Lidl Parkside branded powertools

[Chancer]

I have never been taken in by the soi disant "Marques de qualité" that both Lidl and Aldi create to pass off their budget Chinese powertools, not that there was anything wrong with the tools or even their prices just the stupid made up anglicised names that they chose did not, to me at least, lend an air of quality as intended.

I am now rethinking my position at least with regard to the Parkside branded powertools, the French DIY forums are awash with postings that they are made and distributed by Bosch and a friend of mine has long been telling me this, I have recently bought a detail sander reference PHS160 and can confirm that it is of the highest quality and to all intents and purposes and exactly the same animal as the Bosch PS160 sander that I have in the UK that cost a whole lot more, the mouldings are slightly different but it certainly comes out of the same factory and it has the Bosch patented features like the orientable head and superb dust collection system. If I close my eyes and rely on the other senses then its the same tool as my Bosch one.

Even before using it one Bosch feature had already virtually convinced me, the 4m long power cord something that all Bosch pro tools have and a few other makes like Makita but something I have yet to see on any sous marques.

There are a few left in some Lidls so if you are in the market for one then grab one quick, they take the standard velcro attach detail sander sheets which can be found cheaply in the UK although you have to search, the packets of multi grade ones that Lidl sell alongside the sanders are actually quite good value.

Its worth passing a critical eye over any other future Parkside tools when they appear on promo, when I have burnt out one or two cheap power tools from my intensive use I replace them with bosch or Makita, this could save me a lot of money.

Even though they probably aren't made by Bosch I have always been pretty impressed with all the other Parkside tools that I have bought from Lidl, I have a tiny pocket pen type diamond hone that I use all the time or router cutters, forstner and spade drills and even my wood chisels, unlike others that I have had this has has lasted for ages and not given up the diamonds.

[Théière]

Yep I have piles of velcro backed sanding disks, they are second only to the Metabo ones I buy.

The twist drills, little gems are actually 5% cobalt HSS and are really very good for the money but don't run them too fast they will drill easily through steel at screwdriver speed otherwise you'll burn them out. Wished I hadn't told you now they will probably be sold out everywhere [:(]