...For the amount
of cutting and fabrication I do, to justify the cost of $400 Homier
Speedway 30Amp plasma cutter I'd have to spread it over 10-15 years
time frame, ...

It's an investment; they don't lose value as badly as most adult male
toys do.

What scares me is this inverter technology being electronics based
will probably follow electronics depreciation curve.... and the next
big thing is always around the corner.

PS. Looks like I'll be returning 4*6 bandsaw to harbor freight for
refund, I haven't unpacked it yet. Just got it last week. Do I get it
right, that it's mainly for production work cutting tubbing/ angle
iron to length and it's slow and will not cut sheet metal due to 3
teeth on the work requirement - at 22TPI that makes 3/16" minimal
thickness. Thanks. Ross

You WHAT?! Those are about the best cutting tool ever invented for
hobby-scale metalworking, and I write that despite owning a plasma
cutter (which hardens the cut edge, even on hot-rolled steel)

It's slower than an abrasive saw but its slow on ITS time, not yours.
You can be marking out the next cut. I've used the same 18TPI blade
for 1/8" tubing and 4" wide bar stock as an experiment. It certainly
isn't the best blade for wide steel but it does keep chugging along
and gets through eventually.


Jim, thanks for the info, I'm still on the fence with 4*6 band saw. I
researched it a bit before I got and I saw a lot of good reviewes, but
now I think I've discover some of it's limitations. At this point my
reasoning for returning it is:
* It looks like it will not work very well in vertical mode - i.e.
slitting, cutting thin plates /sheet metal in to long strips - stock
needs to be fed manually, slower then other methods, limited by throat
depth, small vertical table, risk of striping teeth with thin stock
* I bough a portable band saw that has 4" throat from Harbor Freight -
I found a message board where some guys were making horizontal/
vertical fixtures for it. May be I should just make that fixture for
it - I can return portable band saw, but it 69.99 vs 159.99 and it
seems like it's more flexible. I would like precision of band saw for
some situations, so I don't want to give up on them all together.
* I agree that in horizontal mode it's nice to let band saw it's job,
but if it's small stock, wouldn't it get cut quick enough that you'll
be hanging around waiting for it to finish anyway?

Any comments are welcome. Thanks. Ross