Carter Guide Installation on Rikon 10-325

[Patrick Harper]

Has anyone else had issues with the blade guard interfering with the upper guide block? I have attached some pictures to show what's going on. I could easily remove the tab on the guard, but wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.

[lowell holmes]

I can't speak about the Rikon, but when I installed Carter guides on my Jet bandsaw, I had to to drill a hole in the new guard and join it to the top half of my old guard with a bolt.

I suspect the guards vary considerably from saw to saw.

[Patrick Harper]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I just wish they would have included that in the instructions.

[Shawn Pixley]

Just curious, why did you replace the stock guides? I haven't found any problems with my stock guides on the 10-325.

[Patrick Harper]

They were very finicky. Tightening the bolts would always change the settings. Also, I could never get the lower guides far enough forward. At some point, Rikon upgraded the guides. I'm pretty sure that mine are the earlier ones. The Carter guides are much nicer, and easier to set.

[Patrick Harper]

Has anyone out there installed these guides on the Rikon? I'd love to hear from someone who's actually done this. I've contacted Carter's support, but it may be a few days before I hear back from the engineer.

[michael nicholson]

Patrick, I have them on mine. Just went out and looked at them. Looks just like yours. looking from the front (your right pic) the guard is just barely touching the block. I didn't notice it when I installed them. It hasn't been a problem for me. :confused:
I think you could cut 1/2" off the bottom of the guard to clear the block.

Edit - Before I bought the kit, I Emailed Carter to see which stabilizer would work with the 10-325 upgrade. I heard back from them the same day.

[Patrick Harper]

Michael, I did hear from someone right away, but they had to forward my issue to one of their engineers. It's hard to tell from the picture, due to the angle, but I can get the guide block to fit just inside the blade guard. However, if I do that, I cannot adjust the left bearing far enough to clear the blade.

[michael nicholson]

I'll have to check how much clearance I have on mine. Let us know what Carter has to say.

[Gary Muto]

They were very finicky. Tightening the bolts would always change the settings. Also, I could never get the lower guides far enough forward. At some point, Rikon upgraded the guides. I'm pretty sure that mine are the earlier ones. The Carter guides are much nicer, and easier to set.

Hi Patrick,

I too found that tightening the guides affected the setting and went with the carter guides on my now 5+ year old saw. Unfortuantely it is apart so I can't look at it. I don't remember any problems with the installation. I do recall the the lower guides had limited travel. I either could not move the lower bearings as far forward or far enough back. Either wasy it was not a big deal and everything seemed to go together well.

I still have the old guides and wonder if a little filing here and there would have made them work better. The basic design is good but maybe the earlier guides were not well machined. i wonder if anyone has tried to improve the existing guides.

I also wonder if anyone has had issues with limited lower bearing guide travel.

[Patrick Harper]

Well, I just resolved my own problem. I never realized that you could adjust the blade guard on this saw. Apparently, mine was installed fairly far rearward. The two hex bolts in the picture show what I'm talking about. I can't remember if this was setup from the factory, or if it was something I botched. Thanks for the help!

[Gary Muto]

I'm glad that you got it resolved. I don't recall the adjustment but I do think I took the guide off for the installation. Seeng the bolts in the photo reminded me of that.

Enjoy the saw!