Carter band saw upgrades

[Rusty Howard]

Hi Guys,
I just got my 14" Delta band saw up dated with the Carter Upper blade support, lower blade support, blade guard, and tried thier 1/8in blade support for scroll saw type of cutting. I pick these up from our local Wood Show in St. Louis back in Feb. Great quality and the up grades do everything they are designed to do. Anyone else have any time on Carters products? Im considering thier Tires and Blades.

[Van Huskey]

Hi Guys,
I just got my 14" Delta band saw up dated with the Carter Upper blade support, lower blade support, blade guard, and tried thier 1/8in blade support for scroll saw type of cutting. I pick these up from our local Wood Show in St. Louis back in Feb. Great quality and the up grades do everything they are designed to do. Anyone else have any time on Carters products? Im considering thier Tires and Blades.

I have put Carter guides on a dozen or so bandsaws and they do what they are supposed to do. I have a stabilzer for all my small saws and love them as well. IF you need tires they are great tires, if you don't need them then you won't see any difference, there are also cheaper urathane tires that function just as well. Their blades are fine but you can get just as good or better from local and internet industrial supply houses for less money. I use Spectrum Supply which has an online store but there are tons. For some basic info on blades you can look at this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?149862-Lets-talk-bandsaw-blades!&highlight=lets+talk+bandsaw

[Carroll Courtney]

Thats the thread that I have been looking for,I get alittle confused when it comes to blades and this post sure helps clear things.Now bookmark,Thanks Van-----Carroll

[Bruce Wrenn]

For what Carter wants for one tire, others (Rockler, Hartville, Mc Feely's) will sell you two. Carter most likely doesn't make their blades, but purchase them from a vendor such as Olsen. When you need to replace the side bearings (and you WILL) check on line sources for SEALED bearings.

[Michael Mayo]

Not to highjack the thread but i am curious if retrofitting with Carter Blade Guides will have any significant affect on blade drift? The old Grizzly 18" saw I purchased recently broke the upper blade guide holder yesterday when trying to loosen the holder to adjust one of the metal blade guides (which I hate) so now my upper guide assembly only holds 3 blade guides. I was not planning on keeping them anyway but before I plunk down almost $300 clams for the Carter parts I wanted to know if they would have a positive effect on blade drift/tracking?

[Van Huskey]

Not to highjack the thread but i am curious if retrofitting with Carter Blade Guides will have any significant affect on blade drift? The old Grizzly 18" saw I purchased recently broke the upper blade guide holder yesterday when trying to loosen the holder to adjust one of the metal blade guides (which I hate) so now my upper guide assembly only holds 3 blade guides. I was not planning on keeping them anyway but before I plunk down almost $300 clams for the Carter parts I wanted to know if they would have a positive effect on blade drift/tracking?

A properly tuned bandsaw will not impose drift, it is the blade that causes the drift that you need to compensate for with the fence. Tracking is not positively affected by the guides, a thrust bearing pushed too far forward could push the blade and cause the blade to mis-track, but in general the tracking is controlled by the tilt of the upper tire. Once you set the fence to compensate for the natural drift of the blade unless you overfeed the blade or the blade becomes dull or damaged there should be no more issues with drift.

The biggest thing the Carter guide system will give you over the standard bearing OR block guides is they are usually easier to adjust, sometimes much easier especially the micro-adjust guides. An easy to adjust system means you are more likely to get them set properly and thus produces a better cut, if however you don't have much trouble getting them adjusted properly you probably won't see a significant benefit.

[Ron Natalie]

The blade guides should't affect drift (neither improve it or make it better). I installed the carter guides on my saw (an older 16" grizzly) because the ones that were there were kind of warn (and the adjustment screws were kind of clunky, I'm not sure they were original or something someone had retrofitted). Can't really find any fault with the carter guides. I do like the fact that I can slide back the lower guide and put the "stabilizer" in the top mount and cut sharper turns. It's amazing what you can do with that (although you still can overdo it if you try hard).

So I agree with VanH....they're nice guides but they won't "fix" any systemic defects in your bandsaw setup.