Band saw

How it works

The band runs over two wheels, one driven, set one above the other in the usual woodworking machine. Because the band moves in one direction at the cutting point, the saw cuts without the stroke reversal of a handsaw or frame saw. Simonds’s 1921 guide gives running speeds for wood of 7,000 to 10,000 feet per minute, the lowest for seasoned and exceedingly hard woods, and says a band saw that deals with both soft and hard woods benefits from a means of varying its speed.

The band is held on the wheels by tension, and its back runs against a guide behind the cutting edge, with side guides above the table. Simonds says the back guide should never be so close that the saw touches it; it is only a precaution. The ends of the blade are joined by brazing, and Simonds treats the quality of the steel, the joint (the braze) and the form of the teeth as the points on which the saw has improved.

The blade is thin, so it removes little material. Disston’s 1916 history says this thinness, meaning smaller kerf and more boards from a log, was what made sawmen take up the band saw. Prescott’s 1910 account of the band mill gives the same two reasons: a thinner kerf than the circular saw, and a mill with which a log can be sawed to the best advantage with a saw as thin as a gang saw.

Anatomy

Band (blade): Narrow steel strip, toothed on one edge, or on both edges in the large log-sawing form. Simonds calls saws from 1/8 inch up to a narrow width “narrow bands” and describes wide bands up to 18 inches. The ends are joined by a braze.
Wheels: Two wheels carry the band. Simonds prefers leather to rubber as a rim covering because it can be trued by turning.
Tension device: Holds the band taut. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.213(i)(2) requires each woodworking bandsaw to have a tension control device that indicates proper tension. The Milwaukee portable saw has a tension lock handle that releases tension when turned counterclockwise.
Guides: A back guide behind the blade and side guides above the table keep the band in line.
Table: In small band saws the work rests on a table through the center of which the saw passes, and is fed by hand (Simonds).
Guards: OSHA 1910.213(i)(1) requires the blade to be enclosed or guarded except for the working portion between the bottom of the guide rolls and the table, and the wheels to be fully encased.

Variants

Log band mill: Wide bands for sawing logs. Prescott’s 1910 account follows the American log band mill from the 1880s; Disston’s 1916 history says the firm was regularly making 18-inch band saws, many toothed on both edges to cut the log coming and going.
Band resaw: Cuts boards or plank into thinner stock. Simonds notes blades as thin as 20 to 24 gauge in resaw mills for certain work and says narrow resaws under 3 inches need little if any tension.
Narrow band saw (woodworking shop): Simonds lists uses in mills, cooperage shops and furniture factories and says narrow bands cut, besides wood, materials from slate and bone to bronze, steel and ice.
Portable metal-cutting band saw: Milwaukee’s manual covers catalog numbers 6225, 6230 and 6236 with bi-metal blades 1/2 inch wide and .020 inch thick. Milwaukee says it launched the Deep Cut Band Saw in the early 1980s, with a larger cut capacity and faster cutting speeds.

Specifications

Blade speed · ft/min: Simonds (1921), wood: 7,000 to 10,000 ft/min depending on the timber. Milwaukee 6230 portable saw, metal: 0–350 ft/min. Milwaukee 6225: 200 and 250 ft/min in two speeds.
Teeth in the cut, minimum · teeth: 3Milwaukee’s manual says to keep at least three teeth in the cut.
Teeth per inch · tpi: Milwaukee supplies a 14-tpi bi-metal blade as suitable for most uses and lists 8 to 18 tpi for different stock. No woodworking tooth series has been sourced.
Portable-saw blade size · in: Milwaukee: .020 in thick, 1/2 in wide, 44-7/8 in long, for the 6225, 6230 and 6236.

Made to

EN 1807-1
ANSI O1.1
OSHA 29-CFR-1910-213

Safety and care

Safety

Enclose the upper and lower wheels and the blade above the table; OSHA 1910.213(i)(1) requires the blade to be guarded except for the working portion between the bottom of the guide rolls and the table, and the wheels to be fully encased.
Hold stock securely. Simonds names unsecured stock, which kinks and breaks the saw, as the cause of the most common band saw accidents.
Simonds names removing waste near the saw by hand, stopping the wheel with hand, foot or stick when the power is shut off, and adjusting the gauge while the saw is running among the causes of severe injury.
Keep clothing clear of the spokes and of the band on any unprotected wheel (Simonds).
Simonds names getting a hand against the saw at the rear of the table, or the hands and head above the part of the saw over the gauge, among the causes of band saw accidents.
Unplug a portable saw before changing blades or accessories; keep the blade off the workpiece until the motor reaches speed; hold the tool firmly when finishing a cut so it does not fall against the work (Milwaukee).
Never change speed on a two-speed portable saw while the motor is running (Milwaukee).

