I ordered the welder......(tool king rocks) but Im still undecided as to whether a 14 in. chop saw or a band saw would be better.....Ill get a little 4.5" grinder, but what would you guys do?

What are the pros and cons of a band saw over a chop saw? I found a craftsman '9 inch bandsaw' for sale locally, 50 bucks! it looks good.....And thats even cheaper than I could get a chop saw for....

Ive never really used either, so Im not sure......Im guessing that you can just make curves a bit easier with a band saw, huh? :D

Any help is great!

thanks again

I'm a Pipefitter by trade and I use a band saw every day at work and at home
I have both a Dewalt chop saw and a Porter Cable band saw,and I use the band saw 9 times out of 10.It is much cleaner and you don't have to worry about sparks shooting every were.

Just make sure you can purchase the band saw blades locally especially for the 9" craftsman.

Dito on the band saw!

What kind of band saw? portable, vertical, horizontal? If your looking at a vertical, I would go with that over the others. Watch out for most of that Craftsman stuff, it's mostly made in China.

BTW, what welder did you end up going with? I must of missed the end of your welder thread.

Im sorry to say that 99% of the stuff I found at Home Depot or Lowes was MIC......it really seems like there is no way around it. Ill definetly lean that way now.....I just hope it is still for sale!

It is not portable, vertical.

Heres the link: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/tls/134995767.html

I cannot tell much with the pic.....but it looks like it would cut a 5 in dia pipe, right? It says 9 inch, not sure exactly what that measures....

As for the welder, I bought a Factory recon'd Hobart 140 MIG. I thought a lot about 110 vs 220, and it sounds like most of the difference is in the duty cycle.....I am not welding professionally or anything, so I can wait....I also plan to add a stick welder, but Im gonna hold out for a good deal on that.

Well, scratch that link......looks like its wood only.

I was looking at the pics of the "band saw" and it looks like a jig saw to me which would be used for more trimming of light gauge metal nothing to thick.As it states that it is for wood so more than likely you would have to change the blade to a metal one.

The band saw I have is a portable saw some times referred as a porta-band-

http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=547&p=2761

That bandsaw is for cutting wood. What you are looking for is a metal cutting bandsaw. Slower blade speed. Either the horizontal type that clamps the workpiece while the saw is lowered through the cut, or the vertical type where the workpiece is pushed through the cut. Vertical saws are more versatile (you can cut curves, etc.) but more dangerous to use. Maybe look for one that works both ways, or an inexpensivehorizontal saw and a chopsaw. You really can do a lot with just a cut off wheel and a grinder.

had a neighbor who needed some fields worked traded couple hours of discing for a china built horizontal bandsaw. now this thing is cheeeep. had it 12 years at least just keeps on sawing. make sure you can cut angles on what ever you buy. I have an old mil. chop saw that is retired in corner of shop never use it since bandsaw showed up. most of these little bandsaws will shut off automaticly so you can get the next part ready to go while saw runs. my vote is for a horizontal band saw. see them used on craigslist.

If you are handy, you can convert most any wood saw to metal with a change of pulleys, to slow the blade. The 9" refers to the distance from the blade to the left support arm. IOW the length of piece you can cut.

Hmmm.....Im still poking around. I looked at a Delta at lowes, but a close inspection showed cheapy plastic parts for moving the table.

What is IOW?

Thanks all

What is IOW?

In Other Words.

Jim

IMO if you want a vertical bandsaw, look around on ebay for an old Doall, or some other american manufacter. The old stuff is built to last and items like bearing, guides, and electrics can be replaced easily.