Compacting my bandsaw's upper blade assembly

[Joey Naeger]

I picked up this Bridgewood on craigslist and have some gripes about the blade guides on that came stock on the machine. This is actually a Laguna made machine and the bones of the saw are all good. Stiff frame, nice motor, and the overall size is good. The blade guides are really not working for me however. I don't really care for the bearing style guides it has now, but could live with them. What's really throwing me is how much vertical space the upper guide and guard are taking up. It's almost 1/3 of the space between the table and frame. The Laguna saw we have at work has a much more compact setup. The result is really good resaw height from a relatively small saw. Has anyone dealt with this kind of issue before? An easy thing I could do right now is simple remove the blade guard for when I'm resawing wider boards. That would get me almost 2 more inches, but I still feel like the actual guide is really tall too. I've considered buying an aftermarket one and considered making one. Has anybody addressed this kind of issue on their own saw?

I don't need to resaw really board all that often so I'd be okay with reconfiguring the saw just for resawing. I've been thinking of trying this idea (http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/resaw_guide.html) out.
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Here is a picture of my saw's upper assembly so you get an idea of what I'm talking about.
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And our saw from work. You can see how much less vertical space the upper assembly takes.
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[Randy Heinemann]

I'm not completely sure what the problem is but Carter sells great guides and have models that will fit most saws. Generally, the recommend bearings rather than blocks (but then that is what they sell). Based on your picture, I can say I don't like the support bearing which rotates perpendicular to the blade. I feel the bearing which supports the blade on its outer turning face is better, but that is my opinion. Other than Carter I don't have experience with after market guide assemblies.

[Geoff Crimmins]

I think the Bridgewood and some of the Laguna bandsaws were/are all made in Italy. I believe that Laguna has dealt with a couple of the Italian manufacturers over the years. You might be able to find a different style of guides and blade guard from the manufacturer. Or Laguna sells their guides as an upgrade for other saws and may have something that would fit your bandsaw. Especially if one of the past or current Laguna saws was made by the same manufacturer as your Bridgewood. Maybe if you sent those two photos to their customer service department they could help you find what you need.

[Joey Naeger]

I think the Bridgewood and some of the Laguna bandsaws were/are all made in Italy. I believe that Laguna has dealt with a couple of the Italian manufacturers over the years. You might be able to find a different style of guides and blade guard from the manufacturer. Or Laguna sells their guides as an upgrade for other saws and may have something that would fit your bandsaw. Especially if one of the past or current Laguna saws was made by the same manufacturer as your Bridgewood. Maybe if you sent those two photos to their customer service department they could help you find what you need.

Probably my best bet. I'll get in touch with Laguna!

[Mike Wilkins]

Find out as much info on the saw as possible, such as model number and year of manufacture; then call Laguna to give them this info for a possible set of after market ceramic guides for the machine. My LT18 was purchased in 2001 and came with the bearing type guides, and were switched over to the ceramic guides with great success. No problems since then and no bearings to go bad.

[Curt Harms]

I'm partial toward block guides. Here is a lesser known supplier of ceramic blade guides.

http://spaceageceramics.com/

[Joey Naeger]

Find out as much info on the saw as possible, such as model number and year of manufacture; then call Laguna to give them this info for a possible set of after market ceramic guides for the machine. My LT18 was purchased in 2001 and came with the bearing type guides, and were switched over to the ceramic guides with great success. No problems since then and no bearings to go bad.

Just shot them an email with as many details on the saw as I could. Will see what they say.

[Joey Naeger]

Well, I never got a response from Laguna, but I did from Carter. My saw is now sporting a set of Carter guides. The saw started out with 10 inches of resaw height. With the new guides, I can get 12 inches and if I remove the upper guard, I can get a little over 13 inches. I am curious to see how these bearings guides compare to the ceramic ones I am used to at work, but they seem to work much better than the original guides. So uh....anybody want some Euro guides?

[Jacques Gagnon]

Joey:

please look at your inbox.

Jacques

[Randy Heinemann]

Well, I never got a response from Laguna, but I did from Carter. My saw is now sporting a set of Carter guides. The saw started out with 10 inches of resaw height. With the new guides, I can get 12 inches and if I remove the upper guard, I can get a little over 13 inches. I am curious to see how these bearings guides compare to the ceramic ones I am used to at work, but they seem to work much better than the original guides. So uh....anybody want some Euro guides?

I have had great success with all Carter products but then, bandsaw guides and accessories are their business. I have followed the steps Alex Snodgrass (of Carter of course) outlines for setting up the saw and guides for re-sawing for several years and the results I get is much improved over what I got before. If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest looking for a video from Alex online. I even bought the small booklet put out by Alex and Carter outlining these steps. It's a great reference guide when I install new blades or move back to a 1/2" blade for resawing from a smaller blade. Since setting cup the bandsaw isn't something I do everyday, the booklet ensures I don't skip any steps.