitter. Glad you got your hands on one! 👍👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop Hi Peter, not sure how I missed that LOL. I could probably afford an Axminster Trade one but it is all a case of justification, for the DIY type of work I do, I'm sure it will be absolutely great for the next couple of years at least.
I did treat myself to a Router Fence though 😁 from Rutlands, tried to post a link but think RUclips deleted my reply 😁
Also just got one on order thanks to the comments here. Let's hope they turn up 🤞
Bought one this morning. Ordered a blade as well.
I would say that the holes in the base are for fixing to a workplace and would probable stop vibration but you would need a hell of a sized workshop if everything was fastened down
Heavens! A fellow Millard. Nice to see the family represented online. Thanks for the review of the low cost hardware. Cheers!
Hellooo! at here are a few other Millard’s around, though the name doesn’t come up very often, so nice to have you here. My branch of the Millard’s were from South Wales, though originally over Bristol way, I believe. 👍👍
You made me miss my old Ryobi bench top bansaw. Never knew I needed one so much until I bought one. Now in my smaller shop, I have to make do with my scroll saw and a jigsaw in my router table, and wishing I could get a new bench top again.
Peter, I bought the little brother to this machine and as part of my initial set up I balanced the top wheel using blobs of hot glue one the wheel inner edge.No vibration problems at all.
I Live in Idaho USA about 3 months ago I pulled the meat saw version of this saw out of a trash container, the table was missing so my plan is to set it up as a metal saw as I have a larger band saw. This version the wheels have no rubber bands on them. These are nice little saws.
i just bought this saw from Aldi and the screw that gets in the way of the door i just removed the jagged washer and just put the screw back in on its own and now the door opens perfectly without touching the screw
Peter, the conversation you had on my behalf at 6:30 made me laugh out loud! Great review. Scott
Thanks Scott! 😂👍👍
Back in stock now!!!
Nice review and very good value for money as a saw for a small workshop.
One observation though...you need to get some O'Keeffes working hands! It really works on dry woodworkers skin...you'll notice the difference in a couple of days and I'm sure Mrs. Millard will approve!
Thanks! And O’Keefe’s is what I already use! 👌🙌
Mine arrived around noon today (Wednesday) and I've spent an hour or so cleaning up castings, particularly the slot in the table angle quadrant. The top wheel now has 3g of copper wire on one spoke to temporarily balance it until I've come up with a permanent method.
Next up is dismantling the clamp for the table extension to slacken it off a turn or two so the extension can be fitted followed by a cup of tea and a read of the instructions.
Did you feel the need to balance the top wheel due to vibrations? If so, how did you determine how much wire to add ?
A non-exhaustive list of things done:
Top wheel balanced temporarily.
Lower door hinges modified and welds filed back.
Tensioner taken out, parts de-burred so they move cleanly and holes slotted for adjustment.
Deadblow hammer used to true up the face the upper guide runs on
Washers replaced, added and 'shakeproof' ones removed
One bolt properly tightened (lower roller guide plate)
Spacer made to better align a safety switch
There's a slight out-of-round on or under the top wheel's tyre but I can live with it. Tried it with the disposable blade supplied on some ply, 3mm acrylic and some half-hard Al and I'm well pleased with it.
Next is watch some bandsaw setup videos.
@@kristoffscuba5466 Didn't actually run it as it clear it was unbalanced when I went to fit the blade as one spot would always end up the bottom, even if you set it to 1 or 11 o'clock. Some scrap 2.5mm² wire and trial and error quickly found what was needed to get it to stop in a random position when spun which should be good enough.
Checked the lower wheel and that's OK.
I bought the same last year and for the money I can't fault it - as a diy'er it's never let me down and cutting cardboard smaller for the recycling bin has never been easier!
Never thought about using it to cut cardboard! 🙌 👍
Bigger TPI gums up but on my 3 tpi it's fine, saves lots of time for us!
@@10MinuteWorkshop And polystyrene blocks or slabs. Works a treat. I also used mine to cut a frozen pork loin in half after thoroughly cleaning the blade and the cut surfaces. Goes through like butter. Rather faster than a clean hand saw.
