I built my own metal cutting band saw about 2 or so years ago and
faced this same dilema when it came to getting speeds slow enough. Too
small of pulleys and they slip, I did not want to fool with chains and
sprockets, wound up with a nice gear reducer which is 60:1 or may be
100:1 and hooked up a 1.5hp DC drive mnotor to it. Itw orked fine and
I could adjust my speed well below whats needed for metal cutting and
still run it up suffiicinet for most wood cutting.


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....