a wood cutting band saw blade in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated generally at 10 in fig1 . the band saw blade 10 defines a cutting direction indicated by the arrow a , and comprises a band 12 having cutting edge 14 and a base 15 including a back edge 16 . the band saw blade 10 defines a longitudinal axis “ l ” and a transverse axis “ t ”. it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the relevant art that the cutting edge 14 of the band saw blade 10 comprises a plurality of teeth 17 , 17 ′, 17 ″( fig2 ) etc ., disposed along the cutting edge . it will also be appreciated that all or a subset of the teeth 17 , 17 ′, 17 ″, etc . may be angled or set along a bend plane 18 as better seen in fig2 . referring now to fig2 , a plurality of the teeth 17 ′, 17 ″, etc . are each set at an angle a ′, a ″, etc . relative to axis a . in the preferred embodiments of the present invention , angle a ′, a ″, etc . as preferably within a range of approximately 75 - 89 °, and most preferably approximately 84 ° ( or approximately 1 ° to approximately 15 ° with respect to transverse axis t ). it will be understood that angles a ′, a ″, etc . may also vary from tooth to tooth in a particular pattern . also , each of the teeth 17 ′, 17 ″, may be set in a manner such that they extend in directions which alternate from one side of transverse axis t of the band saw blade 10 to the other side as illustrated in fig2 . in another example , the pattern may comprise both set teeth and unset or straight teeth . in a preferred embodiment , the pattern may include five teeth comprising a first unset tooth and four set teeth , the latter four of which alternate from one side of the transverse 20 axis t to the other side . other patterns also may be employed in accordance with the present invention . for example , u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 435 , 108 entitled “ band saw blade having reduced noise and uniform tooth loading characteristics ”, assigned to the assignee hereof , and hereby incorporated herein by reference as part of the present disclosure , describes several tooth patterns that may include variously setting primary , secondary and tertiary teeth in such a manner as to minimize noise and vibration of the band saw blade . referring again to fig1 and 2 , the teeth 17 , 17 ′ each comprise a tip 20 , 20 ′, a relief surface 22 , 22 ′, and a cutting surface 24 , 24 ′, and each tooth is separated from the next by an intermediate surface comprising a curvilinear base surface 26 defining a gullet 28 . the relief surface 22 , 22 ′ and cutting surface 24 , 24 ′ each extend from the tip 20 , 20 ′, and preferably connect together with the curvilinear base surface 26 defining the gullet 28 . it will be understood that the curvilinear base surface 26 may be configured in a particular shape that assists in discharging dust and chips created during cutting . such a configuration is described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 167 , 792 , entitled “ improved tooth form for a saw blade ”, assigned to the assignee hereof , the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as part of the present disclosure . in accordance with a feature of the present invention , each set tooth 17 , 17 ′, etc . defines a shelf 30 , 30 ′ extending from the cutting surface 24 , 24 ′ and comprising a shelf surface 34 , 34 ′ and a shelf tip 36 , 36 ′. the shelf 30 , 30 ′ is configured to function , as described in more detail below , to collect saw dust , e . g . various sized wood chips and other particulate matter generated during cutting of a kerf including a kerf wall 38 in a work piece 39 , as shown in fig2 , and to remove the collected dust away from the kerf wall 38 . it will be recognized that the shelf tip 36 , 36 ′ may be of any suitable configuration including , e . g ., a rounded configuration ( not shown ). as used herein , the term shelf refers to any suitable structure which may capture and / or remove sawdust during cutting of a work piece such as , for example , a ledge - like structure extending outwardly from a cliff - like structure as illustrated in the disclosed embodiment . it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art that the location and dimensions of the shelf 30 , 30 ′ affects the functionality of the shelf in removing dust . for simplicity , the following will use tooth 17 ′ for an example in describing the location of the shelf 30 ′; however , it will be understood that this description may be equally applicable to all teeth disposed on the band saw blade 10 . as shown in fig2 , the distance between the tip 20 ′ and shelf tip 36 ′ is defined as “ s 1 ,” and the distance between the tip 20 ′ and the bend plane 18 is defined as “ b ”. also , the distance between the tip 20 ′ and the curvilinear base surface 26 is defined as “ d ”. if s 1 is set equal to or greater than b , then the shelf 30 ′ will not be in a proper location to “ catch ” and remove the dust cut from the kerf wall 38 . specifically , a dust gap “ dg ” is defined between a lateral point 40 ′ of the tooth 17 ′ ( which also establishes the kerf wall 38 ) and a side surface 42 at the base of the band saw blade 10 . effectively , the shelf 30 ′ reduces the size of the dust gap or creates an effective dust gap “ edg ” that is substantially less than dg . it has been found that s 1 preferably ranges from between approximately 0 . 