I’m finding out that a good bandsaw is one of the most versatile and valuable tools to have in a shop. So I’ve been trying to find the best bandsaw for the money that can cut everything from wood, plastics, steel or aluminum without breaking the bank. I’d really like to stay under $1,000 new, but it sounds like a good variable speed band saw is going to run about $1,600.

I know most bandsaws are not variable speed and it seems like they are mainly geared for cutting wood, but after researching it sounds like it’s best to cut metals at a lower speed than most bandsaws are set at.

So do you guys have any issues cutting various metals with the high rpm single speed bandsaws? I’m mainly going to cut metals on mine and like the idea of a variable speed saw, but if I can save $600 or $700 and get a fixed speed unit then that might be the way to go as well.

Here’s the Jet variable speed bandsaw:

Here’s a good bang for the buck and highly rated single speed bandsaw: