Favorite Bandsaw Guides?

wsrhue

wyattspeightrhue
User
I need to replace the guides for my 17" Grizzly. Are there any aftermarket brands besides Carter that you'd recommend?
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have always been happy with my cool blocks, but if you are considering Carter, you likely want "bearing-style" guides, and I think Carter is the Cadillac...
 

Eric G

Eric
Senior User
Haven't used these, but saw them posted when people were comparing Grizzly to Laguna and the ceramic guide blocks, as an option. So if you want to swap to ceramic guide blocks like Laguna, there's an option.

 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
When my Rikon needed new bearings I ordered skateboard bearings form Amazon.

I think a 10 pack was around $10. Back then, haven't used all of them yet. Takes six for my saw.
They are sealed so the dust doesn't get to them as bad as some.

This order was in 2011so they have lasted far longer than the originals.

 

cyclopentadiene

Update your profile with your name
User
I attempted to go with Laguna for mu Jet 18. It was a total disaster. The pieces did not align and their tech department solution was to drill new screw holes in my saw frame. It was a horrible experience making the return and took 3 months to get my money back

purchased Carter and it less than 1 hour, my saw was up and running. Everything fit perfectly andI could not be happier.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
My most favorite: Hardened steel side guides.
Least favorite: Rolling bearings as side guides. They can emboss sawdust on the blade and then the tire.

1 BS embossing - 1.jpg
side rollers need cleaning after wet or resiny soft woods are used
1 BS embossing - 2.jpg
Embossed sawdust. The embossed dust can get much worse than this.
Dry hardwoods, not so much of a problem.
 

wsrhue

wyattspeightrhue
User
When my Rikon needed new bearings I ordered skateboard bearings form Amazon.

I think a 10 pack was around $10. Back then, haven't used all of them yet. Takes six for my saw.
They are sealed so the dust doesn't get to them as bad as some.

This order was in 2011so they have lasted far longer than the originals.


I like your solution. I generally go with the least expensive rough to fix something. It's just that the carter guides look so shiny.
 

wsrhue

wyattspeightrhue
User
I attempted to go with Laguna for mu Jet 18. It was a total disaster. The pieces did not align and their tech department solution was to drill new screw holes in my saw frame. It was a horrible experience making the return and took 3 months to get my money back

purchased Carter and it less than 1 hour, my saw was up and running. Everything fit perfectly andI could not be happier.
What didn't you like about the original guides? How have the Carter guides improved your saw?
 

cyclopentadiene

Update your profile with your name
User
The original Jet guides on my saw were terrible. They were designed for “easy adjustment” with an oval adjustment on the sides to turn them toward the blade. I could never get them adjusted well enough to resaw.
they were also worn out as the thrust bearing was beginning to seize and the replacement bearings from Jet were about the same as new guides.
i can now resaw very thin material with no issues
 

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