Bandsaws: ripping, resawing, and following a line

Published on October 31, 2026

Cut on the WEN 9-inch, WEN 10-inch, and Laguna 14BX 14-inch bandsaws: rip flat against the fence on a square or tilted table, resaw boards on edge down to thin slices, or follow a straight or curved pencil line.

Sawdust now models bandsaws in My Shop and on the tool stage: the 9-inch WEN BA3959, the 10-inch WEN BA3962 (now included in the starter Tool List), and the 14-inch Laguna 14BX. Open the Bandsaw on any board in the Build tool rack and pick Rip, Resaw, or Follow a line. For a video walkthrough of all three cuts, watch Bandsaw school: resaw, rip and follow a line in Learn.

The Laguna 14BX 14-inch bandsaw stage set to Resaw with a 1/2-inch slice thickness on a 5 1/2-inch tall pine plank.

Three working bandsaws with real capacity checks

Each bandsaw in My Shop -> Tools carries its own 3D model, throat width from blade to column, maximum resaw height under the upper blade guide, table tilt limits, mounted Timber Wolf blade kerf, and store link:

WEN BA3959 (9-inch benchtop bandsaw): Resaws up to 3 1/2 inches tall with 9 inches from the blade to the column, mounted with a 59 1/2-inch x 1/4-inch 6 TPI blade.
WEN BA3962 (10-inch two-speed bandsaw on stand): Included in the starter shop when you have not set up your own tools; resaws up to 6 inches tall with 9 3/4 inches from the blade to the column, mounted with a 72-inch x 1/4-inch 6 TPI blade.
Laguna 14BX (14-inch cabinet bandsaw): Resaws up to 13 inches tall with 13 5/8 inches from the blade to the column and a table tilt range from -7 degrees (toward the column) to 45 degrees, mounted with a 115-inch x 1/2-inch 3 TPI resaw blade.

The bandsaw stage shows the selected saw's capacity and refuses setups the machine cannot make: a board taller than the upper guide can clear, a cut wider than the throat between the blade and the column, or a fence brought closer to the blade than the lowered guide allows (including when the Laguna 14BX table is tilted toward the column).

Ripping and resawing against the fence

In Rip mode, the board rests flat on the table against the fence. You can rip square to the blade or tilt the table up to 45 degrees (or down to -7 degrees toward the column on the 14BX) for beveled rips, with the fence travel bounded by the saw's guide clearance and rail length.

The WEN BA3962 10-inch bandsaw ripping a 2-inch strip with the table tilted 15 degrees fence side down.

Pick Resaw to stand the board on edge against the fence under a raised blade guide and slice the board through its thickness, down to thin slices. As the board feeds at a hand's pace, the kerf opens behind the blade.

Close-up replay of the Laguna 14BX resawing a 1/2-inch slice off a pine plank with the kerf visible behind the blade.

Following straight and curved pencil lines

Pick Follow a line to steer a board along a pencil line on its top face that starts or ends at an edge. When the board has a single usable mark, the bandsaw selects it automatically; when a board carries several marks from the Pencil tool, you can switch between them in the Marked line menu without leaving the tool stage. The bandsaw eases the board through bends along the marked curve, and the cut replays in Show me how and in build films.

The WEN BA3959 9-inch benchtop bandsaw steering a pine board along a curved pencil line in Follow a line mode.

Bandsaw cuts for connected assistants

Connected AI assistants over MCP can make rips, resaws, and curved cuts on any bandsaw in your shop by naming the saw in tool_def on a cut_along operation. Each cut uses the mounted blade's kerf width and checks the same throat, guide height, and through-cut limits as the interactive stage. Watch the video lesson Bandsaw school: resaw, rip and follow a line for a complete demonstration, or see How to watch a part's fabrication with Show me how and How to connect an assistant to Sawdust in the Knowledge Base.