After watching this I checked the Aldi web site and found this years model looks even better, and has 120mm cutting height that I could make good use of. It was shown as "delayed, coming soon", but with a price showing. Today it's changed to "Product no longer available", so either they sold out in a couple of hours today and I missed it, or they've given up waiting! I've just found the Zipper ZI-BAS250 on eBay with a Black Friday 20% discount making it about £17 more than the Aldi, but it's only got a tinny bed compared to the solid Aldi one. It's the only one I could find in the price range that almost matches the Aldi cutting height (115mm), so I thought I'd take the risk. No idea what it will be like, but it probably comes from the same factory.
JohnB's Videos the same for me been checking aldi website daily and 5 days ago it came as no longer available. today now the 22/11/21 it is available to buy on website as i just ordered it 20 minutes ago through the site
@@necrosbowen !%**$£. My Zipper arrived on Friday, but I don't think it's as good as the Aldi one, and cost a bit more. Too late now, as I can't justify having two!
@@EcoHamletsUK agree been waiting for this aldi one checking pretty much daily for 3 months now. i know its only a rebadged scheppach hbs261, but wasnt willing to pay £100 more minimum just for a different sticker
Similar situation for me, been waiting for it to come in stock and then it went to ‘unavailable’. Hurrah, now available and I’ve just ordered one. The £9.95 ‘extra large item’ delivery charge was a bit unwelcome, but nowt I can do about it. Now just got to break it to the Mrs that I’ve bought another tool …
@@geoffreycoan i was lucky the wife told me no more large tools. so i worked it as thats what i want for christmas so the wife bought it for me, the large item delivery was not expecting either but considering the scheppach is £250 not including delivery for exactly the same band saw. £160 i still seen as a bargain
Regarding stock levels, just incase anyone misses the 'Replies' section in Vikki's post below, I just ordered mine online today (23/11/21)..
With all of these products, the QC Dept is in the user's workshop (I keep trying the WorkZone / Ferrex gear, but most of it has gone back or swapped under warranty). The vibration is likely imbalance in the Chinesium wheels. If you take the blade off and gently spin them while free you may find one or both always settle with a heavy spot at the bottom. My Ryobi bandsaw had a vibration issue so I grabbed a stick-on car wheel weight and cut it up, stuck pieces inside the rim opposite the heavy spot until it was perfectly balanced and it made a world of difference, noise wise as much as the actual vibration. It only required a couple of grams, a slice off the wheel weight. Ironically now, I only have vibration with a particular Tuffsaws blade which has a slight distortion at the weld.
'Keep up the good work!'
Thanks! Yes, a couple of folks have mentioned balancing the wheels, I must give it a try! 👍👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop I got a file out - it seemed to work if you take it carefully.
Mine arrived today and first thing I did was temporarily deal with the obviously unbalanced top wheel using some 2.5mm² copper wire. As you say it's not much, say 3g in my case.
Hey peter. i bought Aldies ferrex 20v random orbital sander with 20v battery. I borrowed a Milwaukee one similar. prefer the ferrex. now Aldi is bringing out spare bateries and more cordless tools that use the same battery im sure its going to appeal to even more ppl. sure has for me.
Good to know, thanks! Never tried any of their cordless stuff. 👍👍
That looks nice. If you remember before Ferrec was Workzone and before that Powercraft. I bought the Powercraft but I've never been happy with it. I've repeated the set-up procedures many times but the blade still won't cut a straight line so an upgrade is in order! I will be on the lock-out for the Ferrex version. Many thanks.
Followed your tuffsaw blade recommendation, wow best £13 I have spent in a long time, improved my scheppach equivalent massively
Agree, it's the cheapest upgrade you can make to a bandsaw - and what an upgrade! 🙌 👍
Would you insist on the 6 tpi for upgrade? How about 8 or 10 tpi?
We have Aldi’s here but they are grocery stores.
Lidl is grocery too but on occasion they have cheap tools.
