BAND SAW is a stationary woodworking machine with a continuous loop of toothed steel blade running over two or three wheels; cuts as the loop passes through the workpiece; relatively narrow blade (1/8 to 1 inch plus); blade tension and tracking adjustable.
Advantages: CURVES (narrow blade can cut tight curves; smaller blade equals tighter radius); RESAWING (cuts thick boards into thinner ones; large band saws with wide blades and tall throat can convert an expensive 8/4 (2-inch) board into two 4/4 (1-inch) boards; saves material costs and creates book-matched panels); IRREGULAR SHAPES (follows pencil lines; great for furniture parts, sculpture, art); SAFETY (much less kickback risk than table saw; single-direction motion, not just throwing wood back; injuries less common than table saw); DEEP CUTS (depth limited only by throat height; 12-inch resaw capacity not unusual on mid-size band saws); CONSISTENT cut quality through varying thicknesses; METALS (slow-speed band saws cut metal as well as wood with different blades).
Disadvantages: blade can drift (cut not perfectly straight); requires tuning and good blade tension; slower than table saw for straight cross-cuts and rips; can't make square dado cuts.
Parts: WHEELS (upper and lower; 14 to 24 inch plus diameter common); BLADE (continuous loop, various tooth counts and widths); GUIDES (block or bearing guides hold blade in proper position above and below table); THRUST BEARING (behind blade, prevents blade from pushing back when work pushes against teeth); TENSION ADJUSTMENT (spring-loaded mechanism, must be properly set for blade size); TABLE (tilts up to 45 degrees for angled cuts); FENCE (for straight cuts parallel to blade); MITER GAUGE (for crosscuts at various angles).
Blade selection: WIDTH determines minimum cutting radius (1/8 inch blade can cut very tight curves; 1/2 inch blade about 2-1/2 inch minimum radius; 1 inch blade for resawing); TPI (teeth per inch) — fewer teeth for thicker wood (4-6 TPI), more for thinner/precise (10-14 TPI); special METAL CUTTING blades have very fine teeth and slow blade speed.
Setup: mount blade with teeth pointing down (toward table); TRACKING (blade should run in middle of upper wheel; adjust with tracking knob); TENSION (too loose equals blade flexes and won't cut accurately; too tight equals blade breakage and bearing wear); GUIDES (set just touching blade body, just above and below cut path); THRUST BEARING (just barely behind blade).
Safe operation: BLADE GUARD lowered to just above workpiece (exposes only the cutting portion); PUSH STICKS / push pads for small or narrow workpieces; STEADY feed rate; don't force wood through; keep fingers AWAY from blade path; even when blade isn't visible above table, blade is still in motion just below; allow blade to fully STOP before adjusting or removing material; BACK OUT carefully on curves to avoid pulling blade out of guides. SCROLL SAW has similar concept but reciprocating (up-down) blade; smaller, very fine blades; great for intricate decorative cuts; pierce cuts (through holes) where blade can be threaded through a drilled hole. Both band saw and scroll saw great for non-straight cuts, but scroll saw is for finer intricate work, band saw is for thicker/larger work and resawing.