1. do't use oak, use maple or ash

Oak is cheaper than Maple or Ash here... In fact, I can only find small
pieces of maple and ash... like 1x6s and stuff. I can get 6x6 chunks of oak
all over. In fact, there are oak tress all over my backyard if I wanna get
out the chainsaw. But, for an ice-cream scoop, I'll just get one of the
69cent scrap pieces they sell at home depot.

2. My bandsaw is probably cheap like yours, but it cuts fine - the cut is
more a function of the blade than anything else - and maybe having some
quality guides - I think I paid more for the guides than I did for the
whole
saw.

Maybe I'll get a new blade... I'll look into it.