bandsaw guides

Re: bandsaw guides

Steve Worcester

>Clean the face of the bearings real good and try spraying them with pam and see if that cuts down on the build up. I am sure there are other products that would work, but Pam is cheap.

Hey Pam - they're badmouthing you!

Mike Schwing from Maryland

>John, I have the same experience, but I haven't found it to be a problem. Perhaps you set your tolerances closer than I do, (for cutting green wood) and that causes problems? I bought the Carter guides for resawing accuracy. They helped immensely with the resaw but of course, when was the last thing you saw of mine that appeared to have been resawn?

Re: bandsaw guides

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>You actually anticipate an article I have in the works about optimizing the Delta 14 style bandsaws for woodturners. I've long used Bandrollers for resawing of dry stock, but find them less than desirable for use with green wood--the worst situation being the lower bearings building up with resins and ultimately seizing. Fortunately these ball bearing guides fit in the original guide housing and can be easily swapped in and out with other guides.

My favorite guides for cutting green blanks are ceramic block-style guides. These can be set directly against the blade to squeegee off crud, run much cooler and quieter than the steel guides, and last far longer than Coolblocks or blocks made of wood. You might fight that just havng them for your lower guides will be adequate to clean the blade so that you can leave the bearings on the upper guides.

You can get these (and a new guide block housing, if necessary) from Iturra Design, which has to be the most complete source for Bandsaw opimization and restoration out there. Alas no website, but you can get their free catalog, which is really more of a 200 page handbook, by calling 888-722-7078. I've been a customer for years and this is one of my favorite companies.

Re: Hey Pam - they're badmouthing you!

John Lucas

>Mike

It hasn't been a problem on green wood. In fact this 14" Delta is so far superior to my old worn out oriental model it's not funny. When trying to resaw thin slices it sets up a slight vibration that leaves marks on the wood and on really thin stuff it's hard to plane or sand them out.

I went for a long bike ride sunday. Toward the end I was hopijg for a priest to run out and tackle me so I could quit. Didn't happen so my poor legs had to struggle on.

Re: bandsaw guides

John Lucas

>Lynn

Thanks. I'll look forward to seeing your article. I just Looked at the Iturra stuff the other day. I think my spring might be weak. I seem to have to crank the tension way over the marks to get good blade tracking. The original owner never released the tension on the blade. He just cut till they broke and put a new one one. I don't think constant tension necessarily causes fatigue but the saw is pretty old.

Re: bandsaw guides

Peter Teubel

>My Jet 20" bandsaw came with Carter guides. Total of 10 bearings (5 upper and 5 lower). I siezed 6 of them after only 6 months of use. I replaced them with sealed bearings (stock ones were "shielded" bearings). So far, so good. We'll see in a few months if they wil outlast the stock ones.

Everything I know about a bandsaw *LINK*

Russ

>There are (2) articles on the bandsaw on my website that tell you everything I know about a bandsaw. The one on Tuning the saw is linked.

I wrote these articles in '94 for an AAW Chapter Newsletter. Since then, they have been copied all over the Internet. These are the originals. They were last revised in '01. I was always going to add pictures, but there are still no pictures. I finally have to admit that there will never be any pictures.


Bandsaw, Part 1 - Adjustment and Tuning

Re: Everything I know about a bandsaw

John Lucas

>Russ

To bad we live so far apart. I can give you photos. I'll sit down and read that in the next day or so. I have read 2 whole books on bandsaws and rebuilt or midified 2 of then. I haven't had time to work on this one much yet. I did the quick tune up by checking wheel aligment, guide alignment and that stuff but really have't had time to go further. It works so much better than my other ones.

Thanks for the website. I'll enjoy reading it each morning at breakfast.

Re: bandsaw guides

Ruth

>Quite some time ago I read (on one of the turning boards/ngs?) not to use guides for shaping bowl blanks. I have a 15" Grizzly bandsaw that has the two round thingys (official term; look in the Grizzly manual!) and they are terrible. I tried backing them off and I like the ease in cutting blanks and not worrying about the blade running on the guides.

Naturally this technique is not applicable for resawing.

Sawing thick green wood on a 14" bandsaw

Russ

>Take the guides off the saw, crank in some more tension, and I will bet that you will not be able to tell the difference.

Look closely at what is happening the next time you are sawing a piece of 12" thick green wood on a 14" saw with a riserblock. The top guide is pulled all the way to the top. Look at what the saw blade is doing. Look at the guide blocks. Are they really doing any good??