WEN 9-Inch Band Saw, 2.8-Amp Benchtop (BA3959)

Similar to other 9″ bandsaws. I won’t be pushing it beyond it’s limits…no resawing 3 1/2 inch hardwoods, for instance. The manual is clear but misses a few finer points of setup process. And it does need to be set up! But once it is dialed in, it works like a charm. Rips or crosscuts 3/4 inch Cherry or Walnut with ease. I have managed to rip strips consistently as narrow as 1/4″ or less.It’s a solid, basic, somewhat unrefined design. The guide rollers are finicky, there is no tension release lever, the clamp-on fence has limited usefulness and is a pain to square up to the blade, and the miter guide fits loosely in the (1/2 inch, not 3/4!) slot, making it impossible to cut accurate 90 degree crosscuts.It may sound like I’m complaining. But I’m not. Once you set it up properly, as long as you don’t expect too much of it, it cuts like a dream.The keys to success include setting the guide rollers very carefully, centering the blade on the wheels, and tensioning the blade (a bit looser than you might imagine. Look up Alex Snodgrass’s videos for an excellent walkthrough. The other thing it to get a small, high quality machinist square or 6″ combination square, to adjust the limit screw on the table so that the blade is absolutely perpendicular to the table when in the un-tilted position. This is harder than it needs to be, as the bolt is secured to the frame by two 10mm nuts. One nut cinches down to the top of the lower wheel’s cover, and the other is inside the lower wheel cover behind the wheel, pushing upward.In order to lower the height of the bolt, you have to first loosen the nut on top of the wheel cover, then turn the bolt while reaching into the lower wheel with a finger to keep the lower nut from spinning. Then, you have to continue to hold it in place while tightening the upper nut. Then put the table back to horizontal and check level again and repeat if it’s not level.The other head-scratching issue is the non-standard vacuum hose port. Very hard to find the correct solution to hook it to a 1 7/8 inch vacuum hose end. The solution that I finally found (and it works great!!) is to buy a $12 “ID 1.75″ to 2.5″ Silicone Reducer Coupler Hose” here on Amazon. These are found in the automotive department and there are several manufacturers. Once I discovered this solution, it’s smooth sailing! Keeping sawdust out of the lower wheel section, where it can get imbedded in the rubber tire and mess up the blade tracking, it important. Running the saw without a shop vac is asking for trouble down the road.