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Thread: Hammer N4400 Guides
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3rd May 2014, 06:24 PM #1
Hammer N4400 Guides
Has anyone researched, thought about or replaced the guide bearings on their N4400 with aftermarket ones? Any information gratefully received.
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3rd May 2014 06:24 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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7th May 2014, 10:56 AM #2Member
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When I first got my N4400 I also had misgivings about the blade guides. So I went and made my own. I made small wooden blocks that have a raised section that fitted in the grove of the frame after removing the existing guide.
The front part has a channel into which the actual guide fits. A hole is drilled and threaded (5/16") through the middle and length of allthread inserted and superglued in. The actual guide has and elongated hole for lateral adjustment and is made from Lignum vitae, a very hard and oily wood and the whole thing is bolted to the existing framework. In my old bandsaw I used Lignum guides for years without problems. They can actually be adjusted without clearance to the blade. For the thrust bearing I turned piece of Lignum the same diameter and length of the exisiting one. Turned a spigot at one end to accept a normal ball bearing of similar diameter, held in place with a washer and machine screw through a threaded hole through the centre.
I also purchased a blade stabilizer from Carter Products in the US for blades smaller than 1/4" for fine intricate work. The only problem was the freight cost more than the item. Model JET1 fits the N4400.
I had my N4400 now for more than a year and I am very happy with it. Perfect cuts with plenty of power. I am still using the original guides and they seem to be working fine so far execpt for very narrow blades <1/4", hence the Carter Stabilizer.
I tried to attach a picture. Not sure if it worked as this is my first attempt at this. Maybe someone can tell me how to do this or where to find the information.
BF
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7th May 2014, 05:11 PM #3
Hi,
Im struggling to wonder why you want to replace the guides? I've got the the 4hp variant of the N4400 and run plenty of timber thru them all the way from tiny to 8 inch high resaw on a one inch rip blade. I cant fault the machine. its bullet proof...
are you sure your issue is not associated with your adjustments or usage pattern?Zed
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7th May 2014, 07:56 PM #4Senior Member
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I've gotta say, I'm not sure why you'd want to fool with that setup either. I've only had mine for 6 months but it seems pretty solid.
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17th May 2014, 11:06 AM #5
I have a N4400 at home which runs well with no obvious wear of the guides.
However, our local wood guild has a N4400 and I have seen first hand the wear on the bushes primarily the upper thrust bearing. Because the force is on the edge the shaft pulls to one side and wears the bush. This machine gets a lot of use and perhaps some over zealous users.
The guides running in bushes rather than bearings may well work OK for moderate home users but probably not well for heavy or commercial usage. From a first principles engineering review the setup could easily be improved.
The side guides also rely on a slight toe-in to the front of the blade. I have seen some setups where the original machining of the components is less than ideal in this respect.
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20th May 2014, 03:32 PM #6
common mistakes on bandsaws:
1) is to push too hard. let the blade dictate the speed (you get a good feel for it - like a nice pair...)
2) blunt blade
3) worn wheel rubbers
4) misaligned guidesZed
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28th May 2014, 07:49 PM #7Senior Member
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Photo please of homemade guides on bandsaw?
Hi Blackforester,
I just can't picture in my mind how your guides fit onto the N4400
Can you please post a photo showing them as mounted on the bandsaw?
I had problems with my N4400 side and thrust guides gumming up after about 4 years use. I had to pull them apart and grease them (see an earlier topic in this forum). This does seem to have increased the wobbliness of the disks on the shaft, so it makes nonsense of the "allow 0.3mm spacing tween blade and guide" advice in books.New Zealand
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2nd June 2014, 11:20 AM #8Member
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Hi Paul,
Here are some pictures of the alternative home made installed guides to the N4400. The blue "Carter" guide is for blades narrower than 1/4" for intricate work. With this guide the lower guides are moved out of the way altogether and the only guide is the groved bearing. I was concerned about this but it really works well as you can see in the sample. I hope this help.
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4th June 2014, 08:02 PM #9Senior Member
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Thanks for pictures
Hi Blackforester,
thanks for the photos - they make it very clear how your guides fit onto the N4400 so if my existing disk guides get too wobbly on their bushes I have an alternative.
PaulNew Zealand
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5th June 2014, 03:55 PM #10Member
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I think Felder/Hammer treat their guides as disposable wear items that have to be replaced when they become too loose. The sales rep in Melbourne also suggested to soak the guides in WD40 or similar overnight from time to time to keep them in working order.
BF
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19th April 2016, 06:47 AM #11New Member
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Hi Blackforester.
I'm sorry for my English. I use the electronic translator.
I have the blue "Carter". But, I can't do small radius using a blades of 6 mm (1/4"). What width the blades was used by you (your third photo)?
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19th April 2016, 07:29 AM #12
You can get ceramic guides for these bandsaws now, although from memory it's around $500.00 for the kit.
The time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
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19th April 2016, 09:19 AM #13Member
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Hi Nikolay375,
I use a 3/16" blade for the Carter Stabilizer JET1. It is important that the lower guides are moved out of the way when using the Carter guide and the Carter guide is moved somewhat forward so the blade is firmly seated in the groove of the bearing.
Hope this helps.
Blackforester
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15th August 2016, 07:54 PM #14Senior Member
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Alternative Ceramic Guides for the Hammer N4400
There are possibly some alternative ceramic guides to the ones that Felder sells.
I went to this website: spaceageceramics.com and found that they have really increased the range of bandsaw guides that they sell.
They sell directly what they call "Euro guide block threaded pins" which look likely to be replacements for the Hammer side guides - cost for 4 of these is $96 US which is far cheaper than the Felder guides. They also have "Euro Thrust bearing pins" - 2 for $54 US.
The big advantage of the ceramic guide blocks is that they can be setup to lightly touch the sides of the bandsaw blade and they don't need to rotate, so they should have no wobble (unlike my current Hammer side guide disks).
I'll create a new thread to ask for forum members who have bought and used these guides to give us their experience.
INew Zealand
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29th December 2016, 07:04 AM #15Member
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I'm interested to see where this goes. I am about to purchase the hammer n4400 and was looking at getting the ceramic guides from felder. $500 is quite a lot though!
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