Have the same, only labeled with scheppach. Also switched the saw blade ans this really makes a huge difference
Just ordered the new one from aldi. The other half has the workzone hbs20😏. My scheppach hbs261 has gave up on me. By all accounts it's been ran 5 hours a day 3 days a week. For close to 2 years. The aldi one is by all accounts the same bandsaw. Oh Aldi just put it live an hour ago. 😁👍
Just managed to buy the new one off the website! They finally have them in stock! Christmas present so need to wait a bit before I get to play with it. Thanks for the great review of your one. Love the channel
Thanks! Well done for getting one - they sold fast! 👍👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop hi Peter. I had all but given up because the website said they were awaiting stock and then changed to no longer available. I then checked a few days later only as I still had the tab open on my phone and they were in! Couldn’t type in my card details fast enough. Technically that means I have bought my own Christmas present but that’s fine. Now just need to tidy the garage / micro workshop and I’ll be sorted. Thanks again for the great channel. Next purchase will be a track saw
Here in the States, I got a 9 inch Ryobi on sale for $100 and it had a violent shake. It turns out it was the motor not being properly mounted at the factory. Identical to yours, I just had to loosen the holding bolt for the motor, pull the motor until the belt was fairly snug and lock it back down. Resolved the issue for me, so maybe that will help you.
Unbelievably I bught on eof these last year and I've not got around to unboxing it yet. I'm hoping to do it soon. Great video Peter. Thanks.
A great video and thankyou 😊
My 2021 Ferrex bandsaw appears to be identical to Peter's in blue and grey, not the all-grey as was depicted on the Aldi website.
I've been making much use of the bandsaw for cutting and thinning polystyrene insulation boards. Even with the stock blade it cuts very straight and clean; much better and less dust than using a hand saw.
The fence is excellent although I'd forgotten about the table extension which would have been useful for large sheets - doh! The mitre guide works well, both 90 degrees and other angles with ease. I was able to stop the slop of the mitre guide by sticking gaffer tape underneath the guide rail, taking up the slack it naturally has.
No issues with vibration with mine. Only problem is that the blade wanders when cutting thicker wood, I've just ordered a tuffsaws blade as recommended by Peter to fix this
Great video and I might keep my eye open and see if one drops in my local Aldi.
Thanks so much for that. I am waiting for them to come in now so I can get one.
Thanks - I tried to get one last year but missed out so this is very timely and useful
thx for showing us where to get reasonably priced blades too peter. i will be on the lookout for one of these.
Just came on sale again at Aldi today (20th Jan 2022) :-)
Woo hoo! Thanks for letting us know! 👍
Thanks for the info. For American viewers, this seems to be similar to the Harbor Freight saw. Similar price, too.
Good to know, thanks! 👍
Looks like an OK saw. Especially considering what you paid for it. I'll keep a look out for one . Looks much better than the smaller ones they sell at lidl and aldi.
Hi Peter
Great review mate, I treated myself at the beginning of the year to a Record Power Sabre 250 and I love it to bits, But it did cost me nearly three times yours did.. But it does everything I need it to do 👍👍👍👍
Amazing they can make it for that money! Thanks for posting, as always stay safe and well, cheers
It is! And still make a profit! 🤷♂️ 👍
G'Day,,well you have just talked me into getting another,,my first was the work zone,,had a flimsy tin plate table,and not a lot of adjustment,,so will convert to cut metal,,It Is hard to find Baldes for this saw,,for metal and your right 12.7 mm,are the only ones available,,
Diid have trouble with one of the tyrers coming unclued but fixed that,,Not sure but think steel frame is wilting a little,from continuous tension,,
but as stated for what it is ,,extremly good,,who can argue over price on this,,
So Thank you for this,,i will be at the doors as soon as possible to get another,,
this new one just for wood,,
If it helps.......I had a similar amount of play in the mitre fence gauge slot on my cheapy Aldi disc sander plate, and also on my cheapy wolfcraft router table. ( Not that you should be using a mitre gauge on the Router table).
I found 1 wrap of duct tape around the the arm which drops into the groove on the table was just the right amount to get a snug fit. Hope this helps. Cheers Peter
Thanks! 🙌
Just ordered mine today Aldi Isle of Shite online, "over 100 sold today" !!!!
I wonder why! 😂😂
Great thanks Peter as always plenty of content to help me with my decision on buying the bandsaw.
Thanks 🙏 Peter
As always, interesting and super. Thank you!
Aldi do a Ferrex drill for £25? 14v. I love it and seems well made and the chuck retains the bit better. For the price of the traditional brands you can buy three. One for the pilot, one for the clearance and one for the countersink or screwdriver bit. Actually, best to buy four.
