I am look for a new band saw in the 18″ range for a garage wood shop, for resawing, I understand paying more would get me the best but alas, $1,000. tops me out.
I have been looking at one saw that had roller bears as guides, which I assume must be Carter ball bearings? And one saw that had a thin flat bearing with the face against the blade.
Anyone have a source of information or knowledge of these guides and the goods and bads of them?
Thanks, Jay
Replies
Jay,
Not all bearing guides are Carter. Many of the machines come with them now, I think they call them European type guides. Check with your dealer or the manufacturer and find out what they're using and if they'll back up their quality and performance.
I'm not sure these roller bearing type guides are more than a fad. I use Cool Blocks, and they work fine. At the mill the old bandsaws and resaws used maple dowels, and they worked fine for over a hundred years. (Seems to me the filer used to keep them soaking in a bucket of oil or kerosene.)
Jeff
I'm not so keen on the Carter bearing guides as I was when I saw them. The principle seemed, and still seems OK, but they're much harder to get adjusted than the old stock guides on my little Delta. The tend to gum up more than plain running blocks since they rotate instead of rub when contacting the blade. I cut a lot of green wood for turning as you no doubt surmise. The recent bout with a large piece of really, really wet walnut resulted in an all night clean-up session last night to get the saw back in shape.
Another thing about Carter (understand that these may not be what the original poster has but in case...) they require two different size allen wrenches to adjust. Not a big deal but why not make them all the same size!!? There's only one size different between the two - looks like they could have all been the larger size and be done with it. And no micro/screw thread adjustment is a loss compared to the sliding block affair on the originals.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
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A article in Fine Woodworking last year agrees with you. For 14" BS, Cool Blocks are best.
The large diameter roller guides like the Carters grip the blade quite a distance above and below the work surface leading to less support for the blade. Also, whenever a blade mistracks, the guides and blade are damaged.
In this case, the least cost solution is the best solution.
In this case, the least cost solution is the best solution.
KISS .... Keep it Simple, Stupid!! (grin)
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis,
All the same size? That would be too easy! (I can see you're no engineer.)
Jeff
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