Bandsaw Guides

[Cody Colston]

I have the Grizzly GO513 17" bandsaw. How much, if any, benefit would there be in going to Carter guides over the stock guides?

The stock guides are ball bearing guides, but they are oriented 90 deg. to how the Carter guides fit and do not touch the blade. Would I gain any blade support/accuracy with the Carter guides?

[glenn bradley]

The Carter guides were an improvement over my dad's 1940's Delta 14" block guides in his experience. When properly adjusted, the 513 guides don't touch the blade either, except when sawing (same as the Carters). however, the Carter bearings look like a higher quality product to me. Maybe just a better quality bearing in the current holders would help if you are having an issue.

I do like the idea of the thrust bearing being in the position that Carters use but there is a camp that prefers the greater surface contact on the thrust that the Griz (and others) position provides.

Wow, was that a useless response or what. I must just want to hear myself talk tonight :D. Seriously though, is there an issue with the current guides?

[Cody Colston]

Seriously though, is there an issue with the current guides?

No, not really. I was just wondering if the Carter guides would be a significant improvement since I've heard so much about them.

[Jeff Willard]

I've not seen your model saw in person, but looking over the photo and line drawings, I don't see how the Carter's would make a significant improvement. They were a vast improvement on my old 14" Delta knock-off, but that's a completely different beast. I just upgraded to a baby Laguna. They like to tout the virtues of their ceramic guides, emphasizing the "10 points of support" that they provide. Looking at it I was skeptical, after all, you still have the same amount of unsupported band between the upper and lower guide. But I can't argue with their performance. They work wonderfully. They are ceramic guides that can be placed right up on the band. Laguna does sell aftermarket replacements for 14" iron frames, and the 18" Jet. Possibly something could be adapted to the Grizz. 'Spensive upgrade though.

[Mike Heidrick]

There have been some great deals going on at Laguna. I would call Laguna Tools and ask for Tim Lory and see what he can do on the ceramic guides if you want to try those. Then again if there is nothing wrong with the ones you have I do not see adding aftermarket guides making some huge improvement as theer is nothing wrong to improve. Then again I added them with nothing wrong with my guides just because I like to try different accessories and you can go back and forth on Euro guides pretty easily.

[Rich Neighbarger]

I don't see any reason for you to buy them. Your saw is already setup for re-sawing, which is where the bearing guides shine.

[Barry Vabeach]

Cody, I have the same saw as you and I think you would get a lot more bang for the buck by spending the money on blades. The Grizzly ball bearing guides are pretty good and the biggest improvement will be the blade.

[Tom Esh]

I have the Grizzly GO513 17" bandsaw. How much, if any, benefit would there be in going to Carter guides over the stock guides?


Not much. The Griz guides are actually pretty good. If they have a weakness it's perhaps the ball bearing quality. I went through two lower thrust bearings from Grizzly before I bought a replacement from a local bearing shop. Big difference. (Of course they're 3x the price too.)
Tip for bearing life - resist the temptation to use an air gun to clean them off. It dislodges the debris alright, but also drives some of it deeper into the bearings.