My 30 odd year old band saw ( made in Taiwan I think) is the most used thing in my workshop. On arrival I soon altered the switching arrangement, using a DOL starter and substantial micro switch. It came with a small table for vertical cutting, I made a larger one. Also, I fitted two wheels at the motor end so that I can move the machine about easily. I have a wood cutting blade and following an article in early MEW made a blade repair kit. There must be millions around the world and as the writer above says, I don’t know how I managed with out one for so long.  John

Are you looking for a floor mounted machine or a bench machine?  Even a hand-held?  What is your current saw that is in need of upgrading?  New or second hand?  Maximum size of cut required?

All useful information, before you get a load of unnecessary/unwanted advice.

My old band saw was a flimsy, badly designed, Warco that, other than the motor, was given to the council.

It was replaced by something far better:

JA

Initially, I tried a small (Warco) bandsaw, to store under the belt. It had a voracious appetite for blades, and its replacement arrived with a cracked casting.

Upgraded to the generic 6 x 4.5, where the blades lasted longer.

There was a problem with the flimsy, thin, bearing spacer. (Ruined the oil seal and the lower bearing) A new seal and bearings, with a home made sturdy bearing spacer solved that problem, and led to a careful set up.

After a lot of careful setting up, and making, and using a Blade Tension Meter, the blades wear out rather than break.

Time spent carefully setting up, alignment of rollers, tracking, and tension, is well spent and pays dividends.

Howard

It has now been in use for many years.

What’s meant by “decent”?  Stating the budget, how much cutting, and how accurate the beast needs to be would help.

• Decent for Me.  I have a Warco, rather like their current 4½” model, which might be improved.  Cost today £381.  It’s purpose is cutting stock approximately to shape, which it does.  Often used, but not heavily.  Arrived with several minor problems needing fettling and a too-cheap carbon steel blade that didn’t last.  Inspection revealed a reasonable basic design and solid construction, but poorly finished parts and a few slight assembly issues.  Most serious problem was being unable to adjust it enough to cut sufficiently straight. A few hours hand tool fettling fixed it; not a project.  Replacing the blade helped. Since worked OK for 10 years, no bother.  The first bimetallic blade lasted 8 years, second is still going strong.  Doesn’t cut perfectly straight, but so near I can’t be bothered to tweak it.   A thoroughly good buy.
• Decent for JA.   I guess JA is a more serious player than me.  Does more cutting and values accuracy and speed.  Not inclined to waste time fettling a brand-new saw. (Unlike a time-rich hobbyist seeing it as an interesting challenge or a good way of saving a few quid.) The Femi 782 is of similar design to the Warco, but considerably finessed; be surprised to find assembly issues or crudely finished parts inside.  Femi band-saws have a good reputation for reliability and accuracy.  Only fly in the ointment is cost:  from £589 up.

My rough Warco does all I need for nearly half the price of a Femi, which I call “decent”.  JA found his Warco wasn’t “good enough”, and replaced it.   His Warco wasn’t decent, found not “fit for purpose”, and replaced.  Quite right.   I guess it wasn’t a Warco 712B, yours for only £1569…

Offhand, I don’t know of a band-saw price-positioned between the Warco* hobby saws and the Femi.   Anyone?

Dave

*Similar saws available from other suppliers.

The Starrett saws and those from various other suppliers appear to be badged Femi units. The Femi saws are quite lightly constructed, but well designed, and work really well.

One big advantage they have is portability. I take mine when buying a 6 metre length of metal in order to cut it into manageable bits. Check the merchant will let you plug it in!

On 26 January 2026 at 16:41 Macolm Said:

The Starrett saws and those from various other suppliers appear to be badged Femi units. The Femi saws are quite lightly constructed, but well designed, and work really well.

One big advantage they have is portability. I take mine when buying a 6 metre length of metal in order to cut it into manageable bits. Check the merchant will let you plug it in!

I thought Femi were made in Italy.  My Starrett was made in Brazil.

Woops! The Femi is certainly made in Italy, and the bandsaws on the Starrett website are certainly not the same, so I think I was mistaken. I vaguely remember looking at the first Starrett bandsaw they marketed, and concluding it was the same as my Femi.

Femi certainly did supply badged saws to suppliers at one time. Mine is indeed a “Record”, and also has a Femi name plate with the characteristics. I have had it well over 20 years, and have never had to carry out any adjustment to the basic blade alignment. It is well worth buying superior quality bimetal blades for good results and durability.

I bought a Clarke one from Machine Mart about 10 years ago and it has been a boon, can be used in Horizontal mode for sawing through round bar etc and used it loads of times in the vertical position A La bandsaw for cutting sheet.

Just replaced bandsaw a couple of times, nothing else.

Bill D.

So Robert Dyas has a “Holzmann BS125M 400W Portable” bandsaw for £387 – it looks very similar to the Femi XL 782 but obviously only 400w vs 950w. Should I expect this to be of similar quality just a bit slower? Actually at Homebase only £345

Hi Clive, many thanks for your response (sorry for my delay!). I will follow your advice and focus on higher powered machines. I will keep an eye out for a bargain used Femi but the good reviews indicate owners might not be in a hurry to offload! Adam

IMHO though the Femi is a great machine their table is not so good – basically a casting and the top surface has a rough finish.  Stakesys sell one that I think is pressed steel and would probably be better.