Once you get the bandsaw out of the house, get a good sabresaw. The Bosch (top of the line) models have bearings behind the blade, and guides alongside the blade to help keep it straight. Other brands may have similar guides.

If you have a router table, consider mounting your sabresaw under that. Or, make a table from plywood and mount the sabresaw to it. This way you'll have a flat, stable worksurface to support the material you are cutting, you'll be able to mount a fence to it, and you can see where the blade is at.

I have been toying with the idea of using either a bench-mounted reciprocating saw, or a sabresaw as a power source for a jigsaw or scroll saw. The advantage of the jig saw is that both ends of the blade are supported. The top end would be held by a spring. With a scrollsaw, the blade is rigidly fixed between two clamps and the whole mechanism moves up and down. Ideally I'd cut sections from bandsaw blades for long jigsaw blades, and have the ability to crosscut or rip wood (slowly) which was 12 inches thick.

Why do this? I have some short pieces of very thick wood I want to bring down to a smaller size. With a fence I'm hoping to be able to get slices which are as thin as veneer. Harbor Freight's reciprocating saw is fairly cheap (on sale now for under $30), and there are 10- and 12-inch blades for reciprocating saws currently on the market. But they flex a lot. I have no great expectations for the durability of the Harbor Freight saw, but with a warranty, if it dies in a short time I'll get a replacement at no charge. And if I need to replace it in two years--it should still be hundreds of dollars cheaper than buying a band saw. For the savings, I'll put up with the slower cutting speed, and have a smaller tool which takes up less space.

At least that is the idea. Gotta draw up some plans, or just hop in and make a prototype. First I'll see where I can get ready-made parts for gripping the upper ends of the blades, or I might have to make them.

PGJ