Einhell Digital Benchdrill - Coming Soon to Aldi

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seanf

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Hi All,

Has anyone got any experience of the Einhell Digtal Benchdrill coming soon to Aldi? I'm looking for something fairly small and cheap mainly for drilling hinge holes in cabinet doors and the like and this seems like it would be good and the digital speed control quite useful

Sean
 
I’ve decided to go ahead and order this. Seems comparable with the similar Bosch model that is generally well reviewed. I can always return if not happy

Sean
 
The only thing I can say, and it's not about that drill in particular, is that Einhell is a well-known "low end of the market" purveyor of both tools they've "designed" themselves and of "badge engineered" cheapo stuff, all mainly made in China, and as far as Einhell is concerned, with no apparent assembly or other QC before the item leaves the factory.

My own experience of Einhell (having bought several of their tools - not any more though) is that you need to be VERY careful. I have a couple of Einhell tools which have been surprisingly good for the money, and three which have been/ought to be/soon will be simply scrapped!

The one good thing is that if it comes from Aldi, you have, as you say, got that 3 year guarantee to fall back on.

But one word of warning - if that drill needs any sort of spares and/or consumables (I do NOT mean drill bits of course!) make sure you buy that/those item/s at the same time as you buy the new drill, either from Aldi (if available) or direct from Einhell's (separate) spares organisation in Germany. If it comes to it, I can help you with contact details for Einhell's spares people (forget what they're called just now, but their web site should show it).

Good luck.
 
I believe this is the one I have. Horrendous play in the pillar linking mechanism, the entire body moves a couple of mill side to side. Cheap is the word. It'll be getting replaced eventually but suffices for now.
 
Got to say I much prefer the small belt drive pillar drill sold by WICKES, Machine Mart and so forth. At least its made of cast iron, and will probably last longer. The vice that comes with the Aldi one looks a bit of a joke too.
 
Thank you, I’ll bear this in mind when testing. Was this straight out of the box?

Sean
Yes and I haven't stripped it down to see if there is anything to be tightened. Essentially it seems to be the stepper mechanism to raise and lower the drill is largely plastic with vague tolerances. A small play there translates to imprecise drilling, but as i don't need precision, it doesn't bother me much. I wouldn't like to try to machine small parts, though...

It suits me fine but
 
Personally, the only thing I can see "wrong" with the drill linked to above is that apparently you have to "lift" that table up and down on the pillar. On my own similar but larger Rexon bench top drill, there's a rack & pinion table height adjuster (which is just as well, 'cos the table on mine is HEAVY)! But mine has the double belt drive, no gearbox, same as that linked machine (a geared machine was outside my budget). That's frankly a bit of a PITA to change speeds (I have to get on a stool to get up there, near the ceiling of my cellar shop to change speeds). As a result mine is more or less permanently set at one of the lower speeds unless it's REALLY necessary to change speed.

No idea what the chuck and run out is like on that linked machine is though.
 
Yes that looks like the one. I have the Wickes version, but dare say they all come out of the same factory. Not bad for the money for doing little stuff. Mine has proved very handy. The chucks on the big machines I have only go down to about 5mm, so this is good for stuff below that. It doesn't have any adjustment for the clearance round the quill, so once that gets worn it would probably get a bit of play. I have had mine for about 10 years and use it a lot, still going strong.
 
Just noticed the price, I think it was less than £50 when I bought mine !
Certainly makes it harder to get started when even basic tools are not so cheap! Thanks for your thoughts

Sean
 
Got to say I much prefer the small belt drive pillar drill sold by WICKES, Machine Mart and so forth. At least its made of cast iron, and will probably last longer. The vice that comes with the Aldi one looks a bit of a joke too.
Even better a naerok drill usually in a olive green colour....

Cheers James
 
Even better a naerok drill usually in a olive green colour....

Cheers James
Yes they are very good, but if you are prepared to buy second hand then the world is your oyster, there are plenty of very good machines out there. I assumed the OP is looking for a new machine. Have to say far too much plastic and cheap alloy on the Einhell one for my liking. Looking at the prices and spec I would have to say the Clarke/Wickes type looks more versatile and better value. I supposed it depends what value you put in the convenience of the speed adjustment, rather than having to move the belt for the different speeds. Not an issue for me, but might be for some.
 
