Many people buy cheap blades for their band saws and this, in my opinion
is one of the biggest reasons for not cutting straight. I only buy high
quality blades for mine and they last a LONG time, as long as the kids
don't come over and try to cut hardened steel.
The problem is that the blade will still cut okay, but the rake on
one side of the blade gets dull.
I use my band saw 90% of the time. The chop saw gets used for
hardened materials and occasionally for things that I can't get to the
band saw (4" X 6", H/V model).
As one other poster said, the Portaband is also a wonderful tool.

Pete Stanaitis
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