Tool School: Band Saws

How to Use

The blade guides are adjustable up and down to match the thickness of the stock being cut. Quality saws such as the Jet shown utilize a wheel for adjustment.

Having your band saw in proper adjustment is important. The blade must be tensioned properly and the guides adjusted. Follow your manufacturer’s directions for proper adjustment. The tension is loosened to install or change blades. The blade is positioned in the center of the wheels and the tension set according to the width of the blade, per instructions that came with the tool. The wider the blade, the more tension required. Blade tension keeps the blade tracking properly. If the tension is set too high, however, the blade will break. With the guard open and the machine turned off and unplugged, slowly revolve one wheel a couple of turns to determine if the blade is aligned properly. If the blade is tracking properly, close the guard and turn on the machine to make sure the blade stays tracking properly.

Most band saws come with a miter fence for crosscutting.

The next step is to make sure the blade guides are adjusted. The back of the blade should barely touch the rear guide, with the teeth running clear of the guides. Most band saws today have bearing guides. The guides should be set so the blade just touches the guides when pressure is applied with the wood. Some models have brass or metal side bearings that must be adjusted in or out and replaced or filed or turned around as they become worn.

Using a band saw is fun. As with any tool, proficiency comes with practice. Follow all safety rules with your saw. Keep your hands clear of the cut line. A band saw is a relatively safe tool, but the blade is sharp and fast and can inflict serious injury in a fraction of a second. Hold your hands on both sides of the cut line and clear of the blade. If a small piece of waste is being cut off, keep both hands on the main piece. If your hands are on the small waste piece they may slip into the blade as the piece is released by the cut. Always wear safety glasses. If you haven’t used a band saw before, make practice cuts on scrap softwood stock and then try hardwood scraps. Mark the cut line and move the stock slowly, steadily and firmly against the blade. If you push the stock out of line to one side, the blade will bend and the cut will not be vertical. Do not cut a smaller radius than the blade size can handle. The blade will bind and can jump off the wheel. Instead, cut sharp curves by making a series of relief cuts up to the cut line. Then make a series of short “whittling” cuts to remove the waste between the relief cuts. When making irregular cuts, if possible, keep the waste portion on the outside. And, make any short connecting cuts first. It is difficult to back out of a long curved cut, especially if the work piece hits the frame of the machine.

Better quality band saws have locking fences for ripping materials.

Cutting compound curves is a fun practice that can be used to create cabriole legs and other designs. Mark the cuts onto adjoining edges of stock. Cut the waste pieces from one side, tape them back in place, turn the stock 90° and make the two cuts on the adjoining side.

You can also cut perfect circles on a band saw with a shop-made jig. First scribe the circle on the wood and locate the center of the circle. Drill a hole through the center. At the point where the cut is to start, make a cut a couple of inches long tangent to the circle. Fasten an auxiliary table to your band saw table. Position the stock on the auxiliary table with the started cut against the saw blade. Drive a nail or screw through the hole in the stock to be cut and down into the auxiliary table at right angles to the saw blade. Turn the stock into the band saw blade allowing the stock to pivot on the screw or nail. You can cut a large circle in this manner, relative to the capacity of your band saw.

If you have a number of identical pieces to cut, the best method is to use a template and a follower jig clamped to the saw table. Attach the template to the stock to be cut with double-faced tape. Then run the template against the follower.

One of the biggest band saw chores is resawing, or sawing thick stock into thinner stock. This is often used when highly figured wood is chosen for a door panel or other furniture project. Set up correctly you can even saw your own veneer. Wide blades must be used. The saw guides must be set properly to keep the blade from wandering or “running out.” A fence, of course, must also be used. Even with all that, some lead will happen as the blade tends to saw to one side or the other. The Jet saw shown has a resaw guide that attaches to the saw fence and alleviates the lead problem. A high fence can also be made from wood stock and clamped to the saw table. Saw a scrap stock to determine the lead and adjust the ends of the fence to account for the lead.