Laguna BS Guides

[Mike Gottlieb]

I have been looking into the different types of BS guides and have been wondering if the Laguna guides offer any advantage over euro guides when using a small (1/4") blade on a large BS. Any comments?

[Greg Roberts]

I don't have experience with either, but I'm right in the middle of deciding which BS to get, and the Laguna guides are making me seriously consider Laguna.

I recommend you watch all the BS videos that Laguna has. It'll take an hour or so, but it was very helpful to me. There is one in particular where he really describes the guides in detail. After viewing the videos, I was left with the impression that this man really does understand how to build a higher quality bandsaw. Whether that's true or not . . . I don't know.

I'm pretty well convinced that the Laguna guides would be superior when resawing. What I'm not sure about is if the Laguna guides would be superior in making curved cuts, which is what I do most with a BS.

Greg

[Van Huskey]

I have been looking into the different types of BS guides and have been wondering if the Laguna guides offer any advantage over euro guides when using a small (1/4") blade on a large BS. Any comments?


First, Euro guides can be had in ceramic so in a general sense (maybe not to the specific guides you are considering) this is a non-issue.

Second, one key advantage to the Laguna guides is how close they support the blade to the work surface. The Euro or "American" bearing guides are limited by the fact they are round and the guide curves away from the blade, in this respect the smaller the diameter of the guide the closer it supports the blade to the work, since Laguna guides are not round they do not fight this issue and support close to the work. Note this is not just true on large saws but small ones as well.

[Leigh Betsch]

I replaced my Euro guides on my MM20 with Laguna ceramics and couldn't be happier. While I don't do much small blade work I would think the advantages of easy adjusting would also apply to narrow blades as well as the larger re-saw blades.

[ian maybury]

:p Sooo. To be a little provocative. Can anybody actually report observing cut quality or other improvements with guide changes?

I say this because from what i read there's lots of supporters of all types of guides out there, and i haven't tried more than the Euro type. Is there actually any practical difference in performance between the types, and if so what's good at what?

ian

[Leigh Betsch]

The biggest advantage I've seen with the Laguna's over the Euro guides that I've seen is it is much easier for me to get them adjusted correctly. I never felt I got my Euro guides "just right". Just before I replaced them I was resawing a bunch of 6" timbers, I eventually wore a groove in the back wheel, probably because I didn't have it adjusted right. With the Laguna's I don't have any problem with getting them set up. And they are much quieter.
In terms of cut quality, in my applications I don't think I see a lot of difference between the guides.

[Wes Grass]

I haven't used the 'Euro' style guides yet, so I have no comparison. I think the Lagunas work very well, but in my experience are a bit tedious and fiddly to adjust. Part of that is the mounts themselves, as they're pretty sloppy side to side so require some tweaking to get the blade square.

On mine, a 16HD, they claim you can use as small as a 1/16" blade. But I think, and I could be wrong (and no manual in front of me), that going under 1/4" or so requires changing the guides back to a Euro style or to conventional blocks. I've only gone as small as a 3/8", I think, and they're pushed all the way back to clear the teeth.

I just ordered a larger saw with Euro guides so I'll have something to compare eventually. I may wind up changing them, as the point about getting them closer to the work is a good one. But, I haven't yet seen a woodworking bandsaw that does a good job of getting the lower guide close to begin with. Compared to a Grob saw, these things are a joke, ~1/4" vs 3".

Oh, and the sparks are a little disconcerting at first, but you get used to it.

[Scot Ferraro]

The Laguna guides are great and I highly recommend them. Leigh summed it up pretty well. I had the Euro guides and my rear thrust bearing froze so I decided to upgrade the entire system. I think that with the original guides you could use 3/8 inch balde and possibly 1/4 inch blade, but anything smaller you should use cool blocks. Laguna also sells a cool block attachment for this purpose. You can retrofit any make of saw but if you are buying a new saw, I would give Laguna serious thought. Rick Kerrigan can help answer any questions or any of the folks at Laguna.

Good luck,

Scot

[Van Huskey]

One thing to note is if you are running smaller blades than 1/4" I prefer NOT to get the coolblocks for the Laguna guides, a much cheaper and BETTER solution is the Carter blade stabilizer which works with 1/4" and smaller blades and makes them cut like the blade is on rails. It is the single best accessory for any bandsaw for small blade use.

[Mike Gottlieb]

If you use a Carter blade stabilizer how do you adjust the euro lower guides?

[george wilson]

I had euro guides on an 18" Jet bandsaw. Replaced them with Carters. The guide's side wheels weren't quite square with the blade. They were on bronze bearings which needed lubrication,but it was impossible to get at the lower guides without taking the table off. I also found the euro guides to be annoyingly in the way,being so wide.

After going to the expense of changing the guides,the saw was just so non rigid that I gave it away to another shop in the museum. It simply didn't feel nearly as satisfactory as the 20" Delta. Don't know if that makes sense. You need to try one,I guess. Thank heavens I didn't buy the Jet personally for home shop use. I was so spoiled with my shop's old 20" Delta,I replaced the jet with the old Delta,where I had hesitated to put it due to fairly tight space after a machinery re- arrangement.

At home for years(since 1963) I have used a 14" Delta from the 50's,but am restoring a 20" Delta of the same vintage for use instead.

[Van Huskey]

I had euro guides on an 18" Jet bandsaw. Replaced them with Carters. The guide's side wheels weren't quite square with the blade. They were on bronze bearings which needed lubrication,but it was impossible to get at the lower guides without taking the table off. I also found the euro guides to be annoyingly in the way,being so wide.

After going to the expense of changing the guides,the saw was just so non rigid that I gave it away to another shop in the museum. It simply didn't feel nearly as satisfactory as the 20" Delta. Don't know if that makes sense. You need to try one,I guess. Thank heavens I didn't buy the Jet personally for home shop use. I was so spoiled with my shop's old 20" Delta,I replaced the jet with the old Delta,where I had hesitated to put it due to fairly tight space after a machinery re- arrangement.

At home for years(since 1963) I have used a 14" Delta from the 50's,but am restoring a 20" Delta of the same vintage for use instead.

George, you got the worst commercial version of a steel spined saw ever produced by a major importer/manufacturer. A quality (small or large) steel spined saw has equal or better frame deflection numbers compared to most of the old iron cast saws. If you get a chance to play with one of the larger Italian made (ACM etc built) bandsaws I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Even the current redesigned Jets are no slouch.

[Van Huskey]

If you use a Carter blade stabilizer how do you adjust the euro lower guides?


All the way away from the blade. You don't want the lower guides near the blade at all, infact if the saw is going to be a dedicated contour cutting saw and never use larger than 1/4" blades you can just remove the lower guides.