Personally I love my harbor freight bandsaw. It is family-friendly in that I can be cutting stuff in the basement w/o making a bunch of racket like an abrasive chop saw would make.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762

$250 for the above guy, not too much above your budget. If you sign up for coupons you can probably get a 20% off coupon at some point, which would put it at $200.

my 2 cents,

John

 

Depending on where you live and what stores you have available, a bandsaw can be bought for a little under 200.

 

I have a Harbor Freight and Tractor Supply hear in town, as far as cheaper stores go. Like John said I can get a band saw at either for 250-275... but $200 is at the upper range already.

To tell the truth, I'm surprised you guys would vote for the bandsaw over a dry-cut chop saw.

 

Minner, if I had to choose between the chop saw and the circular saw, I would go for the chop saw.

Runchman suggests a decent alternative. The HF bandsaw can be tweaked to give good accuracy (read: straight cuts) for home shop use without too much effort.

Which ever way you go, it will beat the hell out of a hack saw!!


Rex

 

If you have a Tractor Supply, get the 4x6 metal cutting band saw. I have one & am still using the original blade that came with it. It cut almost perfect out of the box (luck of the draw) & I just built a new stand for it to get rid of that flimsy sheet metal stand.

I have a little 5'x8' metal shed outside my garage I store it in & with the new stand, it takes up even less room in it. Your neighbors will appreciate you getting the bandsaw, especially late in the afternoon or early mornings.

 

Never use a Circular saw for cutting metal!! If the blade catches in the metal it will climb out of the metal and kick back on you or the power cord! And thats the least that could happen! The worse would be on kick back onto you and __________________. I had a friend that tried this and when the circular saw kicked back it wound up in the power cord and his hand! It cut off both the cord and two fingers on his.

Use a chop saw has it has built in safety features. And always wear a pair of heavy gloves. Better to nick the gloves than your hand.

 

We are talking about a saw designed for this purpose. Like: http://www.mytoolstore.com/milwauke/6370-21.html

 

i just hatethe sound and dirt from a chopsaw. you can find a portaband for less than $200...

 

Chop saw - fast, loud, usually not all that accurate

Circular saw - portable, usage depends greatly on the blade (carbide-tipped steel-cutting circular saw 7-1/4 inch diameter blades for cutting material up to about 1/8 inch thick can run about $30-$50 or so per blade). I've seen and/or used such blades in a 5000 rpm 7-1/4 inch dia circular saw by brands Freud (Diablo Steel-Demon http://www.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=122-990&search=Freud&smode= ), Lenox, and MetalDevil. Check the blade's listed RPMs before use! Some of the carbide-tipped ferrous-cutting blades are made for slow-speed saws, and a few are made for high-speed saws.

Band saw - slower than a typical chop saw, usually quieter than a chop saw, usually more accurate than a chop saw

And I really can't think of any ~$200 slow-rpm carbide-tipped steel-cutting 'chop' saws.

A $200 power miter saw with a carbide blade (for cutting WOOD and -maybe- some lightweight aluminum with the appropriate carbide blade), sure.

A $200 abrasive (usually 14 inch diameter discs/blades) chop saw, sure.

But the 'industrial' steel-cutting carbide-tipped 'cool' cut saws (lower rpm than the typical 14inch abrasive chop saw) usually cost much more than $200. Heck, the blades themselves can cost around $200 (give-or-take)! http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDF...m/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=1465&PMT4NO=55920449&PMT4TP=*ITPD&PMITEM=74242561&PMCTLG=00

You have to decide where you can accept the various trade-offs between the different types of saws.

 

The dry cut steel chop saw is on clearance for $200 here locally. I wouldn't buy an abrasive chopsaw.

 

Minner,

Bottom line. No one saw is going to be good at everything.

I have and use all three (four if you count the abrasive chop saw).

The Milwaukee 8" metal cutting saw (similar to a skilsaw) is great for ripping plate from thin gauge (with the proper blade) up to about 3/8".

The bandsaw is quiet and yields quality cuts. It is slower than a cold cut saw.

The cold cut saw (PC 1410) is great for tubing, angle, and strip. Quick and very accurate cuts. Just be sure to properly clamp the work well, especially when doing angle cuts. The carbide blade will tend to "pull" the work into the blade. I use an additional clamp in addition to the standard clamp. The cold cut saw is not to be used on rebar or stainless steel. That's where the abrasive chop saw comes in.

The abrasive chop saw is good for rebar, stainless, and other material you just don't want to risk a $100 blade cutting. Not clean, not very accurate, but makes two pieces from one. Also makes quite a mess.

Then there's the plasma. I use a Hypertherm Powermax 1250 (80 Amps). Machine's a beast. Cuts everything from 24ga to 1"+. Fast and great quality cut. Downside is it's a pretty expensive machine. Also, plasma cut edges (especially aluminum) still have to be prepped prior to tig welding.

With that said, I think the bandsaw would be your best bet for the home shop (garage). Not fast but will get the job done. Cleanup is easy. Even the cold cut saws tend to "throw" chips all over.

I find it hard to believe that a "decent quality" cold cut saw can be had for <$200. I suspect you're looking at a "cheap" knockoff. Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt, Evolution, etc, all make excellent cold cut saws, but they tend to be in the $500+- range.

Personally, a small bandsaw, a cheap skilsaw with a Bullet Industries metal cut blade, and a handful of grinders will get most thing done in a small shop.

 

Get the band saw and set it up like Marks. That would be my first project. I have a chop saw and only use it when I buy steel (so I can fit it my car) I look like a ******* with steel sticking out of the windows but who cares!!!

 

Thanks for the replies guys.