Morning,

Does anyone have any experience of Ferm tools from Screwfix. I'm interested in a couple of specific tools but would be interested in any opinions on reliability and spares availability.

First one is an 8 1/4" compound mitre cutting tool for 37.99 which I figure I can fit a metal cutting disc in order to cut the chassis parts. I realise I can do this with a hacksaw but I figure this would be slightly more accurate and powertools are cool

Second one is the 150T Ferm mig welder. Will this be up to the job of building the chassis? Would I be wise to spend an extra 150 quid () for the 180?

Thirdly I was going to buy a simple Ferm grinder but what is a linisher?

If I buy a pillar drill with a 16mm chuck, it it possible to buy a bit (?) to go in the chuck that will enable me to drill or mill a 40-50mm hole in aluminium or do I need to ask a mate with a lathe to do it? Can you buy bits that will cut a hole in the side of the tube at an angle (it seems to me like a normal bit would not bite properly)... this is leading to making throttle bodies such as I've seen in performance car magazine.

Thanks for any advice.

All the best,

Mark

my father has the mitre saw which he says is quite good considering it costs next to nothing, it has had hard use for about 18 months and apart from needing a new blade performed very well, my dad is a joiner so knows what hes talking about. i have one of these saws very similar anyway and i am having trouble finding a 210mm metal cutting disc any ideas?

welders
i have the equivalent welder from machine mart its fine for chassis and probably a lot more

i think a linisher is like a stationary upturned belt sander, not 100% though

i think that a high quality holesaw would cut ali(from draper or somthing) but that sort of thing is best done in miller or lathe, if you wanna diy it go for it,

p.s. good article in ppc ain't it!

[Edited on 20/8/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

The Ferm stuff in my experience is pretty decent for the money. I've used two of the 4.5" angle grinders, the circular saw, arc welder and little cheapy cordless drill. The only one I didn't think was much cop was the drill, chuck wasn't well aligned and the two-speed gearbox snuffed it after a while, one gear just mashes now. then again it was only £10 or something stupid though, can't expect much for that.

In general I'd buy their stuff, seems decent for the prices. Not sure about a MIG welder, it could be fine but I'd rather be sure with something that important / expensive.

i bought a ferm biscuit jointerwoodwork tool) from screwfix and a year and a half its still going well(probably pack in next time i use it).

Screwfix return policy is brilliant if anything goes wrong anyway. It doesn't cost you anything to send stuff back.I had a dearer 5" grinder from them and the brushes went out of warranty. I phoned to find if they did replacement brushes and the girl on the other end said it would be easier to swap it. I wasn't going to argue. They sent me a new one next day and I sent my old one back in the same box. I've found a source for brushes now as they don't do the grinder any more.

Most (well all) of my power tool's have been brough from Screwfix (it help's when the missus works for them) and I haven't had a problem with any of them, I've got three of their 4.5" grinders (only 6.99 each plus a discount!) and with the amount of abuse they all get, none of them have shown any signs of blowing up.
I've got one set up in the angle grinder stand they sell, it's not the best set up in the world but it does make it easier to chop through the odd bit of rhs or flat plate with nice straight edges. All I need now is to get a bigger garage to fit all the other stuff I want to get from them!

A little birdie has just told me that Screwfix are opening up 5 retail shop's around the place (not sure of location's yet) but I do know that the first will be in Taunton and is opening sometime next month. The shop in Yeovil is just down the road from me and is handy as, saves waiting for delivery. Will keep you posted when I hear about the other shop's, that's when the Queen stop's sending me off on little adventures.

Cheers
Chris

Ferm tools are great for the price. It was cheaper to get a whole drill and charger than just the charger base after a tw&t who was working with me had a little fall out.
Hard driving no bother and the grinder has been good.
On the welder side I would go Machinemart as the spares situation is good. You can get stuff for the machine no bother and you get light industrial machines for 150 £ on the special nites. Ask local manager vat free weekend date.

Good luck

homebase do an own-brand mitre cutting device for £30, with a 1200w motor. Not sure if it will take grinder bits but it seemed cheap.

i got a pillar drill made by ferm, it works well. There is a little wander in the chuck, and the platform bends a very small amount under pressure, but aside from that its a good tool, with many gears (never changed from slow though!).

quote:

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Originally posted by flyingkiwi
Most (well all) of my power tool's have been brough from Screwfix (it help's when the missus works for them) and I haven't had a problem with any of them, I've got three of their 4.5" grinders (only 6.99 each plus a discount!) and with the amount of abuse they all get, none of them have shown any signs of blowing up.

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I asked in B&Q about putting a Grinder disk on a "Miter SAW" and got told . NO won't work/dangerous.

fair enough, but they might just've been paraniod about getting sued! unless the disc disintegrates (surely a risk with any rotary grinding tool) then it cant be any more dangerous than usual, provided the gubbins to mount it are compatible.

the welder is a good buy. I bought the £200 one and its fine. two mates of mine who weld professionally tried it and were very surprised at how good it was. I haven't started on my locost yet but i have welded many random things round the farm with it and have had no problems on thicknesses as much as 6mm (the claimed max), and anyway I've been told anything more and you should be using arc. on the other hand, it copes very well with thin stuff too.

they don't sell a proper CO2 reg and adaptor so I had to get that from machine mart, whose customer service setup (not so much the individuals) is crap. they sent me the wrong size hose then ballsed about sending a replacement.

also got a £6.99 4.5inch grinder and the £19.99 9inch grinder, you can't complain for that price really. I have the 3 ton trolley jack and cross beam adaptor. out of the 3 ton trolley jacks I have used it is neither better or worse, but good value.

don't get the grinder stand, its crap. fit a metal cutting disc to a cheap mitre saw (argos £24.99)

their cobalt drills are excellent.

oh and their customer service is second to none

quote:

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Originally posted by JH
the welder is a good buy. I bought the £200 one and its fine. two mates of mine who weld professionally tried it and were very surprised at how good it was.

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yes it is mate

quote:

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Originally posted by mad4x4
I asked in B&Q about putting a Grinder disk on a "Miter SAW" and got told . NO won't work/dangerous.

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It was £95 years ago and it's been brilliant. Modify the adjuster bolt to make it into a thumbscrew by welding a piece of bar to the top and get the round file in there to increase the angles you can cut. Use Screwfix blades, they are loads better than MMarts version, cleaner and longer lasting.

re: different bore sizes

i got a bore adapter made by my local friendly engineering man, would have done it myself if i had repaired my lathe, only cost £2

only thing is my mitre saw takes a max 210 blade and the only abrasive ones i can find are 9"(230mm) i could use a part worn one though

i have found a slitting saw blade @ 8" so i will try that and see how it goes

Good call, bid against one of these... my ebay logon is dernian.

Thanks,

Mark