hi there ive just bought my band saw from machine mart on a vat free night its far better than using my chop saw no noise no sparks and no dust everywhere its a great bit of kit £149 ,nige
just a small word, the blade that cae with the clarke bandsaw that i had managed only a very small number of cuts (less then 20) before it snaped. best get a couple of spares before you start any long jobs.
The bandsaw blades that come with oriental machines are not very good, they tend to shear teeth quite quickly, best get a starret blade, they are very good and the hardening process is done correctly, should last a fair while. Even Axminster blades are quite good being made in Devon at their own plant, quality is bound to be better in most cases compared to buying an oriental blade.
By the way you will get more accurate cuts if you support the saw as it cuts into the steel thereby cutting more slowly, letting it cut under its own weight is too much pressure for an accurate cut.
i got a bandsaw from Warco Tools, about £150. It works great but took a little fettling to get it right. The mitre guage was about 10deg out, the belt wasn't tracking too good and one of the plastic knobs fell off.
All easy to fix and its transformed it. Yes, the blades that come with are Crap, lost all the teeth off one in 4 cuts. I cut a lot of 2mm wall 1" box section and its a bit rough on the teeth. Got some 24tooth blades and increased the tension on the balance spring to lighten the cut and it workd great.
The biggest i've done is 45degree cuts in 100x50x6mm box! It took it's time with a 14tooth, but it made all 20 cuts easy and the blade is still going.
For what it cost, i dont think it can be beaten. I do however use a chop saw with toothed blade for aluminium, bloody noisy though!