Black & Decker BDBS100 3.5 Amp 9-Inch Band Saw

I make muskie fishing lures as a hobby, and when the dealer who cut my wood blanks for me was stricken with cancer, I had to make my own.
My first purchase was a Black and Decker 9" band saw. It was assembled, and I had a riser to mount it on so I was cutting within an hour after getting it. I started out with some soft Western Red Cedar so I could get used to the machine, and was pleased. That's as long as my pleasure lasted. If you want to cut nothing but soft woods, and never do any re-sawing, then this is the saw for you. The blade guides wore out in a matter of days, and the bearings that the blade is supposed to ride against are loose causing the blade to skip off the side. The only way to keep the blade on the bearings is to over-tighten the blade which causes premature blade failure. I bought the best blades that I could get and ruined more hard maple stock than I can count. All in a matter of two months, it started screeching and the motor would bog down and not cut...Read more

I like this product and it has cut everything I have tried from plastic to wood and aluminum. There is a wobble once the unit is up to speed almost like one of the wheels is out of balance. I have not been able to figure out an adjustment that affects the wobble. The wobble doesn't affect cutting performance but does make the floor wobble. It also seems louder than some similar saws I have used in the past.

I have had a couple of band saws in the past where you could never adjust the alignment so they didn't slip their blade within about 15 minutes. This unit has not had that problem and has been used for at least 20 hours of cutting.

I receive the Black & Decker 9-inch band saw soon after I placed the order. Out of the box it worked perfectlty and performed the relative simple cuts I required of it. There were not any assembly issues and the instructions were well written.