Which bandsaw guide system is best suited for narrow blades?

[Glen Blanchard]

I own two bandsaws - a 14" JET that I use solely for scroll work and a 16" JET that I use for resawing and ripping. It appears that I will be pulling the trigger on a new resaw bandsaw soon (most likely either the MM16 or the 19" Grizzly GO514X2B (yes, I know the Grizzly does not rival the Minimax)) and one of my current bandsaws must go. The one I keep will be for curves and I had always assumed that cool blocks were better suited to narrow blades (as they will not damage the teeth if contact is made) than are European guides (which came with the 16" JET), but it was nothing more than an assumption. I am trying to decide which saw to keep for scroll work. The 14" JET with cool blocks or the 16" JET with the European guides?

Opinions?

[Van Huskey]

Small blade do best with one of two types of guides. If you are doing straight cuts with narrow blades like cutting waste out of dovetails etc block guides of some sort, if you are making scrolling cuts then a Carter Stabilizer is great. I would keep the 16" because it is a bigger saw. When your wallet recovers from the MM16 get a Carter Stabilzer for the Jet you can use the line drawings here: http://www.pswood.com/home.php?cat=49 to figure out the correct one as I don't think Carter lists it outright (but check first) when you figure out the one you need Peachtree used to carry most all of them (last time I was there a couple of years ago anyway), or you can order one or PM me since I have several lightly used ones and may have the one you need. For the straight cuts (and it will work for curved cuts but not as well as the Stabilizer) make yourself a "Sam Blasco guide" http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?26314-Simple-Small-Blade-Guide-For-Euro-Guides Obviously from the picture they work great on an MM as well...

I looked at the Carter site and it appears it is the JET1 (double check with calipers and the line drawings I listed though). Funny enough that one also fits the MM20 and probably the MM16 as well, but I can't verify it.