Fit the blade
Changing a blade (Grizzly G0555LX)
Disconnect the power
Every maker's first step.
Release the tension
Throw the quick-release lever; raise the guide post all the way and back the upper and lower guides away from the blade.
Clear the table
Remove the fence and miter gauge, then the table insert and the table pin, so the blade can pass through the table's slot.
Fit the new blade
It must be the length and width the manual allows, with the teeth pointing down toward the table. Seat it on both wheels, re-fit the pin and insert, and re-apply tension to the scale mark for its width.
Track, tension, then set the guides
In Grizzly's order, saw unplugged unless stated
Track the blade
With the guides backed off, turn the upper wheel by hand and watch where the blade rides; adjust the tracking knob until it runs centred on the crown of Grizzly's crowned wheels, then lock it and close the cover. Powermatic tracks to the centre of the tire, Rikon to the centre of the wheels; all three do it by hand with the saw disconnected.
Set the tension
The scale on the upper wheel gives an approximate tension for the blade width — Grizzly and Powermatic both say so. Grizzly fine-tunes it either by its deflection method, unplugged (about 1/4 in of sideways deflection under moderate pressure, which it calls much more subjective), or by its flutter method, run with the saw on as its manual sets out. Note the setting that works for each blade, as Powermatic suggests.
Set the thrust bearings
Olson sets thrust bearings before the side guides. Grizzly puts its support bearing about 0.016 in behind the blade; Powermatic about 0.015 in; Rikon just clear. The blade should touch it only when cutting pushes it back.
Set the side guides
Bring them just behind the gullets — about 0.016 in (Grizzly), 0.015 in (Powermatic) or 1/16 in (Rikon) — then close them in: lightly touching the blade on Grizzly's G0555LX but close to, not quite touching, on its G0817; about 0.004 in away on Powermatic's (a crisp dollar bill's thickness); within 1/32 in on Rikon's. Do the lower guides the same way.
Lower the upper guides
Down to the work before every cut: just clear on Grizzly's saw, about 1/8 in on Powermatic's PM1500, 3/16 in on its PWBS-14CS, 1/8 to 1/4 in on Rikon's.
Caution— One maker's method is not another's
Guide clearances and tensioning methods differ by maker, and each is written for that maker's guides and blades. Use your own saw's manual; the figures here show how much they vary, not a standard to follow.
Straight cuts and crosscuts
Rip against the fence with light, even pressure; Grizzly says light feed makes it easier to cut straight and spares the saw. Crosscut with the miter gauge in its slot, the blade at full speed before the work reaches it. Keep hands out of line with the blade, and finish narrow pieces with a push stick. Rules for hands and small parts are in band saw safety.
Curves and relief cuts
Feed and turn the work together so the blade follows the line without twisting. For tight curves, Grizzly says to use a narrower blade with more teeth and make relief cuts — straight cuts through the waste that stop at the line — so the waste falls away and the blade is never pinched. Make the short cuts first. The tightest curve a blade turns depends on its width; the makers' radius figures are in band saw blades. If you must back out of a cut, turn the saw off and wait for the blade to stop.
Resawing
- Capacity. The board's height may not exceed the saw's resaw height — 6 in on Grizzly's G0555LX, 14 in on its G0817 and Powermatic's PM1500.
- Blade. Powermatic calls the widest blade the saw can take ideal; Grizzly suggests hook or skip teeth at 3 to 6 TPI for chip clearance. Choosing one is in choosing a band saw blade.
- Stock. Start from a flat face and a square edge on the table; Rikon warns against sawing stock with no flat face unless it is supported. Flattening is in the jointer guide, and moisture is worth checking with a moisture meter before slicing.
- Fence or pin. Powermatic's PM1500 offers both: the fence plate with a push block, or the resaw pin for steering along a line.
- Hands. Always push blocks: Grizzly warns a wandering blade can tear through the side of a thin piece.
When the blade leads off the line
Lead, or drift, is the blade wandering off the line even with the fence set. The makers start with the causes: too fast a feed, a dull or damaged blade, wrong tension, guides out of adjustment, a fence not parallel to the miter slot, and — Powermatic adds — teeth with more set on one side. Powermatic says lead is almost always down to blade quality or adjustment, and treats skewing the fence as a temporary fix while a suspect blade is replaced. Grizzly, once tension, guides, feed and alignment are checked, has you compensate by skewing the fence or shifting the table using a test cut. Olson's list for a cut that bellies adds low tension, guides too far from the work and too fine a pitch. A well-set saw with a good blade may need no compensation at all.
