I am in the process of making my own budget vertical metal bandsaw. I
bought an old 14" Taiwanese wood bandsaw on Craigslist. A real old one
is good because it's heavier than the newer ones. I got a 30:1 gear
reducer on ebay for about $50 shipped. With 14" saw wheels, and a 1725
RPM motor, 30:1 gets you 210 fpm if you use direct drive with some
Lovejoy couplers. That speed is just about right for general metal
cutting, but If you play with belts and pullies, you can have other
speeds too. From what I've read on the NG, trying to do the 30:1 speed
reduction with pullies alone would be too hard and would likely slip
under loads. My saw is not done yet (I need to add some bracketing to
hold the gear reducer) but I think it will do pretty well for about
$200 total cost.