I once thought like you and picked up a cheap 14" cast iron BS and put a riser block on it so I could cut blanks for turning bowls. It was slow and sort of worked. I thought "I have plenty of time" but what I didn't think about was how long I would have to hold the wood for while cutting it. The blanks usually were around 8" thick green wood. Making them round meant cutting both with the grain and cross cutting. At times I would get tired and need to take a break in the middle of a cut. A bandsaw doesn't like it when you try to back a piece of wood out of it.
I decided to upgrade to a 19" Grizzly with a 3hp motor and what a difference. I wish I had skipped the first saw and all the time I spent struggling. Cutting bowl blanks is so easy. I actually enjoy doing it. I can easily tension a 1" blade (which works so much better for resawing than the 1/2" I was previously using) and I have yet to bog the saw down. That doesn't mean I can push 12" of hard maple through it as fast as possible but faster than I can accurately cut. Of course the price difference a few years ago wasn't what it is now. I think it was just well under a grand between the saw I bought and a 14" steel frame saw. What I ended up with is 3hp, a heavier saw, a larger table, and a beefier trunnion. Saving a few bucks rarely pays off. But I do understand that everyone has a budget and not all budgets are equal.
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