06 inch and approximately 0 . 12 inch , and is most preferably approximately 0 . 09 inch , where b is approximately 0 . 20 inch and d is approximately 0 . 30 inch . in order to quantify a percent reduction of the dust gap size , the ratio of s 1 / b is utilized . the present inventor has determined that the ratio of s 1 / b preferably ranges between approximately 0 . 25 and approximately 0 . 75 , more preferably ranges between approximately 0 . 30 and approximately 0 . 60 , and most preferably is approximately 0 . 45 . accordingly , a shelf depth of approximately ⅓ d ( or approximately ½ the depth of the bend plane ) is sufficient to prevent choking and provide a desirable effective dust gap . it will be understood that these dimensional parameters apply to straight or unset teeth as well as to set teeth . it also will be appreciated that the width of the effective dust gap can not only be manipulated by adjusting the depth ( dimension s 1 ) of the shelf , but also by adjusting the set angle a ′ of the tooth 17 ′. for example , increasing the set angle a ′ relative to the transverse axis t , as illustrated in fig2 , will necessarily reduce the width of the effective dust gap . the configuration of the shelf 30 ′ also influences the ability of the shelf to remove dust . for example , it will be recognized that the available space created by the length of the shelf surface 34 ′ must be sufficient to prevent dust from “ choking ” or over - filling the shelf . with reference to fig1 , it has been found that the length “ l 1 ” of the shelf surface 34 ′ is preferably between approximately 0 . 06 inch and approximately 0 . 10 inch , and most preferably is approximately 0 . 08 inch . the length l 1 may be made between the projected intersection of the cutting surface 24 ′ and shelf surface 34 ′ and an outer edge of the shelf tip 36 ′. the shelf surface 34 , 34 ′ also may be angled to optimize dust capture and prevent , e . g ., choking as discussed above . in particular , by angling the shelf with respect to the back edge 16 of the blade , the quantity of sawdust captured and the re - direction of the chip flow , e . g ., to the gullet 28 for sweeping the chips out of the kerf is increased . for example , while shelf surface 34 , 34 ′ may comprise a first portion 34 a , 34 ′ a that may be generally parallel to the back edge 16 of the band saw blade 10 , a second portion 34 b , 34 ′ b is provided that is disposed at an angle “ a 1 ” relative to the back edge . angle a 1 is preferably between approximately 10 ° and approximately 20 °, and is most preferably approximately 15 ° in the direction of the back edge . however , it will be understood that less preferably the shelf surface may be angled in a direction away from the back edge ( not shown ). optionally , the first portion 34 a , 34 ′ a may be angled relative to the back edge 16 at between approximately 4 ° and approximately 10 °, and most preferably approximately 7 ° ( not shown ). another embodiment of the band saw blade of the present invention is shown generally at 110 in fig4 . the band saw blade 110 is similar in many respects to the band saw blade 10 described above , and therefore like reference numerals preceded by the number 1 are used to indicate like elements . in this embodiment , shelf surface 134 of the band saw blade 110 defines a generally planar configuration over substantially the entire shelf length , and a shelf surface angle a 2 relative to the back edge 116 of between approximately 4 ° and approximately 10 °, and most preferably approximately 7 °. tests conducted cutting frozen cherry at a band speed of approximately 5500 feet per minute ( fpm ) and a board speed of approximately 65 fpm , using a band saw blade of the present invention being 1 . 348 inch high , by 0 . 042 inch thick and having 1 tooth per inch ( tpi ), was found to have a 70 - 90 % weight percent reduction in residual saw dust on the finished boards as compared to cutting with a conventional band saw blade . referring now to fig1 and 3 , the band saw blade 10 may also comprise a bump 42 that may function to urge chips received from a tooth 17 ′ to be redirected toward the cutting edge 14 and out of the kerf . the bump preferably includes a height h that ranges from approximately 0 . 04 inch through approximately 0 . 06 inch , and a lateral width w which ranges from between approximately 0 . 005 inch to approximately 0 . 