What does bandsaw mean?
A bandsaw is a power saw built around a long, narrow, continuously looping blade of toothed steel that travels over two or more wheels, one of which is driven by a motor. Because the blade moves steadily in one direction and presents only a small amount of teeth to the workpiece at any moment, the bandsaw excels at making smooth curved cuts, cutting thick stock, and resawing — slicing a wide board into thinner planks. Bandsaws appear in woodworking shops, metalworking plants, lumber mills, and even butcher shops, where versions designed for meat can portion frozen carcasses. The name comes from the band-like form of its blade, and both "bandsaw" and "band saw" are accepted spellings. For woodworkers it is often considered one of the most versatile machines in the shop, prized for accuracy and relative safety compared with other power saws.
nounA mechanical power saw consisting of a continuous toothed metal blade that runs around two or more wheels, used for cutting wood, metal, or other materials, including curved cuts.
- The machine itself: a stationary (or occasionally portable) power tool with a continuously looping toothed blade used for straight, curved, and resawing cuts in wood, metal, or meat.
"The luthier shaped the guitar's ribs on the bandsaw before fine-tuning them by hand."
"He roughed out the chair legs at the bandsaw before refining their shape with a spokeshave."
"The butcher's bandsaw made quick work of splitting the frozen quarters of beef."
The standard plural adds -s; the spelling follows whichever form of the headword is chosen, so "band saws" is equally correct alongside "bandsaws."
"The school's woodshop was equipped with three bandsaws of different sizes."
A bandsaw's blade is just a thin ribbon of steel welded into a loop — and because it only pulls downward through the cut, it's one of the few power saws safe enough to follow a pencil line in freehand curves.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bandsaw
Bandsaw combines two older words: "saw," a Germanic word attested since antiquity for the toothed cutting tool, and "band," which entered English from Old Norse "band," meaning something that binds or ties, related to the verb "bind." The term arose in the nineteenth century as inventors developed machines using a flexible band of steel as the cutting element; Englishman William Newberry patented a bandsaw design in 1808, though practical versions had to wait for stronger, reliably weldable blades later in the century. Related words sharing the "band" root include bandage, bond, and bind.
How bandsaw is actually used
Both spellings "bandsaw" and "band saw" are widely accepted; "band saw" is more common in American usage and formal technical writing. The word applies to industrial, woodworking, metalworking, and butchery contexts alike, so surrounding context usually signals the domain. It carries no strong connotation — it reads as neutral, workshop-technical vocabulary.
Easily confused with bandsaw
A chainsaw cuts with a toothed chain running along a guide bar, while a bandsaw uses a continuous flexible steel blade looped around wheels.