Band saw is a power tool which uses a continuous band of metal with teeth along the one edge of the metal blade which is the main moving object of the band saw; this power tool is used to cut the various types of work piece, the band saw has a principle of operation that there is a band of metal that lies on the wheels that are rotating on the same plane, the rotating wheels are generally powered by the electrical motor. The various other means of powering the band saw is wind energy, water flow, or animal power.

The applications of the rigid band saw is widely distributed as the band saw is suited for cutting irregular surfaced materials, the various types on cutting applications such as wood cutting, sheet metal working , etc. The band saw also uses different type of blades for different materials, for the wood cutting band saw the blades used have sharper teeth than the teethes of metal cutting band saw of the but the distance between two teeth’s of the band saw is more that the distance between the teeth’s of the metal cutting blade of band saw.

The most common application of the woodcutting band saw is in the timber mills throughout the world, as the wood cutting band saw can cut the most irregular shaped wood to a particular size and shape with accuracy.

Timber mills use band saws and circular saws at a very large scale, the most preferred application for a band saw in the timber mill is for ripping lumber, the band saw is preferred over circular saw as it has two rotating wheels that are somewhat oval in shape and thus have a larger coverage area over the lumber then the circular saw, the circular saw are used in the timber mills for giving the timber the desired shape and dimensions as they are finer than the band saws.

The woodcutting band saw used in the timber mills have particular characteristics, these characteristics are so defined to maximise the accuracy and the usage of the band saw in the mill. The blades of the band saw in the timber mill have dimensions of 4”x19’ long and 22 ga thick; these blades are mounted over the rotating wheels which have a diameter large enough to cause metal fatigue when the repeated changes from circular to a straight profile. This is due to the special technique used in formation of blades known as benching.

The benching is done in wood cutting band saw by works men called sawfilers, the sawfilers have special techniques of formation of blades of depending on the wood to be cut using band saw, thus the sawfilers are different for different timber mills as they have special blade characteristics and techniques to form blade having the desired blade characteristics for particular lumbers of the wood. This benching technique is used by the sawfilers in order to have cutting accuracy that is desired.