My Rockwell/Delta 20" bandsaw is certainly up to the task (it was available in a wood/ferrous metal version), but mine is the wood/non-ferrous model which doesn't have the variable speed drive of the wood/ferrous model.

My 20" has already been upgraded to 2 HP (from the original 1-1/2 HP), and I was thinking of a 2 HP motor (3-phase, of course) and VFD for this conversion.

Next month, Dealer's Electric will be having a 2 HP VFD/inverter duty motor internet special.

Yes I have done it (with a 38" Oliver), but the motor has to be bigger than you likely think because you lose horsepower when you slow a motor down with a VFD and you do not get the torque multiplication you normally get with a mechanical transmission speed reduction.

Slow a motor down to 1/4 of its nameplate speed with a VFD and you will get approximately 1/4 of the nameplate horsepower. Torque is constant (if you are lucky) and speed is 1/4. Horsepower is proportional to torque times speed so horsepower is 1/4.

Reduce speed to 1/4 with a 1:4 belt drive and you will still have constant horsepower (ignorring losses in the belt.) Speed is down to 1/4, but torque is up by 4 so horsepower is constant.

Try using an oversize motor and the biggest belting ratio you can. Use an 1800 RPM or slower base speed motor and you can probably overspeed the motor by 150% to 200% to get the high speed for woodworking.