Chris Merriam
10-13-2015, 9:03 PM
I never really cared for my Carter guides (check the classified section!), so I sprung for a set of Laguna guides. I thought I'd document and share the process I went through with everyone.
The Laguna site advertises a retro-fit set of guides, so I called up a salesman and told him what I was looking for. He asked me to take pictures of my current guides so he could pass them on to the tech department to ensure they sent the right guides (He mentioned that Minimax has changed their guide mounts a few times over the years. My saw is from 2014 BTW).
A few days later I received two identical guides, each with a 3/4 inch mounting hole. Let's take them one at a time, starting with the upper guide:
The 3/4 hole mated up well enough with my existing assembly, but I was not able to slide the guide over far enough to center the blade on the thrust bearing. The mounting hole on the Laguna back plate was offset to the side. I either needed that hole drilled in the center, or I needed to be able to adjust my whole guide assembly further to the left. I called Laguna and my rep referred me to the tech department. Had some great conversations with them as we talked through some alternatives. They tried to find me a center-drilled plate but didn't have one. Next, they looked for an alternate mounting bracket but also couldn't find one. I ended up taking my bracket to a local machine shop, and they welded a little extension to the side of my bracket, so I could adjust the guides further to the left:
323291
That little tab allows me to slide over an extra 1/2 inch. Also, there was a little divider in the main slot area, they cut that out so that the right-hand bolt could slide to the left as well. It cost me $45, but they did a nice job, they even repainted the bracket black without me asking.
So now the upper guide is all set except for one more issue (I already knew this ahead of time): the larger Laguna guide runs in to the metal sheath blade guard. Other people have cut the sheet metal to allow clearance, but I came up with a cut-free method. Since the guard is just a big accordion, I decided to just jack it up extra high to clear the guide:
323292
The white arrow points to the sheet metal that others have cut. I just got a 2 inch long bolt, then installed two threaded spacers on it to jack the guard up. It was a little tippy until I got everything snugged down, but now the whole assembly feels very solid. This does have the net affect of raising the bottom of the guard assembly higher than the guide, but honestly, with it lower, I could hardly see my cut line and would have to bend over just to see where I was sawing. Here's the final upper install:
323294
You can see the higher guard height. Also note the knobs on the guides. They come with both allen bolts and knobs. I elected to go 100% knobs. Even the thrust bearing is set with a knob, which you can see hanging at the bottom. It limits the lowest height setting, but when would I ever lower the guide to 1/4 inch anyways?
Now on to the lower guide, here's where it got tougher. I was depressed to see this:
323295
That's a 7/16s shaft and a 3/4 hole, LOL. I blame myself, I should have measured the shaft when taking the initial pictures, why make them guess? In this case, Laguna did have a plate that would fit, with a center drilled 1/2 hole. They shipped that out the next day. I received it today and installed it, but ran into another problem. The shaft length on the saw is only 3/4 long. As you can see in the above pic, the guide itself is just about that thick. That leaves very little room to slide the guide back and forth for different blade widths. I had read on the MM Owners Group that some people have ordered a new mounting bracket assembly from Carter (ironically) for $45. I pulled up their site, and they do have one with a 3/4, 3 in long shaft. I could order that and use the original mounting plate if I want. I might do that, but for the moment, I used some spacers to push the mounting bracket out further, like this:
323296
I just stacked up 4 or 5 washers. So now the lower guide is mounted. I'm not thrilled with the loose fit in the hole (7/16 vs 1/2+), but I'll try this for a while and see how it goes:
323297
Haven't done any sawing yet, but did turn the saw on, and it was gloriously quiet, no metal on metal dragging noises. The guides are nearly 100% tool-free. There's just one allen bolt holding the lower guide to the shaft. It's an extra long run, so the included knob wouldn't go that far. I'll pick up a knob at the store soon and swap it out.
Hope this helps anyone else considering this guide swap on their MM machine!
The Laguna site advertises a retro-fit set of guides, so I called up a salesman and told him what I was looking for. He asked me to take pictures of my current guides so he could pass them on to the tech department to ensure they sent the right guides (He mentioned that Minimax has changed their guide mounts a few times over the years. My saw is from 2014 BTW).
A few days later I received two identical guides, each with a 3/4 inch mounting hole. Let's take them one at a time, starting with the upper guide:
The 3/4 hole mated up well enough with my existing assembly, but I was not able to slide the guide over far enough to center the blade on the thrust bearing. The mounting hole on the Laguna back plate was offset to the side. I either needed that hole drilled in the center, or I needed to be able to adjust my whole guide assembly further to the left. I called Laguna and my rep referred me to the tech department. Had some great conversations with them as we talked through some alternatives. They tried to find me a center-drilled plate but didn't have one. Next, they looked for an alternate mounting bracket but also couldn't find one. I ended up taking my bracket to a local machine shop, and they welded a little extension to the side of my bracket, so I could adjust the guides further to the left:
323291
That little tab allows me to slide over an extra 1/2 inch. Also, there was a little divider in the main slot area, they cut that out so that the right-hand bolt could slide to the left as well. It cost me $45, but they did a nice job, they even repainted the bracket black without me asking.
So now the upper guide is all set except for one more issue (I already knew this ahead of time): the larger Laguna guide runs in to the metal sheath blade guard. Other people have cut the sheet metal to allow clearance, but I came up with a cut-free method. Since the guard is just a big accordion, I decided to just jack it up extra high to clear the guide:
323292
The white arrow points to the sheet metal that others have cut. I just got a 2 inch long bolt, then installed two threaded spacers on it to jack the guard up. It was a little tippy until I got everything snugged down, but now the whole assembly feels very solid. This does have the net affect of raising the bottom of the guard assembly higher than the guide, but honestly, with it lower, I could hardly see my cut line and would have to bend over just to see where I was sawing. Here's the final upper install:
323294
You can see the higher guard height. Also note the knobs on the guides. They come with both allen bolts and knobs. I elected to go 100% knobs. Even the thrust bearing is set with a knob, which you can see hanging at the bottom. It limits the lowest height setting, but when would I ever lower the guide to 1/4 inch anyways?
Now on to the lower guide, here's where it got tougher. I was depressed to see this:
323295
That's a 7/16s shaft and a 3/4 hole, LOL. I blame myself, I should have measured the shaft when taking the initial pictures, why make them guess? In this case, Laguna did have a plate that would fit, with a center drilled 1/2 hole. They shipped that out the next day. I received it today and installed it, but ran into another problem. The shaft length on the saw is only 3/4 long. As you can see in the above pic, the guide itself is just about that thick. That leaves very little room to slide the guide back and forth for different blade widths. I had read on the MM Owners Group that some people have ordered a new mounting bracket assembly from Carter (ironically) for $45. I pulled up their site, and they do have one with a 3/4, 3 in long shaft. I could order that and use the original mounting plate if I want. I might do that, but for the moment, I used some spacers to push the mounting bracket out further, like this:
323296
I just stacked up 4 or 5 washers. So now the lower guide is mounted. I'm not thrilled with the loose fit in the hole (7/16 vs 1/2+), but I'll try this for a while and see how it goes:
323297
Haven't done any sawing yet, but did turn the saw on, and it was gloriously quiet, no metal on metal dragging noises. The guides are nearly 100% tool-free. There's just one allen bolt holding the lower guide to the shaft. It's an extra long run, so the included knob wouldn't go that far. I'll pick up a knob at the store soon and swap it out.
Hope this helps anyone else considering this guide swap on their MM machine!