Bandsaw Companion

Bandsaw drift occurs when the fence and miter slot are not parallel with the blade.  The Bandsaw Companion tool answers how to get the blade, miter slot, and fence parallel to each other to eliminate drift.  Making a cut parallel to the blade keeps the blade from tending to torque to the side, resulting in tight and smooth saw kerfs.

The Bandsaw Companion tool from iGaging has two rare earth magnets on one side, which attach it firmly to the blade, best on 1/2" and wider blades.  There is an indent next to the magnets for the blade set.  The tool's extended length makes it easy to visualize the blade alignment with the fence and the miter slot.  This visibility then allows alignment of the fence and miter slot with the blade, and the built-in rule also makes it easy to set the fence an exact distance from the blade for saw cuts. 

With holes spaced every half-inch, you can also use the tool as a compass to draw circles up to a 23" diameter for bowl blanks.  And with the included sliding stop, the device can draw cut lines parallel to an edge. 

James Hamilton offers his way of using the tool: