: Does anyone have comments or advice regarding using a band saw instead of a
: table saw to rip strips from 3/4" boards.

A band saw will work, but you'll find that the blade, even on a well-tuned band saw will wander a little. As a result your thickness may vary. This may not be critical if you don't plan to bead and cove your strips. Otherwise it is advisable to run them through a thickness planer for uniformity.

According to surgeons the band saw causes more injuries than any other shop tool. I think this due to two factors: the blade is hidden in the work and complex work is attempted on the machine without jigs or other ways of keeping the hands away from the blade. These concerns aside the band saw doesn't display some of the hazards of circular saws. For example there is no risk of kickback and only a small part of the blade is exposed.

An advantage of the band saw is a narrower kerf and less waste. This is offset somewhat by the waste from planing. Because of this it takes less force to move your work through the saw. Depending on the length of your work pieces, you'll need to setup in feed and out feed tables and a fence of reasonable length. If you're working alone fingerboards or other hold downs will help in feeding the work.

Get a new blade and keep it sharp. You'll want the widest blade you saw can accept and one with a hooked skip tooth design. If you can find one, look for one with an alternating right, raker, left tooth set. This will aid in clearing the waste. Many of the blades made these days have "hardened" teeth. As a result they cannot be sharpened with a file. I haven't found anyone locally that sharpens consumer band saw blades.

Fortunately, a blade for ripping is easy to sharpen. All the teeth are ground 90 deg. the blade, that is, so they present a flat face to the work. I sharpen mine on the machine with a $15 air powered die grinder with a diamond burr. I get the burrs from the Better Built Corp. I think they have a web site. Just a gentle touch of each tooth will sharpen the blade. When you have ground the tooth back about 1/3 it's length it's time for a new blade.

I prefer to work with a band saw. While in theory a table saw is more accurate, I find in practice, particularly in making long rips, the results are not much better that the band saw. Certainly you wo'nt find many commercial sawyers still using circular saws. One reason is safety. If you hit steel with a six foot circular saw it may come apart. The band saw can break, but generally it strips teeth. So, if you keep in mind where that blade is, I think you'll find it a safer and easier to use machine. Good luck!