Metal bandsaw guides?

[Josiah Bartlett]

I recently acquired a 16" Walker Turner bandsaw with a 2 HP motor. The saw is really nice, but I'm unsure of using it with the steel blade guides that are on the saw. Are these hard on blades? I'm planning to resaw a few hundred board feet of walnut with it and I wonder if I should change the guides for something more slippery.

I know Carter makes a ball bearing guide set for this saw but I don't want to spend that kind of money right now.

[Richard Bell CA]

Josiah:

I think steel guides were pretty much standard for a lot of saws, I know Delta has used them for many years as original equipment. My preference is ceramic, but I used the original steel guides for many years without issue.

Richard

[glenn bradley]

They have been on my 1970 Delta since day one. My larger saw has rollers. A previous saw, I used cool blocks which are cheap and won't de-set your blade in the event of a whoops.

[Don Selke]

I make my own cool blocks out of scrap hard maple. If they get worn, take them out true them up and you are good to go again. Works for me.

[Bill White]

Cool Blocks.
Bill

[Myk Rian]

I make my own cool blocks out of scrap hard maple. If they get worn, take them out true them up and you are good to go again. Works for me.
+1 on the hard wood blocks. I soak mine in WD-40. You can bury the blade in them, and they're free.

[Phil Thien]

Steel guides are preferred by many. They're typically HSS (so extremely resistant to wear). One of the guys at owwm.org says he was hired to do a FWW review of the then-new Cool Blocks. Problem was he tested amperage draw with stock (HSS) blocks vs. Cool Blocks and found the Cool Blocks were providing more resistance.

Me? I like wood. The rosewoods (like Cocobolo) are naturally oily and resistant to wear. Now, your WT BS is probably perfect for wood blocks because of the way many of them clamp the blocks (most Delta and knock-off saws use a set screw, where WT units actually clamp the block--nice design). The problem w/ set screws is that the set screw creates a divot in the wood, making it difficult to adjust it tighter because the screw tip wants to find the divot (although I figured a great solution to that problem).

So if I were you: I'd use those HSS guides for normal use. I'd also make a few sets of wood blocks (something oily) to use when I'm using finer blades (1/8" for example), so you don't have to worry about the teeth hitting the steel blocks.