Band saw setup checklist
- Blade of the right length and width, teeth down
- Tracking checked by hand, cover closed
- Tension set and noted for this blade
- Thrust and side guides set above and below the table
- Upper guides lowered to the work
- Push stick or block at hand; relief cuts planned
Projects to practise on are in band saw projects; the machine is explained in the band saw guide. Marking accurate lines to cut to is covered in measuring and marking.
Sources
Setup follows Grizzly's G0555LX manual because it gives one complete sequence; Powermatic's and Rikon's settings for the same parts are given beside it and differ. Grizzly's flutter method is run with the saw switched on, as its manual describes; BenchRoot gives it only as that manual's procedure for that saw. Suffolk's similar flutter test for its own blades, run with the guides removed, is not reproduced. Nothing was tested.
- 1.
Model G0555LX 14" Deluxe Bandsaw owner's manual (for models manufactured since 1/14). Grizzly Industrial.
Used for: The adjustment order — tracking, test run, tension, support bearings, guide bearings, table, fence; changing a blade with the power disconnected, tension released, guide post raised, guides backed off and the fence, insert and table pin removed; teeth facing down; centre-tracking on the crowned wheels by hand with the guides backed off, then closing the cover; the tension scale as an approximate setting, fine-tuned by the flutter method (saw running, guides away, tension reduced to a flutter, raised until it stops plus 1/8 to 1/4 turn) or the deflection method (saw unplugged, about 1/4 in of deflection under moderate pressure, 'much more subjective'); support bearings about 0.016 in behind the blade and guide bearings lightly touching it, just behind the gullets; upper guides just clear of the work; light, even feed; relief cuts and short cuts first; resawing with a wide hook or skip blade of 3 to 6 TPI and push blocks; blade lead from feed, a dull blade or tension, corrected by skewing the fence or shifting the table after checks.
- 2.
Model G0803 9" Benchtop Bandsaw owner's manual (for models manufactured since 09/15). Grizzly Industrial.
Used for: On a 9 in benchtop saw, the same deflection method and crowned-wheel tracking.
- 3.
Model G0817 14" Resaw Bandsaw with Foot Brake owner's manual (for models manufactured since 05/25). Grizzly Industrial, 2025.
Used for: Guide bearings set close to, but not quite touching, the sides of the blade, turning only when the blade is deflected or cutting; support and guide bearings re-set after every blade change or change of tension or tracking.
- 4.
Operating Instructions and Parts Manual, 15-inch Woodworking Band Saw, Models PM1500 and PM1500T (M-1791500, edition 10). Powermatic, 2023.
Used for: Tension set by the scale for the blade width as an initial setting, noted per blade, and released to the partial-tension idle position; tracking by hand with the saw disconnected, blade on the centre of the tire; guide bearings about 0.015 in behind the gullet and about 0.004 in from the blade, touching only under cutting pressure; thrust bearing about 0.015 in; lower guides the same; upper guides about 1/8 in above the work; the widest blade the saw takes for resawing; the fence plate with a push block or the resaw pin, its centre about even with the blade's front edge; lead attributed almost always to blade quality or adjustment, skewing the fence a temporary fix.
- 5.
Operating Instructions and Parts Manual, 14" Woodworking Band Saw, Model PWBS-14CS (M-1791216, revision G1). Powermatic, 2018.
Used for: Guide wheels about 0.016 in behind the gullet and 0.004 in from the blade; thrust about 0.016 in; the guide assembly about 3/16 in above the material; tracking never adjusted running.
- 6.
10-305 10" Woodworking Bandsaw Operator's Manual (10-305M5), as hosted by a public library. Rikon Power Tools.
Used for: Tracking set before the guides, blade in the centre of the wheels; roller guides about 1/16 in behind the gullets and within 1/32 in of the blade, not too close; the rear roller just clear; the upper guide as close as practical to the work.
- 7.
Used for: Thrust bearings set before side guides; never tracking with the motor running and the cover open; belly-shaped cuts from low tension, guides too far from the work, too fine a pitch, heavy feed or a dull blade.
- 8.
Timber Wolf Blades catalog 2026. Suffolk Machinery, 2026.
Used for: A blade maker's own 'flutter test' for its low-tension blades, run with the guides removed — reported, not reproduced.
About this tutorial
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.