Warco 712 Bandsaw

Hi, Am contemplating buying the Warco 712 Bandsaw, fed up with my old Axminster 6 x 4, have any of you purchased this machine, your thoughts and ideas would be very helpful.

Richard

My thoughts.

At that price point it should be good.

I expect there are other suppliers selling that same machine - just cloned with different paint and likely a different price?

What makes you fed up with your present machine?

Was it better at first, than now?

Will this one go the same way?

Maybe a decent/proper overhaul/repair might be a cheaper, but satisfactory, option?

Society is too much ‘throw away and buy new’ these days.

Are you intending to scrap your machine or sell it on to a possible unsuspecting buyer?

More than enough of my thoughts. I’ll stop here.

That's a heck of a lot of money for a hobby bandsaw. You haven't said to what uses the saw will be put so may be you need a machine of that nature. I have the Warco 41/2 inch saw currently available for £325 and from a lot of other suppliers at varying prices.

I find it to be a more than adequate size for my modelling needs and with a bimetal blade from Tuffsaws plenty fast and accurate enough.

Jim

Is there any reason to think that the essential components of the 712 are any better (or worse) than those of the cheaper Warco models?

Let's hope it will soon be possible to visit Warco et al and see such machines working!

Many buget bandsaws are dumped for lack of careful setting up when wear starts to make then inaccurate or the guide bearings get slack. I have been given 2 over the years and all they needed was some TLC and a good blade. Do you really need a new saw ? Noel.

My 4 1/2 Warco saw was not particularly good. When the tinplate bearing spacer ruined the lower bearing and oil seal on the shaft, after replacing the damaged bits, some time was spent checking, cleaning up and adjusting things.

Noel's advice to adjust everything carefully is good.

After mine had been set up, it was probably a never to be repeated event, but a trial cut of about 1/16" measured 0.001" difference in thickness.

But overall, it was greatly improved, and no longer cuts in an arc.

Having set the tension with a Tension Meter, ( to the Jacques Maurel design ) it cuts well, straight, and blades seem to wear out rather than breaking.

Howard

For that kind of money, I,d be looking for more than a bandsaw for hobby use !!!!!!

Hi Howard, do you have a reference for the tension meter design?

regards

Gray

My band saw came years ago from Graham engineering (I think. Or was it excel?) Reduced price at the end of Harrogate The blade carrier arms are of pressed steel rather than the usual casting. Had a few problems, the angled saw carrier wasn’t square and had to be bushed and rebored , it took a lot of attempts to get it to cut straight, but now with the addition of a piece of angle bolted in line with the fixed jaw I can cut very small stuff and even recently did a vertical cut in aluminium 8” long, it went straight down the line leaving it perfectly square n parallel. They just take time to set up. I am thinking of adding a dash pot but. It works ok , used virtually every day now it’s in the extended workshop and not in the garage and there’s always more interesting stuff to do.....
the Warco is very expensive my Bridgeport cost less......

Edited By Zan on 03/04/2021 13:50:42

Hi Guys,

Having acquired a damaged 6X4 bandsaw and completely refurbished it for very little money, its a machine that with a little care and careful adjustment I wouldn't be without. So I wholeheartedly agree that they are machines that are worthy of attention. Though the pressed sheet metal frame ones are not worth wasting time on.

Machine Mart keep a full range of spares for them.

Almost forgot !  You can get an idea of blade tension by tapping the blade with a 8" screwdriver handle.  When its tight enough you can hear it twang.

Edited By John Baron on 03/04/2021 14:56:42

I have a an old Graham Engineering 6 x 4 It was awful and was dumped in a corner for years. I then decided to fix it. Now cuts superbly and I am very pleased with it.

Just looked up the price of a Warco 712. I don't usually comment, but I am afraid "more money than sense" leaps to mind.

Andrew.

Gray 62.

The Jacques Maurel Tension Meter was published in the June 2016 Issue of Engineering in Miniature, on page 412

Basically, the blade needs to be tensioned so that it extends by 0.05 - 0.07mm. I set mine to 0.05 mm.

Howard

Perhaps I was lucky, but my 6x4 Chinese band saw has done all I ever asked of it over the last 20 years, and it has been sorely tested more than once. I think I would look very hard before parting with that kind of money.

As another post said, the frames that come with these saws are crap, but it,s easy to build a proper frame, and then it,s all plain sailing. You could buy a lot of kit for that kind of money.

Maybe I shall get a lot of flak for my thoughts on this thread but isn't it just a bit presumptuous of us to be questioning the OP's reasons behind his request?

He wanted feedback from those with experience of use of a Warco 712 bandsaw, not a barrage of reasons why he shouldn't be thinking of spending his money buying one.

Taking cover now

Brian

Hi Brian!

Yes agreed.

Not flak, but an explanation?

I gained the impression that the reason for contemplating the purchase was dissatisfaction with a present 6 x 4 bandsaw, so a lot of us chimed in suggesting means whereby it MIGHT be possible to bring the existing machine to an acceptable level of performance, thereby savinng his money.

Please correct me if I am wrong

Howard

Hello Howard,

I can see all the well intentioned reasons why people should respond to Richard's request for views in the way that they have, but I couldn't help feeling that the overall flavour coming over was that we all knew better than him and he should get his Axminster machine to do what it should rather than just dump it.

One such comment was especially close to the bone in my view by even suggesting he might perhaps sell it on to an unsuspecting buyer

He will have his reasons for wanting to make the change and we are entirely wrong to question them, whatever we may personally think.

Brian

Edited By Brian Wood on 04/04/2021 11:09:59

The OP asked for thoughts and ideas on the purchase of a particular bandsaw. There have been no responses on that tool to date so I think that offering opinions on how to save a wad of cash on an alternative that many people find adequate could be helpful unless there is an unstated reason why that particular item is necesssary. (Bearing in mind that when I say I need a particular tool what I really mean is that I want it and that is nobody's business but mine.)

Jim

When someone asks for peoples opinions on a particular tool/material/process or other, so long as those responses are well meant and honest comments what's the problem? Surely the dissemination of knowledge and opinions is the res on detra of this community.

Guy

Most likely Richard also wants the extra capacity (180x300) offered by the 712, but if not like many who have commented I would certainly look at improving the performance of the existing machine before going ahead with another purchase.

Emgee

The OP could get the discussion back on track by responding to comments.

I agree that there is a tendency to adopt a "I wouldn't go to Cork from here" attitude.