euro guides for band saw or Carter Guides

[lou sansone]

great forum.

This is my first question for all of you. I am currently using euro-guides on my 24" band saw. They are ok but I wanted to see if any of you had changed to the carter ball bearing guides ( I think they are the 500 series for my saw ), and if you had was it worth it? I do some resawing and some regular ripping opperations on the saw. I tend to stick with a 3 tpi 3/4" timber wolf blade, but if I need to would go down to about a 1/4 wide blade. I know about the ceramic cool guides, but I am not convinced that they really work. But, since I am asking all of you for advise, I am open to your experience.

thanks

lou

[nic obie]

Hi Lou,

I run a 1/4" blade on my MM16 with euro rollers all the time.

[Mark Singer]

Lou,

I have the Euro guides on my Agazzani and Cool Blocks on my Jet 14" ....I had the Carter stabalizer and sold it

[Jim Becker]

I find the Euro guides (properly adjusted) to be perfectly fine for blades 1/4" wide and up and wouldn't make the investment for rollers or ceramic. I did buy Cool Blocks for very narrow blades since they will not damage the teeth when the blade is embedded in them.

[Manny Hernandez]

I swapped the Euros on my Agazzani for the Carter 500 series. I did notice that the blade tracks better with the Carters and I gained about an inch of resaw capacity. But I'm not sure I would do it again. The Carter bearings are LOUD compared to the stock guides. Also, adjusting the Carter's is a bit more cumbersome. You need to pull out a allen wrench and the back roller is a little tricky. It was not a "drop-in" addition. I had to modify the blade guard a bit for clearance. I think it's been more than a year since I did the swap. I may put the stock Euros back on someday. I've used the extra resaw capacity maybe twice since the installation. But, it was nice having that extra capacity for the couple boards I did.

[lou sansone]

thanks for all the good info.... I think that I will probably just stay with the euro guides for now. One of the reasons that I was thinking about switching is that one of the thrust bearings ( the upper one) got pretty toasted when I was resawing about 500 bd feet of 12/4 and 16/4 cherry using a 1 1/4 laguna blade. I personally think that blade was a piece of junk. I can get another thrust bearing or just put a little oil on it now and then. The replacement is $ 65 which is pretty steep for a sintered bronze bushing. Well any way .... thanks for the great feedback. If someone has an old set of euro guides that they want to sell, let me know and we will see if we can work it out.


lou

[Ted Calver]

Lou,
What brand saw is it? I took the euro's off my Laguna 24 when I installed their ceramic system. I like it so much I'm not likely to go back to the euro's--maybe we can work a deal.
Ted

[Alan Turner]

I have the Aggi 20" and switched out for the Carters, and like them better. I didn't notice the noise difference, but it has been said that I don't listen well anyway. (: The carters are fine for resawing and ripping, and I just leave a 1" carbide on the saw. When I had to change teh blade out for a scroller, it was a PITA since the carters have a pair of bearings on each side of the blade, upper and lower, which meant that one bearing had to be removedfrom each side, and the shorter screws installed. Takes awile. Now I have a PM 141 for scrolling, which is a great little 14" saw, and haven't needed to change since. I think it takes longer to set up the carters in terms of adjustment, but I change the blade so rarely that this is not a major issue.
Alan

[lou sansone]

Lou,
What brand saw is it? I took the euro's off my Laguna 24 when I installed their ceramic system. I like it so much I'm not likely to go back to the euro's--maybe we can work a deal.
Ted
ted .... email me @ lsansone@csciences.com I am interested in the guides
thanks
lou

[Mark J Bachler]

Hi Lou,

I run a 1/4" blade on my MM16 with euro rollers all the time.

Ditto what obie one said.

[Ted Calver]

Lou,
I've been asleep at the switch--just sent you a PM.
Ted

[Manny Hernandez]

Lou,
What brand saw is it? I took the euro's off my Laguna 24 when I installed their ceramic system. I like it so much I'm not likely to go back to the euro's--maybe we can work a deal.
Ted

Ted,
Found out that the ceramics aren't just for Lagunas. I was talking to them yesterday and they say they have a set that fits Agazzani bandsaws. So, can you tell me a little more detail about the ceramics? How are they adjusted? Is it easy? From what I understand they don't have a thrust bearing; There's a ceramic block behind the blade also. So do you set them to touch the blade or just off of it?
Sorry for so many questions, but I'm thinking about putting them on my saw. I've heard that users like them alot.

Thanks.