Care

Leave a stationary band a little slack when it is not running so that it can contract freely as it cools (Simonds).
Check a covered wheel often to see that its face is true; Simonds lists sawdust collecting on the wheel face, which makes it lumpy and uneven, among the practices that break bands.
Do not stop or start a machine too suddenly, especially with a light blade (Simonds).
Round the gullets with a round file or emery wheel; Simonds says saws should never be filed to sharp corners there.
A portable saw needs relubrication only when its motor brushes need replacing; Milwaukee recommends returning it to a service facility after six months to a year, depending on use, for lubrication, brush inspection and mechanical and electrical checks.

Tips

Keep at least three teeth in the cut
Milwaukee’s manual says to keep at least three teeth in the cut. Soft materials call for coarse-pitch blades and hard materials for fine pitch, and coarse pitch suits thick work while fine pitch suits thin work.1
Start where the most teeth touch the work
Milwaukee says to begin on the surface that puts the greatest number of teeth in contact with the work at once. The weight of the portable saw supplies adequate pressure for the fastest cutting, so the user should not bear down.1
Do not let the back guide rub the blade
Simonds says a back guide set so close that the saw rubs it case-hardens and cracks the back of the saw. If the saw will not stay on the wheel without the back guide holding it there, it advises finding and correcting the underlying fault.1
Slack the blade after use
Simonds lists failure to slack the saw after use, which prevents free contraction of the blade as it cools, among the common causes of small band saw breakage. It says blades should always be left a trifle slack when not in motion.1
Set the teeth only as wide as needed
Simonds advises running as narrow a set as possible but always enough to clear the plate, since a saw that binds in the cut will crack. Soft or pitchy timber needs more set and hardwood the least.1
Round the gullets
Simonds says gullets should be rounded out with a round file or emery wheel and never filed to sharp corners. It also describes compressing the steel at the bottom of each throat of a resaw to help it hold tension and resist cracks.1
Narrow resaw blades need little tension
Simonds says band resaws under 3 inches in width require little if any tension, and treats tensioning wider bands with a tension gauge as an important operation.1
Use the low speed for problem materials
Milwaukee’s two-speed portable saws are meant to run on “LO” for problem materials. The speed switch is changed only with the motor stopped.1

History

Earliest documented

1808

London, England

Two manufacturers’ histories, Disston’s of 1916 and Simonds’s of 1921, say that William Newberry of London patented the first endless band saw in 1808 and that the machine never went beyond the model submitted to the Patent Office. Disston adds that Newberry cannot justly be said to have originated the band saw, citing archaeologists and Sir Samuel Bentham’s patent papers of 1791 and 1793. The patent itself has not been located.1 2

The band saw answered a problem of the sawmill, not of the shop. Disston’s 1916 history says sawmakers had long tried to reduce the time and power consumed, and the sawdust wasted, in converting logs to boards, and that the perfected band saw proved the solution. Prescott’s 1910 account adds that the kerf of the band saw is so much less than the circular saw’s that the saving in sawdust yielded a greater quantity of lumber.

The loop was the difficulty. Disston and Simonds both say that the practical problem was joining the band so that it would run over the wheels without breaking, and that the problem was not overcome until nearly forty years after Newberry’s patent of 1808. Simonds says a 50-foot band at 11,000 feet per minute bends 440 times, and that the advances made since have been in the steel that withstands the bending, the braze and the form of the teeth. Disston credits Perin of Paris with the improvements that made general use possible.

Acceptance in the sawmill came late. Prescott records that in 1885 the Hoffman brothers of Fort Wayne used a 5-inch saw bought in France, claiming that no American maker knew how to make a band saw. He says lumbermen who examined the early mills rejected them because the saws cut crooked or snaky lumber when forced to a full day’s work, and that a prominent Minneapolis lumberman told him he would not take a band mill as a gift, which he describes as the prevailing view among Northwest mill men in 1886. The mills he describes were developed over the following years by American builders, and by 1916 Disston reported 18-inch saws.

The narrow band went into the shop and the factory. Simonds describes narrow bands from 1/8 inch wide used in mills, cooperage shops and furniture factories for a great variety of purposes, cutting materials from wood and slate to bronze and steel, and small band resaws that need the same fitting as large ones except in widths under 3 inches. Its safety chapter says accidents are most common when stock is not securely held, which kinks and breaks the saw, and that safety engineers agreed that enclosing the wheels and the blade would prevent nearly all of them. OSHA’s present rule for woodworking bandsaws requires those enclosures and a tension control device.