For anyone else monitoring this page for updates, it looks like they're back in stock and I was just able to order one (UK)
Thanks for the review. I have just ordered one! I was looking at the Scheppach 261 and wanted to buy one but there were out of stock everywhere. Then by chance I found out that this model is almost identical. I think it has an alloy table instead of steel. Looking forward to using it. Up to now I have only owned 3 wheelers B&D but they kept breaking blades. I wondered whether the 3 wheel design was a factor so I sold them and going for a 2 wheeler. It seems Tufsaw blades are very well thought of so will order some when I get the saw.
Had to bend the frame a little on mine to get the back bearing to stay with the blade in both top and bottom positions, but that aside, its performing well. Nice Review Peter.
I have an even more basic ferrex bandsaw….with no roller bearing and joke of a fence, but what a fantastic little ripper for A$130 only!
It allowed to me to cut guitar body (sapele) like butter!
I wish they sold this model with decent fence in Australia.
Hi Peter,
I recently purchased a small bench top band saw. Although I think it is only 9inch (might be smaller, cant check right now) It was £118. I had a second hand Fox band saw which is similar to the Aldi one here, but It has an issue with alignment of drive and idle wheel so I decided to invest in new machine.
I purchased the Dirty Pro Tools band saw, which am rather impressed with. Very heavy weight chassis, what seems to be cast and ground table, strong tilt mechanism with a little candle wax on the faces, and a quick release blade tension.
I've been quite impressed with it so far. I just sometimes don't know if the blade has enough tension due to the quick release mechanism. If you ever get chance to take a look, It would be great to know your opinion on the tool.
Keep up the great work, In awe of your skill!
Thank you! 🙌👍👍
good timing i was planning on getting a band saw soon.
On sale now, just bought one 👍
fixed the miter fence with 2 concentric washers. waved out the sloppiness...
Great explanations as always great saw for the money they are asking for it, cheap tools nearly always need their blade replacing regardless of which type of tool.
Thumbs up
If it helps anyone Aldi are taking orders now. I have just bought one 2-7 days delivery . I'll see if it arrives
I bought one two years ago its been a really good saw only problem was the very top adjuster sheared probably over tightening by me .
so i just fitted a longer bolt so i can fit smaller blades if needed but still worth the money
just had a look at the bandsaw blades you use and found out their not far from me and they got good reviews as well many thanks
Looks very like the Metabo I bought in 2017 at 2½ times the price. Main differences are the colour and the quick releases on the doors: the Metabo doors have a double-screw-knob hookum-snivey that requires ~30 sec of twiddling to undo. Also, the blade guides were so poorly made that the bearings wouldn't come near the blade without a good bit of filing.
I'd sell the bugger on, but with virtually identical saws going for so little I'd get half nothing for it.
Pucka update Pete, just a couple of minor discrepencies which are solvable. Adjustments thoroughly explained , good tool for the price
I have the same one, but with a Scheppach HBS261 sticker on it. Same story with the bad vibrations. I noticed the blades that it came with has some irregularity where it's welded, so I guess that doesn't help much. Will be changing it soon and hope it helps somewhat.
Great video. I am about to buy one so this helps!
Update 16th Nov 2021, Ive been watching on the Aldi sight for these and up to today the message was "Delayed coming soon " Today its marked as No Longer Available, i think thats an error as thats the message on the Older Blue version as of last week, i bet it changes so dont give up if you are waiting,
I have one too, but mine doesn't have the fancy extending baseplate or the mitre block. I've been done 😃
A useful review of a piece of kit that looks very good value. However, you state that you have had several bandsaws, which does suggest that buying by quality rather than price is a better way forward. I have a Startrite bandsaw that I bought new in 1987 and have used it in my one man joinery business ever since. I have had to replace switchgear, but otherwise it is as bought and I could probably sell it for what I paid for it........Just some food for thought.
Whilst I don’t disagree with buying quality Tim, may I ask if you’d ever used a bandsaw before you bought your Startrite? Did you know what they did? What their strengths were? I didn’t know any of those things, so starting with a cheap supermarket special and trading up is a reasonable move, I’d say, for someone without any previous experience of bandsaws. 👍👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop Hi, yes I had used bandsaws prior to my purchase and knew that they were a workshop essential. Possibly more versatile than a circular table saw. I totally understand the logic behind buying cheap and if you don't know how much you are likely to use an item, then it can initially make sense. I know a chap who gets through a couple of cheap multi tools each year and could save himself a fortune by buying better quality tools less frequently. Buy cheap, buy twice...........or even more......
