Thread: best blade guide setup

G'day fatty

I have rebuilt a 14" bandsaw.It was a crappy H&F model that that had major flaws from the factory.
I copied this design from the big $ industrial aotomated bandsaw the TAFE was using to cut weld coupons.

it is strong and has no trouble keeping the blade on track.

It looks like it was dipped in seawater and left but it is just the cheap s tty camera.Its a bit grungy as it been out in shed and got a bit rusty but not as bad s it seems.

Look carefully and you will notice the pivot hole inside the hex head is eccentric.The hex head shank is smooth and long and made to fit the ID of the bearing.
The advantage of this design is that the saw blade back rolls hard on the bearing and rides on it, not scrapes against it like other design abominations.Adjustment is with a spanner and allen key.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

G'day fatty

....The advantage of this design is that the saw blade back rolls hard on the bearing and rides on it, not scrapes against it like other design abominations...

Grahame

Abomination is right. I have the European type with the wheels contacting the blade on a fingernail sized patch just behind the teeth gullets. This cannot support the blade from twisting, and is counter to the common perception of how wheels work. (New-fangled invention that wheels are.)

I'll bet the inventor of this system gets around in a car with 89 degrees of camber.

Originally Posted by gregoryq

I have the European type with the wheels contacting the blade on a fingernail sized patch just behind the teeth gullets. This cannot support the blade from twisting, and is counter to the common perception of how wheels work. (New-fangled invention that wheels are.)

I'll bet the inventor of this system gets around in a car with 89 degrees of camber.

I totally agree. I had euro guides on my bp 16a which I promptly tossed and made up my own. I decided against bearings (apart from the thrust bearing) as they don't offer as much surface contact with the blade as the timber block setup. A the moment I have a couple of bits of Jarrah in it, but I have a block of Lignum Vitae to cut up for self-lubing guide blocks. Haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, so cant really say how much I like it.

so is that a thumbs up on ball bearings then?

(still not sure what the deal is with those disc type "european" style guides, they supposedly draw heat away from the blade, but wouldn't the friction from contact, be the cause of most of the heat in the first place?)

I like bearing guides for the 1/2" and larger blades.

But they're worse than useless if you're using 3/8" or smaller... they're downright harmful, 'cos being wider than the blade they ride over the teeth and flatten the set. Sacrificial cool-blocks are the way to go then.

Mind you, I don't recall the last time I swapped my cool-blocks back in... my 3/8" & 1/4" blades are still as sharp as the day I bought 'em, 'cos it's quicker 'n easier to simply back and fill with the 1/2"er than it is to swap the guides over. I guess which way you set up depends on which blades'll be spending most time in your machine and I do mainly ripping and cutting veneers.

Ive got Carter bearings in my 14" bandsaw. Like Skew mentioned, they are good for anything over half inch (12mm). If you're just planning to resaw they're good.
Anything under and they are useless (my carters are anyway)
Ive been seriously thinking about switching back to block...as well as resawing rough stock, I use the bandsaw a lot for chair legs and slats, and the bearigs are a pain in the bum when I need a smaller blade on
cheers.

I have to say I did not give a thought to a smaller than 1/2" band saw blade.

I suppose it is just habit as we never use less than 1/2't school. The kids kill enough blades as it is,let alone giving them anything smaller to screw up.

It has made me a dab hand at removing repairing and replacing said band saw blades when helping out a fellow teacher whose cherubs have snapped yet another blade.

Fourteen minutes to from removal to starting the saw back up is my best effort so far.

Thinking about it i suppose theres only just so small one can go with bearings on narrower blades.

How narrow a blade can I run on my 14" when I finally finish the rebuild?

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

How narrow a blade can I run on my 14" when I finally finish the rebuild?

Whatever you can buy to fit.

I'm not sure whether my smallest is 1/4" or 3/16" (as I said, it has been a looong time since I've bothered with it!) but I've seen as small as 1/8" being used by a bloke who makes clocks. Why he didn't just go out and buy 'imself a scrollsaw instead, I haven't the foggiest.