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A bandsaw with the biggest wheel size/throat space that you can afford, used or otherwise.

I can't stress this enough. A small saw can do stuff, but you'll be going through blades like crazy, and after a while you'll spend more on blades than you do on the bandsaw.

Small 10" saws need super thin blades that you can't really easily find and are expensive, and does not last at all because their teeth is soft. You will know they are dull when they refuse to cut straight no matter what. Bigger wheel = less blade breakage. Bigger wheel also means better blade selection. Even if you got a 18 inch or over bandsaw you can still put 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch 6 TPI blade on them they will not only cut better (due to better tension), but the blade will last forever even if using carbon steel blade stock.

Resaw isn't the only consideration, but usability and cost to maintain them is. A 10 inch bandsaw and a 20 inch bandsaw will occupy nearly the same floor space, but their usability is night and day. I rather have a bandsaw with a dinky motor that can't push worth crap than a saw with a wheel that's too small. Motors can always be replaced.

I got this bandsaw that has wheels the size of a standard bicycle wheel. Even a cheap soft steel blade lasts forever on them, and cuts real well too. The same blade on a crap 14 inch bandsaw lasts a short time and breaks after a week too.



Those Delta 14 inch saws are good if you know their limitation, but in my opinion fitting them with accessories are a waste of money. If you got the saw for free, then it's one thing, but the money you'd spend buying the saw and all the accessories you could have gone and bought a 18 inch saw that will serve your need better.

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I've had some large bandsaw's. Too Large. One was 9 feet tall, had a C shaped cast iron frame that weighed a ton and 38 inch wheels. It was from the early 1900's. Didn't really fit in too well. Another time I bought a large (20 "?) metal cutting bandsaw (at auction). It was resting half on and half off the pallet and I could rock it with one arm. I didn't realize how heavy it was. It was loaded with a fork lift so it was only when I went to unload it with the help of my brother and Tyrone (my very strong neighbor) that I realized we could not even slide it on the smooth metal bed of the pick up truck. I had to unload it by putting an 8 ton chain hoist over the large limb of a tree and and hoisting it up enough to drive out from under it. These were learning experiences.
The 14 inch Delta I could manage to carry up a flight of stairs and into my shop on the hill when I was younger and stronger, and could now move it with the help of my son if I had to. The 20 inch Delta/Rockwell stays in a lower shed and can be moved on rollers if necessary - it's not too heavy. The 12 inch plastic covered Craftsman saw I could pick up and carry even today.
Weight and portability is a consideration with stationary power tools. It can be beneficial, but beyond a certain point it becomes a problem.
I think I have cured my large bandsaw madness for the most part. I do however, have an old cast iron framed 26 inch saw decorating the lawn, waiting for either restoration or a new home. I hate to see those old tools go to the scrapper. It is a more manageable 7 or 8 hundred pounds.