I have two pillar drills - one is in my modest 6 x 8ft garden workshop - the other in my brick double garage adjacent to my little metalworking lathe (a very old German Lorch watchmakers lathe). I'm just a hobbyist - my main interests are woodturning and the restoration of vintage valve radios, which, as well as electronics, involves a range of other tasks such as veneering, cabinet making and metalworking.

My workshop drill a 'FERM' brand nine-speed drill bought cheaply from a friend ten years ago, misguidedly thinking it would be more versatile replacement for the five-speed one I'd had for some years before that (later passed on to another chum). Surely 9 speeds are better than five - what's not to like? In theory yes, but in practice, whereas the five-speed drill had two pulleys and one belt, so changing the belt position on the pulleys could be done in a jiffy, the nine-speed drill has two belts and three pulleys, so changing the speed is such a faff that it's almost always set on 780 RPM, which I've found to be a reasonable compromise for drilling wood, MDF, aluminium, brass and steel. This is a classic case of 'more' being 'less' - in practice, my 'nine-speed' drill has become a 'fixed-speed' drill by default.

My second drill was an impulse buy from Aldi - a 'lockdown' Christmas present to myself in Dec 2020. It's similar, but not identical to the Einhell one presently on offer, and is branded Scheppach. I bought it to save me going back and forth from the garage to the workshop on occasions. It has a keyless chuck, laser 'cross hairs', a light, a digital speed and depth indicator, and the speed can be varied from 500 to 25,000 RPM. (The light, the speed indicator and cross hair display can be switch on or off as desired and has no effect on the drill).

What I hadn't appreciated before I bought it, was that the 'whining' of the integral motor would be so very noisy. Unsurprisingly, the whining noise increases in frequency and amplitude as the speed is increased, to a deafening level at maximum speed. Highly unlikely that I'd want to ever use it at top speed, (noise wise, think 'hammer drill on top speed with a 15mm masonry bit drilling into brick'), but even at low speeds I wouldn't use it without ear defenders.

As to the keyless chuck, whereas on a hand-held power drill this is an asset as both hands can be used to tighten the chuck, I've found the keyless chuck on the pillar drill fiddly to adjust because you really need three hands - two to tighten the chuck, and one to stop the drill bit dropping out of the chuck until it's tightened. Conversely, with a keyed pillar drill chuck, one hand can hold the bit - the other can tighten the chuck. I

It didn't come with a bench vice, but does have a useful clamp which slides up and down the pillar.

At the time, I think it cost about £120. However, at £160 for the present Einhell offering - twice the price of a small five-speed pillar drill - it wouldn't be on my shopping list. Incidentally, I've seen similar iterations of these electronically variable speed motors mounted horizontally in budget-priced woodturning lathes. Whereas a drill is used for a few minutes at a time, a woodturning lathe is often in use for hours on end. The noise level alone, apart from other shortcomings would make such a lathe a very poor choice and a chore to use.

The attached pics are:

1) The speed chart of my Ferm 9-speed drill.
2) The pulley speed adjustment diagram.
3) The three pulleys and two belts.
4) The Aldi Sheppach drill similar though not identical to the Einhell.

Hope that's of interest.
 

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You're much, much better off with a cheap conventional pillar drill, e.g. Clarke CDP5EB 5 Speed Bench Mounted Pillar Drill (230V) - Machine Mart - Machine Mart for £95. It's cast iron, has a standard induction motor (which you'll still be able to easily replace or service 50 years from now, with a bolt in replacement), has a standard B16 taper for use with different (better) chucks, and you can still change speeds on the rare occasions you need to, albeit ever so slightly less conveniently. Adding gimmicky electronics to machinery is mostly an exercise in planned obsolescence.

Alternatively you can get a good high quality and precise drill stand e.g. Drill stand / milling stand small Basic for a few more quid than the Einhell, and combine it with an old Makita/etc mains hand drill from eBay for a tenner.
 
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