Hey there,
I would like to upgrade my bandsaw blade guides. Presently, they are simply steel discs. A little friction to say the least. I have the choice of making them bearings or “cool block” types. Anyone have an opinion of which would be better?
Thanks
Dan
Replies
Dan,
I have used both. While it would seem logical that bearings would perform better than a block of material against which the blades ride, Cool Blocks work as well or better than bearings. I highly recommend them.
Rich
Hey Rich,
What makes them better?
Dan
They're much easier to set up, and they simply do the job they are supposed to do without fuss. Correctly set, they stay that way and control the band very well.Bearings are a bit fussy to set up. They also work well when you get them set up.Rich
> I would like to upgrade my bandsaw blade guides. Presently, they are simply steel discs. A little friction to say the least.
You might be surprised. Band saws have run steel blocks for over 100 years because they work. In my experience, much of the "internet wisdom" about about steel guides is pure nonsense.
Cool blocks do have an advantage when running fine bands since you can bury the band in the block.
I'm not sure exactly what guides you're describing, but if this is a low end saw and the current guides work for you, there are probably better things to spend your woodworking dollar on.
Pete
Edited 11/7/2006 10:40 pm ET by PeteBradley
Yes the woodworking dollar is a precious one, but I can do this for pretty cheap that's why I'm considering it. Machinist buddy can make the new guide assemblies to fit on my saw. So it's just a question of putting either bearings or cool blocks on them.
Dan
I use ceramic guide blocks on 1/4" and up and the phenolic/graphite impregnated cool blocks on 1/8- 3/16.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
I had several bandsaws in my school shop. I put Carter bearings on one and cool blocks on another. I never liked the Carters, they don't work well with small blades. The eccentric adjustments were a pain and they took up too much room. Cool blocks you can cut into if needed, great for fine scrolling blades and inexpensive.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Thanks Hammer, my choice is getting clearer.
Dan
Dan:
I'd start by checking FWW #148 (April 2001): "Choosing Bandsaw Guides," by Tim Albers. The information holds, even after five years. Good luck.
Charlie Reina, Associate Editor, FWW
Thanks to both of you. I'll look up those articles.
Dan
My saw has bearings they work fine. The thrust bearing should always work to prevent your blade from moving to far back into the guide. You can not expect ####narrow blade to work at the same rate as a wide blade. You have to feed properly.
Either way a hard guide will chew up the blade and a hard blade will chew up a soft guide. You will know quickly when you have chewed up your blade. A chewed up guide may not mainfest itself until you are making the last cut on the last piece of matching wood.
Read Michael Fortunes 5 Tips for Better Bandsawing FW173 and online at this site.
Your proposed upgrade may not give you the comfort you are looking for.
Good luck.
Don
Check out the latest edition of WOOD Magazine (December). They've got a pretty thorough review on bandsaw guides and talk about ceramic guides, Iturra band rollers and Carter bearing guides. Since they didn't mention cool blocks or the Joe Johns guides, I'll have to assume they didn't measure up as well as the three. That seems to be their method with that "Wise Buys" section, picking tools they recommend, and it says they tried others. As for me, I prefer the ceramic guides because they work so well, run cool, and never seem to wear out. And they only cost about $30 for a whole set with thrust bearings. My experience with cool blocks is they don't last long, and they wear quickly to allow the blade to wander side to side. The Iturras seem like a good idea, but you don't get new thrust bearings. I've also got a set of Carter guides on my other bandsaw (OK, I'm spoiled to have two, but I don't have to change blades so often) and I like them too for larger blades, but that price tag is steep. My advice: buy the ceramics.
Choice of guides will depend a lot on the type of bandsaw you have. On my old Delta 14" machine, I replaced the original steel blocks with Cool Blocks. Worked great, just as easy to adjust as the originals, and I did'nt have to worry about accidentally hitting the teeth with the guides.
On my current Laguna LT18, I replaced the original Euro guides with the new ceramic guides. The originals worked OK, except for the thrust bearing which failed after a couple of years. The ceramics can be set just lightly touching the sides of the blade on the sides and thrust. Light sparks will result with no adverse effects.
I had a small Delta benchtop bandsaw that came with original steel rod guides, which I replaced with small scraps of maple for great results. So the choice is all over the map. Overall, I think the Cool Blocks are the greatest advance in blade guides. Its just what works for you and your saw.
All, Oops, I'm sending this on Dans ticket but its addressed to All. Once again let me say what a great web-site this is. Iam researching the articles mentioned first chance after this posting. However, Iam the not so proud owner of a laguna lt-18 saggitarius. I would be curious if any other owners out there have gone after market with guides. I absolutely refuse to buy a laguna product. At this time with the lt-18 I work form3/16'' to 1" on the saw. I would like to uprgade to a guide system that I will not have to change to accommadate the different widths. Anyone who has experience with an upgrade on this particular model?? be good enough to give me a holler. Anyone with insight or comments concerning where I hope to go is also very welcome. Thanks for any consideration-GoodWorkings-bufun
bufun, What problems are you having with your Laguna machine? You are not the first one to post here about problems with Laguna. The last major negative posting had to do with the very poor service a customer had gotten regarding receiving the necessary (missing) parts after shipment of a new Robland table saw. Rich
rich, my litany of complaints with laguna can be found in the bussiness section of this forum. there are approximately 98 postings on that thread. You can find mine and others there. I just want to find a laguna lt-18 saggitarius model owner who purchased after market guides for his machine outside of the laguna product line. I will never buy laguna I do not trust laguna. I dont want this thread here to devolve into an anti-laguna riot. If you want to see that go to bussiness on this forum. I was hoping to find someone out there who has actual hands-on experience with my model band saw and after market guides. I have attempted to reach owners like this before to no avail. I saw this posting and was hoping to find someone who has a machine like mine.-GoodWorkings-bufun
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