The portable metal-cutting band saw is a later form. Milwaukee’s manual describes a hand-held saw with a 1/2-inch bi-metal blade .020 inch thick and a two-speed or variable-speed motor, and the company’s history says it launched a Deep Cut model in the early 1980s. The manual advises choosing the pitch by the size, shape and type of the material to be cut.

Timeline

1791–1793
Disston’s history says Sir Samuel Bentham’s patent papers of these years contain many forerunners of distinctly modern saws.1
1808
William Newberry of London patents the first endless band saw, according to Disston and Simonds. The machine is not developed beyond the model submitted to the Patent Office; the unsolved problem is a smooth, strong joint in the steel band.1 2
1842
Disston’s history credits Thouard of France with putting the band saw in a commercially practical form.1
c. 1846
Disston reports that Mlle. Crepin of France secured a patent on a machine similar to Newberry’s. The patent was later obtained by Perin, who perfected a suitable joint. Simonds says the joint problem was not overcome until nearly forty years after Newberry.1 2
c. 1860
A man named McCormick buys a band saw in England and removes it after a short time in service because it did not do the work expected, according to Disston.1
1876
Henry Disston & Sons exhibit a 6-inch band saw at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, considered a wonder, according to the firm’s 1916 history.1
1883
The Southern Lumberman of 15 December carries a write-up of a band mill for sawing logs devised by Cordesman & Egan Co. of Cincinnati, according to Prescott.1
1885
Prescott visits the mill of the Hoffman brothers at Fort Wayne, Indiana, which has run a band mill for several years with a 5-inch saw bought in France; the Northwestern Lumberman of 28 November writes up an enlarged all-iron mill.1
1887
Prescott says that before 1887 no log band mill fully met the wishes of lumbermen in large operations, and that in 1886 the prevailing view among Northwest mill men was against band mills because they cut crooked lumber.1
1916
Disston reports that it regularly makes 18-inch band saws, many toothed on both edges.1
1921
Simonds’s guide describes band saws for logs, resawing and small shops, with speeds for wood up to 10,000 feet per minute and a chapter on safety guards.1
early 1980s
Milwaukee says it launches the Deep Cut Band Saw, a portable band saw with a larger cut capacity and faster cutting speeds than its smaller unit.1

Where the sources disagree

Is Newberry’s 1808 patent the origin of the band saw?

William Newberry patented the first endless band saw in 1808.1
Simonds Manufacturing Co., 1921
Newberry was the first of modern times to see the possibilities of the band saw but cannot justly be said to have originated it; archaeologists have shown that ancient peoples brought it very nearly to its present form, and Bentham’s patents of 1791 and 1793 contain modern forerunners. Disston gives no source for the archaeological claim.1
Henry Disston & Sons, 1916
Petrie’s catalog uses the term “band saw” for the strip blade of a framed saw from the Fayum, held by a pin at each end, and for two coarse pieces from Oxyrhynchus. The passage read does not describe an endless loop.1
W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1917

Who made the band saw practical?

Mlle. Crepin patented a machine like Newberry’s in France about 1846; Perin obtained the patent and perfected a joint; Thouard had put the saw in a commercially practical form in 1842, but only Perin’s improvements made it profitable for general use.1
Henry Disston & Sons, 1916 (the text lists Thouard’s 1842 date after Crepin’s 1846 date and spells the second name “Perine” in the scan)
The old difficulty in joining the blade was not overcome until nearly forty years after Newberry, and the book names no individual.1
Simonds Manufacturing Co., 1921

Gaps in the record (8)

Newberry’s patent specification and number were not located; the 1808 date and the “model submitted to the Patent Office” rest on two saw makers’ histories, which use the same wording and may share a source.
The Crepin, Perin and Thouard claims rest on Disston’s 1916 history alone. No French patent or contemporary account was found, and the dates in that text are not in strict order.
The first American band saw patents and the first American band saw mills before the 1880s were not sourced.
The history of the metal-cutting stationary band saw and the horizontal band saw was not sourced.
The date of Milwaukee’s first portable band saw is not known; only the early-1980s Deep Cut model is dated, by the company.
The Milwaukee manual is undated and is read from machine-recognized text.
No independent test data has been located, so buying is null.
The standard slugs are guesses at an EN woodworking band saw standard, an ANSI woodworking standard and the OSHA rule and have not all been read; only the OSHA text was read.