Steel bandsaw guide blocks

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks

Dick Coers

I use a dollar bill as a feeler gauge to set the clearance. The steel guides work just fine, were used for decades. Really hard wood like osage or lignum vitae also work extremely well.

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks

roger lance

Steel guides came with the saw......original equipment.

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks

Keith Newton

they work fine. If the front side gets worn, flip them over, or end for end, and or grind them flat again. If I'm sawing wood that tends to stick to the blade, I keep a stick of paraffin close by to touch both sides of the blade beforehand to lubricate. It's also a good idea on deep cuts like turning blanks

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks

Bruce, a MN Galoot

There were steel guide blocks on my Delta 14" when I got it. I used those for years until I got the Cool Blocks. The Cool Blocks wear but the steel ones don't. If there's sufficient clearance, I don't know of a good reason to change the steel ones.

Steel blocks will wear

Dick Coers

They are softer than blade stock. I've seen some vintage saws that the blocks were probably off 10 degrees from front to back. I set a miter gauge on the disc sander and bring them back to original angles.

Thanks all. I'll keep them

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks not for me

del schisler

i would not use them at all metal rubbing on metal not for me use the ones that you were talking about i have a delta and have the phenolic type they are the one's i use for yrs cool blocks if the blade get behind the block's their goes your set in the blade ?

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks

William Duffield

There is a potential problem with steel blocks, if you get them a little too tight. They heat up due to friction. They expand as they heat up. There is only one way for them to go as they expand: towards the blade. This increases the friction and the heat. The blade overheats, loses its temper, and eventually breaks, and/or the motor overheats and the breaker trips.

Cool blocks are not a substitute for poor setup

Dick Coers

Nor are they a fix for poor sawing technique. Sure, you can damage any blade if you don't set the side clearance or thrust bearing properly. And then ignore any feedback from the machine when you start it. Setting up machinery is an acquired skill that should be learned before you ever hit the start button.

a remote possibility

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I have run steel blocks since I owned a band saw decades ago. Never encountered that potential problem. There is no reason to get the blocks too tight. Part of the set up is to spin the blade by hand before turning on the motor. Too tight blocks, if indeed it is possible to make them too tight with a typical setting procedure, will reveal themselves.

Re:  Steel bandsaw guide blocks

Joseph Mulherin

Jack, you said the Cool Blocks are materials like they use in tires.....well to get a bunch of them just pickup an off throw of a tire and cut some cool blocks on your saw. I have the Shopsmith bandsaw and it uses the cool blocks too.

hardwood

Jack Guzman from Maine

I made some out of cocobolo scraps. Lots of stuff can be used for blocks. I like the idea of using steel though. Set right ,they should never wear. I don't think I'll ever have to get anything else for this saw. I had never seen them before,hence the post.---Jack

Re: a remote possibility

William Duffield

I don't disagree with you or Dick. This was only meant to be a warning to an inexperienced woodworker who might approach the bandsaw thinking it's method of operation is intuitively obvious, and tries to set the guides without carefully gauging the gap between the guides and the blade. If you set them by eye and feel, and spin the blade by hand, you can get into a situation where the blade is apparently moving freely, but when you apply power, the additional friction leads to the failures I described.

"Just do it the right way, and nothing could possibly go wrong" is malfeasant advise, even if it seems to be accepted practice on the internet.

In the case of bandsaws, the admonition to read and follow all the instructions in the user's manual falls well short of sufficient. At least, one should heed the contents of a book by Mark Duginske or at least a video or live presentation by Alex Snodgrass.

Bought My Bandsaw

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

and M.D's book at the same time. Saved me a lot of trial and error and [probably] a few fingers as well.

Doubtful...

John in NM

For two reasons.

First, I would bet that if you set them loose enough to not rub when spun by hand, they also won't rub under power. Most of the blade deflection will be during cutting, not running under no load. If one side rubs due to blade deflection under load, you still have 2x the gap set at rest that it could expand before actually pinching the blade. A light rub under cutting deflection does not heat the blade as the force needed to push the blade back towards the center is minimal. I would only expect significant heating if the blade were actually pinched between the blocks.

Second, the coefficient of thermal expansion of steel is so small that I doubt you could measure it on something as small as a guide block without using an optical method of some kind. Say the block's fixture point is 1/8" from the blade -- the block expands only 0.0000015" over that distance for each degree C in temperature rise. Say it get the block to 600 C - a dull glow, it's only expanded ~0.001" over that 1/8" between the edge of the block and the fixture point.

You would absolutely have to set it up pinched at rest (and making a god awful noise at startup) to get to the situation that you are concerned about.

steel blocks

John K Jordan

I used steel blocks in my small (14") bandsaw for years. Never an issue with setting them up, never ran the teeth into the blocks, and never messed up a blade with them. I set the clearance with a $2 bill until I learned to do it by looking at it. (I used the $2 bill just for fun.) Set the tension with a Starrett gauge. I tuned the saw from Duginski's directions, coplanar and all, so alignment and tracking were perfect. That probably eliminated several potential bandsaw problems.

I tried the cool blocks. Mine were made from something hard that reminded me of micarta. I have made guides from lignum vitae too.

The 18" saw I use the most now has bearings for guides. I think I like steel guide blocks better.

JKJ

Bearing Guides

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

I put a set of Carters on my JET 18" and it made a big difference in the saw's performance. I also elevated the bottom guide group by 5/8" to increase the blade's beam strength.

Took a bit of fussing but the blade now runs dead center on the guides and dust collection was enhanced as well. The side bearing are adjusted just off the blade ($1 bill) and stay quiet.

Re: steel blocks

John in NM

I like static blocks better too, whether steel or whatever. My General 690 has bearing guides, but it doesn't need them since its a very rigid saw. Similar saws I've used with static blocks also worked fine with little set up or fussing required.

C-frame saws need tuning usually, but once tuned they also work well.

I've only used one of those welded frame steel saws (like the Lagunas), but it was a very fussy machine. Probably it could have been tuned up, since many people are perfectly happy with this style machine.