MM 20 question

[rodney mitchell]

I am looking at a pretty new MM20 for sale. It is a 2006 with very little use. The current owner has a cabinet shop and has been very upfront in emails telling me that he has had trouble with it keeping a 1/4 inch blade on the wheels and is tired of messing with it. Resawing with wider blades has not been a problem. He said it had been used for less than 6 hours total. Is this something I should be worried about? I don't plan on using small blades very often, but if I ever had the need to use one, I would like to have that option. Is there some adjustment that he is not trying perhaps? Any advice? Thanks!

[Mike Heidrick]

The saw is adjustable. Call Sam Blasco (or Dan the man) at minimax if you cannot get it to work and they will tell you which if the four bolts to adjust in the back on the lower wheel. I can use a 1/4" blade on mine no problem. Maybe a new blade is needed. Good luck. It is a beast of a bandsaw for sure.

[David Richardson]

When I bought my MM-20, I sold the 14" Jet bandsaw that I had, figuring I wouldn't need it any longer. I then discovered, much like your seller, that the big MM doesn't do well with small blades and ended up finding another used Jet saw for running smaller blades. I believe Minimax now offers a different set of guides, perhaps Coolblocks or something similar, that is supposed to work better with the smaller blades - might be worth giving them a call for more info.

Otherwise, my experiences pretty much echo those of the seller - I usually run a 1" carbide blade on my saw and it's great! I've run blades as small as 3/8" without much trouble, anything smaller and the guides are too fussy. Great saw though!!

[Chris Padilla]

I've run as small as a 1/2" blade on my MM20 and it handles it just fine. In fact, that is my current resaw blade: a Lenox Diemaster2, 1/2", bimetal, 6 tpi (hook style). It is fast become a favorite of mine.

I have smaller blades but have yet to try them. Perhaps I will do that to see how she handles 'em.

[Jim O'Dell]

Remember, the small blades should track in the middle of the tire. This is the saw on CL I posted about in the Deals forum here. The picture looks like a brand new saw. I'd bet he paid around 2700 +- back then. It's a lot more now, so 2100 is probably a decent deal on it. Hope you get it. That's why I posted about it in case someone here was interested in one. Jim.

[rodney mitchell]

Hey Jim, yep that's the one. Thanks for the heads up on that. Speaking of the cool blocks, on the MM website there is a video demonstrating the MM16 and when he switches to a 1/4 inch blade for some fine work, he changes out the guides to a cool block system. That may be the answer right there.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I own a MM16, I would like to think that a cabinet shop owner would know that MM tires are not crowned, so the blade needs to run in the middle of the wheel.. If you attempt to run at the edge, off the blade goes..

FWIW I have run 3/16" blades on my MM16..The downside of such a narrow blade with the euro guides is its a real pain to setup, Cool blocks or something like them would be the ticket if you want a steady diet of narrow blades

[Jim O'Dell]

Post an email to Sam Blasco. He is a member here, but hasn't posted since Sept. You can do a member search for him, then look at the contact info to do an email. He didn't modify his blade guard for the small blades. He takes a piece of wood, lignum vitae maybe?, and cuts a kerf in it with the blade, then sandwiches it between the stock guides at the rear of the blade, sides and rear to hold it in place. Maybe he will come on here and post pictures of his set up. I wish I had seen his solution before I cut the guard on my E16, but cutting it was easy and doesn't create a problem for the integrity of the guide. Jim.

[Leigh Betsch]

I have a MM20 and I run all my blades, 1/4, 1/2, an 1" with the teeth hanging over the edge of the wheel. Nothing runs in the center of the tire. I have used the 1/4 blade a lot right at the wheel edge. I suspect my saw is dialed in coplanar about perfect, not by me but came that way. I don't know the trick it has just worked fine since I got it. So 1/4" blade with euro guides, and at the edge of the wheel can be done just don't ask me how, mine just works.

[rodney mitchell]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.