Ok. I have a big problem in my shop: no metalcutting bandsaw. If I could trade a few things for one, I would. A metal cutting bandsaw, it seems to me, is very important for almsot any work with metal.. Currently ive got a table saw, a compound mitre rotary power saw, a small wood bandsaw... i am still very frustrated whenever i need to cut metal plate. i have ended up doing all sorts of inapropriate things.. using endmills to slowly chop away layer after layer, over clamping and jigging on the mitre saw to cut wider than its 4" capacity(or whatever) in multiple operations..
as far as tooling. the things i use most are my dial guage and caliper(cheapo harbor freight, still very usefull), my parallel plate set, my percision blocks, the holddown set that came with the mill)
another indespensible tool, for me, is a drill press and a bench grinder...
the advice of 'get what you need when you need it' is good.. except the metalcutting bandsaw.. wanna do serious metalwork, get the saw... $400ish at least.. a big purchase.
Design & Development
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