015 inch as measured from a respective side of the band saw blade 10 . the bump 42 is preferably formed by swaging . it will be appreciated that swaging the bump ( and by not locating the bump at the traditional location at the base of the rake face ) substantially reduces the chances of the formation of harmful stress risers in the band saw blade 10 . turning now to fig5 and 6 , another embodiment of a band saw blade in accordance with the present invention is shown generally at 210 . the band saw blade 210 is similar in many respects to the band saw blade 10 described above , and therefore like reference numerals preceded by the number 2 are used to indicate like elements . in this embodiment , each of the set teeth includes a shelf 230 and a relief portion to further reduce or minimize the dust gap between the blade 10 and the kerf walls ( not shown ). the band saw blade 210 is generally similar to the band saw blade 10 of fig1 - 3 ; however , each set tooth 217 ′, 217 ″, etc . further includes a relief portion 244 ′, 244 ″, respectively , formed on the upper corner of the tooth on the side facing the respective kerf wall 238 . as illustrated in fig5 , the relief portions 244 ′, 244 ″ each define a relief angle ra ′, ra ″ ( shown in fig5 ). the relief portions form an angle which is preferably within the range of between approximately 0 ° and approximately 2 ° with respect to a plane defined by the unset tooth 220 . the relief portions 244 ′, 244 ″ function to locate the respective shelf 230 closer to the kerf wall 238 to thereby further reduce the dust gap dg to dg 1 and , in turn , decrease the effective dust gap from edg to edg 1 . the relief portion may also define a tangential angle “ ta ” ( shown in fig6 ). in this way , the edge is relieved to reduce the effects of friction during cutting of a work piece ( not shown ). the angle ta is preferably within the range of between approximately 3 ° and approximately 6 ° with respect to a plane defined by the side of the blade body 210 . it will be understood that the dimensions and interrelationship of s 1 and b , as described above , applies to the current embodiment as well . the straight or unset tooth 220 provided in this embodiment also includes a shelf 230 similar to that described above . fig7 illustrates a band saw blade 310 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention . the band saw blade 310 is similar in many respects to the band saw blade 10 described above , and therefore like reference numerals preceded by the number 3 are used to indicate like elements . the tooth 317 may be similar to teeth 17 , 17 ′, 17 ″ and 117 described above in conjunction with fig1 - 3 and 5 , although , the tooth 317 further includes a second shelf 346 . the second shelf 346 comprises a second shelf surface 348 and a second shelf tip 350 , and functions to re - direct chips which have passed the first shelf 330 . each second shelf 346 has a dimension s 2 which is defined as the distance measured between the tip 320 of a particular tooth 317 and the second shelf tip 350 . the dimensions s 1 and b may both be determined in the same manner as discussed above in conjunction with fig1 and 2 . it has been found that s 2 is preferably determined through the relationship of s 2 =( b + s 1 )÷ 2 . accordingly , for the range of s 1 given above , s 2 preferably is within the range of between 0 . 13 inch and 0 . 16 inch , and is most preferably 0 . 145 inch . it has been found that the shelf length l 2 ( measured in a similar manner to l 1 ) is preferably approximately 70 % to approximately 90 % of l 1 . most preferably , the shelf length l 2 is approximately 80 % of l 1 . in the operation of the band saw blade , the shelf operates to collect substantially all of the sawdust generated upon cutting the work piece and tends to force the collected dust upwardly and out of the kerf . as a result , very little dust is allowed to fall downwardly into the dust gap formed between the sides of the blade and kerf walls . also , a substantial clearance is maintained between the base of the blade and the kerf walls , thereby significantly reducing friction between the blade and kerf walls and , in turn , minimizing vibrations and increasing blade life in comparison to prior art band saw blades . as may be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art based on the teachings herein , numerous changes and modifications may be made to the above - described and other embodiments of the present invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims . for example , the shelf or similarly functioning means , may take various different configurations while still performing the function of reducing the passage of saw dust into the kerf . in addition , the blade need not define any unset teeth ; rather all teeth may alternate from one side of the transverse axis of the blade to the other . accordingly , this detailed description of preferred embodiments is to be taken in an illustrative as opposed to a limiting sense .