I've got the cheapest, nastiest ancient old delta bandsaw - the kind of thing that someone was glad to get rid of, and it's one of the most used tools in my shed - and its highly portable. I've chopped everything up to 2" aluminium round bar for making strut top adaptors with it. Definitely worth picking one up even if you plan on upgrading later. Maybe worth scouring facebook marketplace whilst everyone is tidying out their sheds...

You can certainly try! - If it is very good quality with a brand new blade it might just work - test on same thickness scrap first to see if it is going to work...you'll know soon enough. As you will see on the course - it doesn't need to be cut out very accurately as the router will clean it all up afterwards.

Hi Oliver,

Don’t underestimate how much bandsaw capable of accurately cutting material for tops will cost as cutting wood 8-9” thick is ‘resaw’ territory really. The issue with the scroll saw is unlikely to be the theoretical depth of cut but more the ability of the blade to clear the waste from the middle of the cut. With a bandsaw the blade is constantly dragging the waste out the bottom of the cut but with a reciprocating scroll saw blade the waste wood gets trapped inside the cut and causes the blade to bow which can cause all kinds of problems. Use as coarse a blade as you you find and preferably with a skip tooth. Ultimately, give it a go and see how you get on, you won’t be breaking any laws!

Cheers

Darren

My Titan bandsaw (£109) has a maximum cut depth of 85mm - replaced the stock blade with one from Tuff Saws (spec from Mark’s tool list - 6 tpi 3/8”) - once set up it cuts square and true - just need to let it cut and not force it.   If you later added a bigger band saw you could bung a 1/4” blade in the Titan and use it for very wiggly cuts....

Mine gets used loads!

thanks for all your replies folks! I'll get myself a small bandsaw, it seems I've underestimated how useful they might.