The 10" Delta bandsaw that Cory pointed you to will work fine for cutting aluminum. The trick is to use the correct blade. What you want is about a 14TPI blade for non-ferrous metal. In a pinch I have made do with 4-6TPI “skip tooth” blades but they are not ideal. When picking out a bandsaw it might be helpful to check around locally for what size bandsaw blades are available in your area. Narrow your saw selection to what blades are available quickly. Invariably the blade will snap at the most inopportune time and when you don’t have a spare handy. Unless you are equipped with a box of blade stock and a bandsaw blade welder to make your own you will most likely need that replacement blade late some Saturday night when it isn’t available. Keep spare blades in your shop.
In addition to the 10” bandsaw that Cory mentions, Delta also has a
couple of 14” models that would work nicely as well depending on your budget. The advantage to the Delta machines is that they are available from Lowes so if you have a Lowes locally you can probably find them in there and the correct length blades to match. What are not so common locally are blades to cut aluminum rather than wood.
A year or so I snagged a great deal
on a great
Hitachi CB13F 12” bandsaw from Lowes on clearance for $200. They are now a bit hard to find but if you can find one I can tell you for certain that it works great on aluminum. I have cut up to ˝” 6061 plate and bet it could cut thicker but I have never needed to. The nice thing about my Hitachi saw is that it takes 80” blades. Sears/Craftsman used to sell a model 22432 12” bandsaw that was almost identical to the Hitachi CB13F. This makes finding a local replacement 80” blade made to cut aluminum a snap. I just head to the Sears in the mall and grab
some of these. I usually by 3 or 4 at a time when I get down to my last blade on the saw. They last a good while. I think we went through about 2 or 3 this build season and we used the bandsaw a LOT.
As far as a benchtop drill press, we have a slightly older model of one of
these but without the laser. I personally don’t see the big need for a laser on a drill or saw but I guess they are all the rage these days. I personally have a radial benchtop drill press from Harbor Freight for $150 (they no longer sell that model) and either do just fine. We must have drilled a few thousand “lightening” holes with that old Delta benchtop drill press over the build season and it never missed a beat. For a benchtop drill press just head to your local Lowes or Home Depot and get whatever benchtop drill press you can afford and have the space for. They aren’t that complicated of a machine and they are all about the same. I would recommend getting the largest you can though. Those really small ones are just too small to be real useful.
Finally, if you can find an older used Delta bandsaw I think the quality was better than the new stuff but I guess that is the case with any power tool these days. They just don't make 'em like they used to. Too much plastic these days. I would much prefer to have a sturdy tool over a laser line. I know how to use a square and a pencil and can make my own line.
I may be a little slow responding, I'm shoveling snow. - Mark McLeod [more] 
27-04-2007, 18:57
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