Your reviews are honest and of great value to many. I just wanted to add a different perspective.
Not available to delivery to my area in the UK (mainland of Scotland) according to their site this evening - and no C&C options.
Nice review of use Pete, the fence is like a miniature version of my bosch table saw. I might look into getting this as tge titan is good but limited
Cheers Dan! Yes, I upgraded from the Titan to this and it's different animal altogether! 👍
Good review - done at pace.👍
Thanks Norman! 👍
Now on sale today
Saw Delayed coming soon at Aldi
Even though it's been a long time the machine still looks good
Got one of these and set it up today. I’m getting horrendous vibrations, the whole thing is wobbling like a washing machine on a spin cycle. I’ve ordered a tuffsaw replacement blade so I hope that helps. I’ll also try the rubber feet trick. Fingers crossed. Out of stock again so it’ll be a refund if not.
Really useful thanks 👍
Brilliant, thank you
Great review Peter. I had the Scheppach badged version before sending it back. Vibration was awful, worse the table dipped in the centre. Was impossible to square the blade to the table. I put an engineers square to the right of the blade set table square, put the square left of the blade and it was out. Also varied depending on the size of the square! Ended up spending loads more for one with a cast iron table.
Thanks Adrian! Yes, cast iron is the way to go if you want it superflat! 👍
Which one did you get? Is it good?
@@chrisohanlon69 I got Record Sabre 350. Which does very well. The job I needed the saw for was completed successfully, it was to cut out the mould for a small cello from a 70mm thick plywood sandwich. The cut was easy (using an appropriate blade) and importantly square! Of course the Sabre is a considerable investment compared to the Scheppach, but does open up further possibilities, such as resawing ribs (I’m a hobby luthier). I probably could have managed with the smaller Sabre but they were out of stock.
@@adriancarpenter4493 ok thank you that's very interesting as I was thinking of having a go at making a guitar
You could probably balance the wheels if you like to tinkering.. thanks for the heads up..
Great job👍
In stock as of today, 25 Nov 21…and according to website 85 sold in the last 24 hours…err, make that 86!
Where's the sold count AAMOI? I've just added one to it.
I tried to buy one of these last year, but Aldi flat out refused to sell me one online as I live in a 'remote area'. I'm 15 miles north of Aberdeen, which is hardly remote!
In Scotland we are regularly penalised with higher delivery charges, but for a national retailer to simply exclude a large part of the country seems unjust. This is especially frustrating when they featured the bandsaw in their special 'Scottish' leaflet, and I have an Aldi store 10 minutes from my house!
What's the furthest north anyone has managed to get a bandsaw delivery from Aldi? And how about Cornwall, Wales, Isle of Man etc as I know you folks can also suffer the same delivery issues.
I think I saw one once in Inversneckie, but I might be thinking of their table-saw (which I they definitely had in stock yesterday)
I got one in Capel Garmon, Conwy Valley
Welcome to our world. In Northern Ireland we are pretty sick of "Mainland Delivery Only". Even worse are the ones that say "free UK delivery" when they mean free GB delivery.
Here from "across the pond" as they say Aldi only sells food, I guess feedback to them is in order.
Dang that seems to be a nice saw. I have a JET 14" and have been tempted to get a smaller bandsaw for those small jobs. So far the need has been equally small. :^)
Thank you : )
This one looks very different to the one that I bought a few months ago (I'm in australia). Yours looks alot more robust and the fence is better too.
They make an 8” which is a lot lighter-weight - maybe it was that one? I had one of those ~3 years ago, and it was decent for the money, but later versions were progressively poorer, esp. with the blade running off the wheels. 🤷♂️👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop thanks for the info Peter. You're likely right.
Nice. I have a titan. changing the blade is a real pain but I might be doing something wrong.
