ot cutting metal choices

I got a request from someone for santa season for a "saw" to cut metal. I tried to narrow it down today to what flavor or vague food group of metal. I think steel, but maybe copper too. I then lean that porta-band with a vertical table mount stand would be fit that description. The Milwaukee is better than dewalt - santa's account has maybe a dewalt amount in it.
Later today it changes to just a saw to cut pipe and some shapes. Still in porta-band territory. only... just doing a few copes in pipe, 'nothing fancy' is added.

So, options in my brain are dewalt porta band with vertical table - adding in a slot to take a table saw miter pusher - just forgetting the whole coping request.

A smith torch set, because by-gosh cut any shape in steel with that... but I know bottles will never be gotten, so not really an option.

An angle grinder with cut off wheels and rocks. cutting and coping is doable. Affordable for santa (me).

Chop saw. They just work in anything, and do a decent job at it.

I know a few of yall do some ingenious methods of cutting because having all the equipment is never an option - So if you had one metal cutting option, trying to make it as handy-man / portable welding (I think, but not sure because other clues) what would you choose.

Mr. Plasma and doug - a little powermax air30 is way outside santa's account.

If the "tool" is going to be used mainly for coping pipe you might consider one of these...

https://www.princessauto.com/en/2-1-2-in-pipe-tube-notcher/product/PA0008663817

Sawzall is a handy tool too, I would likely buy the chop saw over the porta band, they kinda scare me

I think you are correct with the portaband idea. Small, easy to use for many things, and hard to cut off your finger with.
I dont know anybody, including myself (and I am very careful) who hasnt taken at least some skin off with a cut disc on a 4 1/2" grinder.


Personally, I do almost all of this kind of cutting with a 5x8 horizontal vertical bandsaw- I have two of em in the shop- and just tilt it up and sit on it to cut shapes out of sheet, or notch things, and put it in the vise if I need to cut pipe or flat or angle to length. But I have one of those shops with everything- cold saw, ironworker, plasma and oxy fuel, 10x16 bandsaw, etc.

We usually only drag out the portaband for jobsite work, or to cut things like 2" square that I dont want to use the forklift to load onto the big bandsaw- a 20' piece of 2" square is 275 pounds...

The highschool FIRST robot team I help mentor has a bunch of saws in the shop, but the pit crew takes a Dewalt "portaband" mounted in a SWAG table to the competitions. Looks like a midget vertical bandsaw in the table, but they can dismount it and use it hand-held if they need to cut broken parts of a 125lb 3'x3' robot.

I should have had a look around the pit area last weekend to see what the other teams were using.

Thank you all and one.
I forgot to factor in safety on my initial direction- which is a more than valid variable.
Ries I know the saddling the mini saw- and think the world of those things. Funny- I am saw snob definition and I still think they are the bees knees- crescent wrench of saws.
I was leaning the porta band with a “home brew” swag table then safety factor. The only times I have almost been attacked by either the mini horizontal or ports band is with dull blades and then trying to force the material into making them sharper blades- btw never works.
So going with chop saw, which forces clamping of work and even if blade glazes no real body damage done.
Again Santa thanks you.