Bandsaw Diagram Practice Quiz – Tap Each Part by Name

All 22 parts on the diagram

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The whole saw 12

Table The work slides across it into the blade. It can tilt for angled cuts.
Bandsaw blade One long strip of toothed steel, its ends welded into a loop.
Upper wheel It carries the blade over the top. Raising it tightens the blade.
Lower wheel The motor turns this wheel, and the wheel drives the blade.
Motor An electric motor; on this saw it sits in the stand.
Switch It turns the motor on and off.
Frame It holds both wheels in line and carries the table.
Tire Each wheel wears a rubber tire. The blade rides on the middle of it.
Blade tension handwheel It moves the upper wheel up or down. That pulls the blade tight or lets it go slack.
Blade tracking knob It tilts the upper wheel. This makes the blade run in the center of the tire. On most saws it is on the back. Here it is drawn at the side.
Drive belt Runs from the motor pulley to a pulley on the lower wheel.
Dust port A short pipe low on the saw. A vacuum or dust collector hose fits here.

At the table 10

Guide post It holds the upper guides just above the wood. It slides up and down.
Blade guard A cover over the blade. It runs between the top of the saw and the guides. It moves with the guide post.
Rip fence It locks to the table at a set distance from the blade. It is for straight cuts along a board.
Table insert A removable plate that fills the hole in the table. The blade passes through that hole.
Miter slot The bar of a miter gauge slides along this groove. It is for cuts across a board.
Upper blade guides One on each side of the blade, set close to it. Then the blade cannot twist in the cut.
Thrust bearing A bearing behind the blade. It takes the push when wood is fed into the teeth.
Guide post lock knob Loosen it to raise or lower the guide post. Then tighten it again.
Lower blade guides They steady the blade below the table. The upper guides do the same above it.
Trunnion The table is bolted to it. It lets the table tilt, and a lock holds the angle.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where at least two of these use it. (1) A maker's owner's manual for a 17-inch woodworking bandsaw, full text at https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-642407 : tension indicator, blade tension handwheel, blade tracking knob, guide post, guide post lock knob, blade guides, table insert, trunnions, miter slot, rip fence, dust port, motor, switch, wheel tires, upper and lower wheels, frame. (2) A second maker's user manual for a 14-inch bandsaw, full text at https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5943000 : blade tension handwheel, blade tracking knob, guide post lock knob, upper and lower blade guides, thrust bearing, blade guard, table insert, trunnion, rip fence, dust port, motor, drive belt, tire, frame. (3) A third maker's owner's manual for a 12-inch band saw, full text at https://archive.org/details/manuals-plus-craftsman-12-inch-band-saw-owners-manual-models-113-248211-d40a31f8 : upper and lower wheels, rubber tires, tension knob, tracking adjustment, blade guides, thrust (back-up) bearings, guide bar lock knob, blade guard, table, miter gage slot, drive belt, frame, on-off switch. (4) A woodworkers' club bandsaw manual, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5649584 : guide post, thrust bearing, throat plate, trunnion, tires. (5) Wikipedia, Bandsaw, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandsaw : the blade is a band welded into a loop and stretched between two wheels, one of them powered. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's saw, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This bandsaw diagram practice quiz is on a floor-standing woodworking saw with its wheel covers off. It asks for each part by one name; a class handout or a saw's own manual may print another for the same part.

Read the full guide

The same part under another name

Makers do not agree on every name. The thrust bearing asked here is a back-up bearing in one owner's manual and a support bearing in another. The guide post is a guide bar and the blade tension handwheel a tension knob. Miter slot is short for miter gauge slot.

Asked once, found twice

Each wheel wears a tire. The quiz asks for the tire once, and a tap on either wheel's rim counts. Manuals show a thrust bearing with each set of guides; the one asked is the round bearing just above the upper guides. The blade is asked on the whole saw, not in the close-up.

The blade guard and the guide post are the two bars side by side over the table. The guard is the left one.

Questions and answers

Is it bandsaw or band saw?

Both are in print. Some makers' manuals write bandsaw as one word and others band saw as two. A worksheet headed Band Saw is about the same machine.

What is the throat plate on a bandsaw?

Another name for the table insert, the small plate round the blade where it passes through the table. On this site's table saw drawing the same kind of plate is labeled throat plate.

What is a vertical bandsaw?

One whose blade stays in place while the work is moved across the table, as on this drawing. A horizontal bandsaw holds the work still and swings the blade down through it, to cut bar or pipe to length.

How many wheels does a bandsaw have?

Two on most saws, turning in the same plane, and one of them is powered. Some bandsaws have three or four. The quiz is on a two-wheel saw and asks for the upper wheel and the lower wheel.