Recommended Tools and Machinery for Your Team's Machine Shop

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Nemo

Earlier this year we bought the Porter Cable Vertical Band Saw that Lowes currently has for $450. It's annoying that you basically can't find a bandsaw under $5-10K that runs in the 500-1000 ft/s range that you're supposed to run when cutting aluminum. I got this one because it looked decent, and it has a 1600 ft/s speed. Most of the low price vertical saws run at about 2500 ft/s since people typically want to cut wood. We tossed an 18 tooth per inch bimetal blade on this saw, and we've been pretty happy with it so far.

Would an ordinary (too fast) bandsaw with a VFD have worked?