During the last cut of the last brass bar I was cutting for the first use of the bandsaw the blade broke at the weld! I was fortunate enough to have bought a bi-metal blade on eBay so I could carry on.
Phoning Machine Mart proved to be a less stressful experience that I expected. After being put through to 'some one in technical' I spoke to to their engineer who explained that whilst it was the blade, they needed to see if the machine caused it or whether it was a faulty blade.
My description was quickly accepted and the engineer said they would replace the blade even though it was classed as a 'consumable'. So that was good news. I went onto say I was pleased with the saw but the stand was rubbish! He said that a friend of his had bought the same model and held the same views as myself, he built a new stand for it. That convinced me that I should go the same route so as soon as some good weather comes, I will take my Mk Jaguar out of its comfy home and fabricate a stand in the resultant space.
20 minutes after finishing my call to Machine Mart I had a return call where I was told that the man responsible for retail blades would not open a pack of five for just one blade so they decided to send me a pack instead! Common sense but its nice I didn't have to fight for them. So well done Machine Mart and that's a gold star.........until the next time.......well done
About Mike Freeman
Hello, my name is Mike Freeman and I am a retired Chief Fire Officer from the United Kingdom with a keen interest in model engineering, silver caddy spoons and sea fishing. I live in the pretty fishing port of Brixham, South Devon, in the United Kingdom.
I am a sufferer of degenerative osteoarthritis, which impacts on the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, and is the reason why you will see seats and a stool in some of the photo's. I have only recently added the above sentence after a discussion with one of my Doctor's from the excellent pain clinic, based in Torbay. This does affect concentration one of the reasons why I double then re-double my measurements and set ups.
Before completing nearly 30 years of public service I and my wife Sandy, owned and ran, a small restaurant in Okehampton Devon. Prior to marriage I worked for my father in his various businesses, in the early days these were garages, which he bought in a run down state, then built them up before moving on, to start again.
I took every opportunity in those early days, to work in his workshop's
learning 'on the job' rather than as an apprentice. This, I suspect, is the reason why my building various model's in the early days, turned into model engineering, when funds allowed the required equipment to be bought.
My workshop comprises one half of a detached double garage. It has a
stud wall separating the two halves and unusually perhaps, its own
shower/toilet/washbasin compartment! (the true reason for buying the
bungalow - don't tell the wife!!!)
It is fully insulated with a ceiling and fluorescent lighting supplementing the one window. Several double electrical sockets are dotted around in
relevant positions.
Equipment consists of 2 lathes (1 Myford ML 10 and 1 Chinese variable
speed motor with etched glass DRO's), 1 milling machine (RF25 far East) floor standing pillar drill, Proxxon bandsaw, Warco bandsaw, 6" wire brush and polishing mop motor, 6" coarse and fine grinder, Proxxon mini drill, various benches and an engineers vice. I have just acquired a third lathe, a Myford ML7 which I am at present evaluating so I can decide which of the Myford's I will keep.
I have only just bought the Chinese lathe and had it fitted with DRO's prior to delivery. And what a bonus they are! So good in fact that I decided to buy another set for the Milling machine. Whilst my engineering experience can only be described as limited, I find the use of DRO's has affected my accuracy levels which have improved tremendously (although that's not saying much!) and would recommend their fitting to any model engineer.
Prior to retirement I built for my son's 17th birthday a Locost car. This
was a tremendous project and a great feeling when it passed its test. The book it was based on suggests it can be built for £250. Ours was nothing special in the sense of all new parts but still cost about £900 to build!
