I switched from graphite guides to Carter bearing guides on a Shopsmith bandsaw. Blame me if you will, but I have had a number of bearings seize over 2 years of use.
4 bearings (2 on top, 2 below table)...I've probably replaced 2 or 3 bearings at this point. With my particular saw, it is difficult to manage to get all 4 bearings close without someonething touching.
Its likely that when the saw is running, one of the bearings is always in contact and spinning. I think this leads to early life failures.
Just this morning looking at my omelet, I was thinking about switching back to graphite guides as I noticed one of the bearings is again stiff.
These are breakfast thoughts.
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Bearing quality makes a big difference. Dirt will get into any ball bearing even if type Z, but it seems quality bearings last a lot longer. The OEM bearings on my saw lasted maybe 10 hours of cuts. Replacements are fine after a few years. One can open and clean them. Consider ball bearings as a maintenance item. Timken ( grade 7 or higher) KFB, NTN, FSK, NSK. Cheap skate board bearings off Amazon are total crap. I don't understand how someone thinks a $1 bearing is any good. You do have to watch for dust/pitch build up as that is about the spacing so any build up will spin the bearings and lead to drift as it is then contacting the blade. Ceramic, cool-blocks, disks, zinc blocks, etc. do not need maintenance.
When running strait, no bearing should touch. I actually look for a side bearing spinning doing a rip as my fine tune for tracking. Only the rear bearing should be touching. I can go an easy foot before a side just kisses, and that usually means I am feeding too fast. Slow down and they clear again. In a curve, then of course the sides will touch. If a bearing is touching more than an occasional kiss in a strait cut, the saw is not adjusted correctly. Bearings do NOT fix drift, but they can cause it.
Roller bearings are better for curves than ceramics. Ceramics are better for re-saw. Gee, it would be nice if bearing blocks were a pop-in cartridge so one could swap them as needed with a blade change. Ceramic, full roller, and another with the single rear Carter guide for that really thin tight curve blade.
As my rear bearings are on edge, not flat, I put a bit of foil tape covering the "open" side as a 100% dust seal. Seems to work.
As far as cost, At about $10 each for just the bearings of decent quality, one can see why a Carter replacement is costly and why that is a place where brands cut corners in a very price point market. My saw has 10 bearings in three sizes.
I offer that probably 95% of the band saws out there are not set up optimally. In this case, my anal-retentive nature was an advantage. It took months and a lot of learning to get mine dialed in and I am still learning. In a rip, the guides should be doing nothing. In a re-saw, the guides should be doing almost nothing.
My OEM rubber tires are still fine after three years. I had Carter blue tires on my Delta and I thought the seam bond was not as smooth as it should be. You can't sand them like you can rubber. When mine wear or start to get hard, I do not know if I would do rubber or poly. ( Does anyone know if "platen restore" solution is still available? We used to use it to keep typewriter platens soft. Seems like it would work on a tire just as well.
There are several nifty feather boards for a band saw. Quite handy. I also use a sled for crosscuts and made a bolt on high fence face for re-saw, made extensions so the table is wider and longer, a flip up outfeed, added a bright light, bin for adjustment tools, better miter gauge, and metal detector...
Oh, cheap and poorly finished blades will chew up the rear bearing surfaces. I spend a bit of time with a diamond block honing new blades. I am rather picky about the alignment and grind of the weld. I have no tolerance for the thump-thump and ridge left in the cut by it.