aldi cement mixer?
 

Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

I want to mix some plaster for wall draughtproofing,
and some lime mortar for pointing some bits of walls
over the coming months and years...

[g]



http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_8777.htm
---
Cement Mixer
£99. 00 each *

A high-performance ‘mini mixer’ that’s ideal for small to medium-sized
DIY building projects.

* Drum capacity: 50 litres
* Water capacity: 44 litres
* Mixing weight capacity: 45kg/30 litres
* 200W motor
* Steel motor housing
* Drum speed 28-30rpm

Cement Mixer Tips

* Wear a face-mask – never breathe in cement dust.
* Wet concrete releases a skin-damaging alkali – wash it off
immediately with water if you’re splashed.
* Make sure you know where the mixer OFF switch is.
* With electric mixers, make sure the power supply is routed
through an RCD.
* Make sure the mixer is positioned on a firm and level surface
(preferably a slab of concrete that can be hosed down afterwards).
* It’s best to measure mix ratios in a bucket rather than by the
‘shovel load’.
* Start the machine running at 45°. Keep it running until all the
mixture is out.
* Add water in small amounts only.
* After use, clean the drum straight away with a shovel-load of
ballast and some water – let it run for 5 minutes. Tip out, then hose
thoroughly.

aldi cement mixer?
 

george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

I want to mix some plaster for wall draughtproofing,
and some lime mortar for pointing some bits of walls
over the coming months and years...

[g]

unless you are building something substansial, like an extension or a long
garden wall, I wouldn't waste your money.

You can't mix plaster in - it's for mortar and concrete only, also, it's a
PITA to find somewhere to put it when it's not in use.

you can hire them for a few quid a week.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

aldi cement mixer?
 

Phil L wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

I want to mix some plaster for wall draughtproofing,
and some lime mortar for pointing some bits of walls
over the coming months and years...

[g]

unless you are building something substansial, like an extension or a long
garden wall, I wouldn't waste your money.

You can't mix plaster in - it's for mortar and concrete only, also, it's a
PITA to find somewhere to put it when it's not in use.

you can hire them for a few quid a week.


why cant i mix plaster in it?

[g]

aldi cement mixer?
 

Lime mortar you can do very nicely with a mixing paddle attachment on
an sds drill (screwfix do the paddles). I measure out into a trug, mix
it there - keep it wrapped in a binbag - and knock it up again as I
need it.

I'm told lime mortar can be a bit too sticky for a mixer with the
blades in it - forms a clump that remains lodged - but that you can
cut the blades out with an angle grinder.

As far a mixers go, I always hire (when I'm doing concrete) - and have
found the belle minimix is a great deal more capable than the cheapies.

aldi cement mixer?
 

george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

I want to mix some plaster for wall draughtproofing,
and some lime mortar for pointing some bits of walls
over the coming months and years...

I bought one a couple of years ago, but in the end the project I bought
it for didn't come off, and having spent the best part of an afternoon
assembling the bloody thing - believe it or not it comes in a flatpack -
I decided to offload it on ebay (I think I made 20 or 30 quid profit on
the deal!).

It seemed reasonably solid, but my big problem with it was the overall
bulk of the beast. It's not possible to quickly and easily dismantle it
for storage, like the little Belle Minimix jobs you get from the hire
shops, so it occupied a big chunk of the garage.

David

aldi cement mixer?
 

In article ,
"george (dicegeorge)" writes:


Phil L wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

I want to mix some plaster for wall draughtproofing,
and some lime mortar for pointing some bits of walls
over the coming months and years...

[g]

unless you are building something substansial, like an extension or a long
garden wall, I wouldn't waste your money.

You can't mix plaster in - it's for mortar and concrete only, also, it's a
PITA to find somewhere to put it when it's not in use.

you can hire them for a few quid a week.

why cant i mix plaster in it?

I suspect you'd find it's not designed to mix at the right speed
(probably too slow), and it would take too long to clean it out
between mixings (plaster mixing implements have to be thoroughly
cleaned between each mixing). I just can't imagine it mixing
plaster to a smooth lump-free consistancy, but I've never tried.
I suspect a cement mixer actually relies a lot on the heavy
ballast to help with the mixing (i.e. the sand or gravel in the
mortar or cement) which isn't in plaster.

You mix gypsom plaster in a bucket with a powered plaster strirrer
(or with a stick if you're fit and not mixing it up all day long).
You could mix a sand and cement render in a cement mixer.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

aldi cement mixer?
 

wrote in message
...
Lime mortar you can do very nicely with a mixing paddle attachment on
an sds drill (screwfix do the paddles). I measure out into a trug, mix
it there - keep it wrapped in a binbag - and knock it up again as I
need it.

I'm told lime mortar can be a bit too sticky for a mixer with the
blades in it - forms a clump that remains lodged - but that you can
cut the blades out with an angle grinder.

As far a mixers go, I always hire (when I'm doing concrete) - and have
found the belle minimix is a great deal more capable than the cheapies.

I got a 150 belle minimix off ebay. The 110v versions were cheaper that the
240v ones but as I already had 2 transformers that suited me. It has got to
be the best mixer on the market for its money.

Storage is not usually a problem as someone usually wants to borrow it!

Adam

aldi cement mixer?
 

On 2 Feb, 18:23, "george (dicegeorge)" wrote:
Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

No. You're better off hiring, or else big readymix, unless you're in a
very narrow band where you want regular but low-volume use over a long
time. Otherwise owning your own mixer is a right old white heffalump
and you have to store the thing. You've also got to keep cleaning it
out after the neighbours borrowed it.

If you're commercial, go for a Belle because you can get the spare
bits whenever you need them (and it's 110V).

Only time I could see this working is if you were self-building a
house and doing it very, very slowly.

aldi cement mixer?
 

On Feb 3, 7:23 am, "george (dicegeorge)" wrote:
Is the aldi cement mixer at £99 a good buy?

I want to mix some plaster for wall draughtproofing,
and some lime mortar for pointing some bits of walls
over the coming months and years...

[g]

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_8777.htm

---
Cement Mixer
£99. 00 each *

A high-performance ‘mini mixer’ that’s ideal for small to medium-sized
DIY building projects.

* Drum capacity: 50 litres
* Water capacity: 44 litres
* Mixing weight capacity: 45kg/30 litres
* 200W motor

A 200W motor isn't very powerful - probably not enough to turn the
drum when full of concrete. My tiny electric drill is over 700W.

aldi cement mixer?
 

"Matty F" wrote in message
...



A 200W motor isn't very powerful - probably not enough to turn the
drum when full of concrete. My tiny electric drill is over 700W.

It will be an induction motor and very low geared.
You would be surprised how much better a good motor can be.