Would Roller Guides Noticeably Improve Bandsaw Performance?

[Julie Moriarty]

I have a Jet JWBS-18 I use often. I'm beginning to wonder if I might get better performance from roller guides than these:

The side guides leave something to be desired and I was wondering if switching to roller guides, something like the upgrade kit Carter makes, would really make a difference in setup and performance. For anyone who has switched to roller guides, what has been your experience? Is it worth it?

[Grant Wilkinson]

I switched on a previous bandsaw, then took them off and sold them. I did not see any difference at all. What issue are you trying to address?

[Erik Loza]

...What issue are you trying to address?

This ^^^

Ask half a dozen users what guides they think are best, get half a dozen different answers. What specifically is the concern?

Erik

[jerry cousins]

here's the 1st opinion - i recommend laguna ceramics
jerry

[John TenEyck]

For the narrow blade shown in your photo, those guides are probably as good as any other. For a wider blade I would think side support would be advantages, whether that be roller bearings or static guides like the Cool Blocks I use.

John

Upon further study, I see that those guides will support any width blade. You move the thrust bearing back to allow the blade to sit deeper in the side guides, yes? If so, I doubt roller guides are going to offer much benefit. The key to cutting straight is getting the blade aligned properly on the wheels and having adequate tension. For my 14" Delta, where adequate tension is not even a possibility, blade alignment is paramount. I regularly saw 10"+ wide veneer with it, with the stock guides and Cool Blocks. When the blade is tracking correctly, I don't think the Cool Blocks are doing much of anything. Using the side guides to force the blade to be straight between them is the wrong way of going about it.

John

[Jim Finn]

I have roller guides that came with the saw and they work fine for me. I mostly use my saw for re-sawing and have found the one most important thing regarding performance is the blade. I now use 1/2" carbide blades.

[Jim Matthews]

I don't think the Carter Guides I put on my bandsaw engage unless I'm twisting the blade.
Getting them to fit, without getting in the way was a PITA.

The stock guides are a more 'natural' fit.

The one on the bottom wheel is more important, to keep the blade from coming off the drive wheel.
Proper tension and alignment is what keeps mine running straight.

Mike Fortune resaws big with nothing more than Lignum Vitae guides on his ancient Delta 14.

[Mike Cutler]

Julie

I don't have a Jet 18", but I have a Jet 14" that had a similar guide bearing configuration. I changed the OEM blade guides for the Carter's, modified the lower guide bearing position, and have liked them ever since. I personally think the change was worth it. In fact I gave the OEM guides away.
With the OEM guides, the blade would have a tendency to want to deflect off that back bearing and bite into the phenolic blocks that provided lateral support. As time went on these supports had to be reshaped, or made square again. I found the overall support of the OEM lacking, which gave me problems re-sawing with it. The Carter upgrade supports the blade laterally as well as providing an actual thrust bearing that is doing something.
When I changed the the lower support, I also machined a piece of steel to move the lower guide closer to the underside of the table, in hopes that the unsupported length of blade would be minimized and give me better stability.

I also have a Rikon 340, 18" band saw, and it has a three bearing configuration top and bottom as does the Carter on my 14".

What exactly is your band saw not doing properly for you?

[Larry Frank]

I certainly hope you try it and let us know. I have the same saw and have looked at doing that. The Carter guides look nice but are not cheap around $250 or so.

[Shawn Pixley]

I have the Rikon 10-325 (14") with the stock 3 bearing guides above and below. I found the guides mattered much less than the blade. What is the problem you'd like to solve?

[Curt Harms]

For narrower blades I'm partial toward static blocks like cool blocks. I made my own out of some sort of tropical hardwood soaked in mineral oil. I can mostly bury narrow blades in the blocks and if the blade's teeth contact the guide it doesn't affect the teeth like contacting metal would. I'm not sure there's an easy way to adapt Julie's guides though.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks for the replies.

The problems I've been having lately all happen during resawing, and drift has become a serious issue. After doing an upgrade a couple of years ago (silicone rubber tires, new fence and a bunch of new blades), everything had been running smoothly. I would just set up the fence and cut away. Now the blades seem to have a mind of their own.

From observing what's going on, all I can see that's a problem is the knurled nuts on the side guides tend to loosen, no matter how much I hand-tighten them. On a couple of occasions, the guides closed and clamped down on the blade. This is all fairly recent. I haven't yet resorted to using hand tools to tighten them and I don't believe I should. That's not how they were designed and I've never needed to in the past. The times the guides closed on the blade may have scored the insides of the guides. I can't see any gouges but at certain angles I do see what might be slight scoring. When I looked at this picture through the camera, I thought I could see scoring, but the picture didn't show it.


This morning, I took a piece I had earlier tried to resaw, but drifted badly, and cut it freehand from the other end. I zig-zagged the cut until I met the previous cut. When I opened the two halves, I saw the previous cut had burn marks. The part I cut this morning didn't. The blade I used previously was fairly new. When I was making the previous cut, I attributed the burning to the fact the drift was pressing the wood against the fence. Maybe the blade had prematurely dulled? I know the teeth were clear of the guides, so that shouldn't be the problem.

Whatever it is, I think it's somewhere between the side guides and the blades. I didn't consider the blades being the problem because they were fairly new. But maybe Lenox dulls just as quickly as Woodslicer? I've never been crazy about the friction created with the OEM setup. Roller guides should get rid of that. I realize they aren't cheap but if they work, I won't be ruining pricey woods and my frustration would end. There's value in that.

[Mel Fulks]

I've used Curt's method on several saws. Dogwood works well,too.

[Keith Hankins]

I have two band saws and they are setup for diff purposes. I have a Grizzly 17"HD came with the euro style guides like you show above. I use it for re-sawing with a big blade, and found it to be challenging and upgraded to the style that has the ball bearing guides rolling against the blade.

For my second BS, a 1934 Delta, that I used for smaller work, I use the Carter stabilizer. It's just a single bearing and since I use that for saw for all my curve work and tight space work, it's awesome. It took me a while to wrap my head round those side bearing limiting the blade for curves, and saw it in action and used it, I can't imagine any other way.

http://www.carterproducts.com/band-s...saw-stabilizer

So it depends on what your doing with your BS, to determine what style guides work best.

Good luck.

[Art Mann]

My previous saw, manufactured by Rikon, had bearings. I despised the setup. The whole mechanism was manufactured to wildly sloppy tolerances. Consequently, you could adjust the spacing to the blade very precisely and then as you tightened the fastener, watch the bearing move by .030 or more. You literally have to guess how far the bearings will move and then compensate before they are tightened. I am not sure all bearing guides are that way but I have since gone to a Laguna saw with ceramic guides and they are absolutely trivial to set up perfectly.