Go get yourself a cheapo Hardon Fright, Northern Tool or Grizzly cheapie (less than 200 bucks and replace the plain bearings in the bandwheels with ball bearings plus build a stand from plywood and you'll have a 600 dollar saw (minus the hydraulic downfeed and coolant ((which is reall a PITA anyway...coolant) for less than 300 bucks.
I own my own fabrication, machining and welding company and it's the favorite saw for my employees. I have a 6 grand Roll-In but they prefer the cheapie.
Throat capacity is a bit better than 6" overall diameter and it handles structural shapes plus stainless rounds every day, day in and day out.
Mine is around 8 years old, I bought for an outside job but it worked so well, it wound up in the shop. I theink I paid about 120 bucks at TSC back then.
At some point, you'll smoke the chi-com motor, it has no balls at all but the chi-com motor lasted on mine a few years before it started stinking and went in the scrap can...
Finally, you'll want to remove the fish oil in the right angle gearbox and replace it with something else with more lubrication quality. I filled mine with synthetic grerase via an alemite fitting.
Welded bi-metal bands are readily available. stay away from the carbon steel bands. A good bi-metal band like (Lennox or Starrett) will outlast a carbon blade 6 to 1. Varible pitch or straight pitch depending on your needs.
Light gage structural will require a finer pitch band than solid rounds or flat material.
You don't need to spend 600 to get a good, straight cutting bandsaw so long as you don't mind doing some simple modifications.