I had the titan before this, no problem changing blades. Link in the description to where I go through that on the makeover. 👍👍
Great video Peter. I bought one of these when they first came out as its 550w motor outshone most of the competition. I really liked the fence and extending table, had no vibration issues and the blade squared up nicely, however after 9 months daily use, the blade tensioner bolt sheared when I was re -tensioning the blade. Having released the tension on the blade many times, it was a bit of a puzzle why this happened. I was within my 3 year warranty and to be fair Aldi offered me a refund, but not a replacement due to being out of stock. So I decided to seek a replacement part. Said part came from Sheppach Germany and took 3 months to arrive. Fitted and within two months sheared again! Then Brexit happened and the replacement took five months to arrive and came with no less than eight customs forms, but the same problem happened again. I called Sheppach spares to see if I could buy half a dozen of these tensioner bolts only to be told it was a common fault due to manufacturing issues in China and there was a long waiting list for the parts! So I called Aldi customer services and after a lot of wrangling, received my full refund. Pity as apart from this fault with the blade tensioner, I really liked the saw and agree completely with your assessment.
Thanks Dawn! Wow, what a tale of woe! I haven't take n a close look at the tensioner bolt, I must confess, but I may well do now! Such a shame, as it's a cracking little saw! 👍
Had the same issue. I replaced the nut with some washers an a connection nut (i dont know how you Call that sort of nut in english but its more than twice as long as a normal nut and you use it for the connection from threaded rods) and a ratchet replaced the original knob for tension.
You might contact a good machinist and see if they could make you a “good” replacement in short order.
Cool thanks Peter :)
🙌 Thank you! 👍
Great review Peter, I will definitely consider this as an upgrade to my smaller saw. Can I ask where you heard they would be available again soon?
It was advertised on the Aldi website or in a mail shot as available this week, but has since been marked as ‘delayed, coming soon’. 🤷♂️
Hi Peter, my not overly expensive Metabo BAS 260 swift bandsaw has balanced wheels - with a kind of weights clamped on the wheels as you find on car wheels as well to balance for the tiers. And apart from that may be and apart from the colour it looks remarkably the same.
May be next to “drill-press-city” there is a “band-saw-city” in China, where all these are manufactured?
That’s interesting Wino - I hadn’t considered trying to balance the wheels! And yes, I’m sure there’s a bandsaw city out there! 😂👍
I done a video on this saw too. Brilliant for the money
Thanks! Post a link! 👍
Unfortunately it looks like the saw is no longer going to be available. It does not appear on the 'coming soon' page, and the header to the product description has been updated to note it is no longer available. If anyone can recommend something like for like under £250, that would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your recent e-mail link re this saw. I have ordered one and also ordered a
new blade via your link on this page so the only thing left to get are the rubber feet or
a set of the Staedtler rubbers. Decisions, decisions! I'm a bit wary of buying rubber feet as
sometimes the rubber is very hard. Can you please recommend some feet that are as soft
as the Staedtler rubbers (which are great pencil erasers by the way). Thanks.
Haven’t found anything yet that beats a staedtler rubber for the feet, but if I donI’ll let you know! 👍
@@10MinuteWorkshop Thanks, I'll go for the Staedtlers then.
I changed my blade over after the first time of use when it flew off the wheels, jammed and broke. Blades of the required length were not available in retail stores here, so one had to be made. I like my saw, it does everything I want of it.
HOWEVER, the vertical sliding mechanism for height adjustment of the bearings has a metal toothed gear running in a plastic toothed strip attached to the frame. The first time I tried winding it, it jammed, and I took it apart to find that the teeth on the wheel do not mesh with the strip as required. The is exacerbated by sawdust collecting in the gear wheel. It is very frustrating and so I rarely adjust this function as it takes 30 minutes or so to dismantle, clean, adjust and reassemble the fixture. My cost about half your cost, $159 in Ozzie Dollars from Aldi.
In the UK Axminster Tools do good quality 1790 mm blades, but yes there are places that will also make up to order at a reasonable cost and quality.
@@jeffeloso just bought my saw today. What tpi would you recommend, Mr Millard went for the 6
@@constanttruth1751 Hi 6TPI is a great general purpose pitch as long as the timber being cut is not too thick (say over 3 inches). I have a 14 TPI blade I keep for cutting acrylic sheet, and any thin material where I need a better cut finish - It will also cut thin aluminium quite well too.
Mine is branded as "Scheppach".