+1 on the Craigs list - I bought the Jet saw new about 1-1/2 yrs ago, paid just over $1100 - saw the exact saw on craigs about 6 mo. ago for $650, "lightly used", looked like mine did when I first took it out of the crate!!?! Called several friends with a heads up, none needed/wanted/could afford. SOMEBODY got a fantastic deal.
Nothing cheesy about the Jet, other than ALL these saws are made assuming you only want to move them in a straight line (4 wheels, NO casters, you "steer" by lifting the light end and moving it sideways)
"How long do you think it would take to cut 9 pieces at a time 1.5 X 2 inch rectangular tube? "
I keep a Lenox bi-metal 14tooth blade on mine because I tend to cut more thin stuff than heavy - but even the Jet might not like a 3x3 stack of material, because the vise tends to be slightly looser at top than bottom so it might let things slip a bit. To counteract that, you can clamp the bundle with an extra clamp if your pieces are long enough to get the aux. clamp away from the saw frame a bit.
Rough guess on your material size using a 14 tooth GOOD blade - probably around a minute, two at most.
Important things to remember -
if possible, blade should have 3 teeth in contact with material so thinner wall, higher tooth count.
Adjusting feed rate on hydraulic feed so saw isn't bogging down but IS cutting well - look at material volume being ejected at the cut. This kinda takes some tweaking.
Got more suggestions, but don't want to get as long-winded as I usually do (oops, too late :=)
Steve
