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