Good, small tabletop bandsaw

[rmwarren]

I am new to the forum and looking for advice on decent quality brands of small vertical saws. I already have a Milwaukee carbide cut-off saw I use for cutting stock to length and an old Delta 14" saw I use mostly for wood. I need a saw to rough-cut small AL shapes, basically removing material in rabbets, notches, etc. prior to milling.

I am basically looking to keep the 14" purposed for wood and avoid having to change blades on it every time I want to cut a small part.

My criteria are simple: (1) small/tabletop; (2) the table itself locks in place securely, and; (3) it has sufficient power to cut for example 1" 6061. I am not looking for a production machine.

I see on craigslist lots of old Craftsman and Delta machines, one of them would probably be fine but I want to avoid buying junk through my ignorance if at all possible.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

RMW

 

[sloppy]

I have a ryobi that I use for cutting aluminum.. I switched out the blade of course. It works pretty good.. the only problem I have had is the little plastic cover on the table started to melt from a combination of dull blade and me trying to use a dull blade.. simple to make a new one from aluminum. I have used it pretty heavily for going on 3 years.. and it still works well.

http://www.homedepot.com/Ryobi/h_d1...ngId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053