: I have a 20 year old Sears 16 inch bandsaw... at least that is close...

: I have been using a blade which is about 3/4 of an inch thick (front to back)
: and which has teeth made for sawing wood.

: It saws well, but it does wander quite a bit. By paying very close attention,
: I usually can keep it from wandering more than a mm by moving the piece
: back and forth.

: I was just talking with the machinist at a shop this morning (with a really
: big Delta bandsaw) who told me he changes the blade on the band saw every
: few months whenever wander begins... It's cause, he said, is the teeth are
: not cutting a wide enough swath for the blade to travel through and the
: blade begins to direct the direction of the saw's travel. We use our saws
: about the same amount... every few days for less than an hour.

: Well, this was the first I had heard of this... I must admit I am using a 10
: year old blade on the thing and since it does not slow down (hardly ever)
: in 3.5 inch stock I have assumed it is sharp enough.

: Anyone else that can verify the machinist's interpretation and tell me that
: my saw would be SO much friendler with a new blade??

: I was planning on ripping the cedar 2x4s into 1x4s over the weekend for the
: new stripper with my table saw (two passes). If the band saw could cut
: nice and straight, I would use it instead. I will probably rip the strips
: themselves with the table saw to get a nicer finish on the board and less
: planing/sanding.

: The skinflint woodworker,
: Rick

rick,
i just returned from sears with a 6 pack of 80" blades cost me $20. i also have a 20 year old craftsman band saw that tends to wander. i was going to look into new guides. eather way the blades are cheap enough.
steve h.