MiniMax MM-20 blade guides

[Bill Webber]

Does anyone know if the change in the design/appearance of the MM-20 blade guides was an improvement or simply a change in manufacturing or supplier?

Rob at MinMax is sending me the whole lower guide assembly so I can get my lower guides installed correctly. I'm pretty certain I only need the correct spacer and the big angled support bar. I'm just curious as to whether the different guide and thrust bearings are some sort of improvement.

The old one should be on the left... :rolleyes:

Bill W.

[Bill Webber]

Well, that didn't work to well. Let's try to show the new guide. Looks like the file was too big...:cool:

Bill W.

[Mark Singer]

My Aggazani has the bigger discs ...like the one on the right. It supports a wider blade a little better....I adjust them so they don't spin when the saw is running until there is a lateral force.

[Bill Webber]

Could be that. I went back and looked at the pictures Rob sent and I can't tell if the bearings are bigger or not. The 'new' pic is a different saw and different blade and I don't have the parts in hand yet. Certainly seems like a reasonable explanation. Does that mean I should keep the 'new' and ask for replacement upper guides, too? That might be pushing it I guess. :o

Bill W.

[tod evans]

bill, i don`t understand your question? but here are pics of the guides for the mm16 (old style)

29873

29874

and the mm28

29875

29876

hope this helps? tod

[Bill Webber]

bill, i don`t understand your question? but here are pics of the guides for the mm16 (old style)

Well, I can try again. :)

I was only asking if there was a design difference in the two types of thrust and side bearings in the two pictures I posted. The one I labeled 'old' has a hex shaped barrel and the one labeled 'new' has a round barrel. The bearings may be different sizes but I can't tell from the pictures. If there is a design difference, is it an 'improvement' or simply a supplier change?

Now that was the only question. This comes about because the lower guide on my MM-20 is assembled wrong and cannot be adjusted properly with the parts provided. Frankly, my parts look like the guide on your MM-28. Configured like that I cannot adjust the guide bearing back to use smaller plades. Rob sent me a spacer to move the vertical bar out from the machine and turn it around. But in that mode the bar covers the thrust bearing. I'm pretty certain the fix is in the vertical support bar with the angled top like your MM-16 and like the parts in the kit Rob is sending. Again, the question I posted was only curiosity about the different design/appearance of the bearing holders. Mark suggested the bearings may be bigger... I should be able to answer that this evening.

Clearer now? :)

Bill W.

[Chris Mann]

you might want to try the trick sam posted a while back for using smaller blades http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26314&highlight=guide

[Jim Becker]

I remember seeing some kind of note that on the lower guides, something needs to be flipped around for narrow blades, but don't recall the specifics. My guides are just like Tod's. (older style 12" resaw MM16)

[Chris Lee]

Bill,
I can't tell you about any differences other than the obvious. I have a newer model MM16 with the new guides and I am definitelt happy with them and they are fairly easy to adjust. I put a 1/4" blade on for the first time last week and the guides were easy to set with no weird adjustments. Just a couple thumb screws and a hex wrench and all was fine.

Chris

[Paul B. Cresti]

Bill,
I beleive the only difference is that the octogon shaped guides required you to lock the setting of the bearing with the lock ring. The new guides are round with threads througout. You simple turn the entire barrel and the guide moves. You no longer need to tighten down a locking ring as there is none.

[Craig Zettle]

Paul is correct. When I first got my E16 I called Eric and asked him where the big rings were. He said they were trying to simplify the process of adjusting the guides with this setup.

[Bill Grumbine]

Bill, I would be interested to know the details of how this all comes out with the new blade guides. I bought a MM 20 back in April, and went through the same rigamarole of not being able to adjust the lower blade guide back far enough to accept the smaller blades. After numerous phone calls to Rob, I finally got the parts, mailed in two installments, but even with the correct parts (which are not the same as what you have pictured as the new guides) it is a tremendous pain in the butt to switch over from the large carbide blade to the smaller ones I usually use for sawing bowl blanks and curve cutting for furniture pieces.

Bill (another Bill)

[Paul B. Cresti]

Guys,
By the way, on my "current" saw I can not set the lower guide back far enough to allow the side bearings to sit just behind the gullets of my 1" Trimaster ( I bought this saw in 2001). So this is a generic Italian saw type thing not something that happens to one brand in particular. They seem to all get their blade guides from the same manufacturer.

[tod evans]

i`ve not had any trouble with mine? the 28 runs 1/2" and up blades and the 16 lives with a 1/4".........where are you experiencing interference and with what blade?

[Bill Webber]

Tod, I suspect you are directing your question to Paul, but here is another observation. The picture you posted of your MM-28 looks to have a 1" blade mounted? If you compare your MM-28 picture to my first picture you'll notice your guide assembly sits well forward on the post on the height adjuster part. On mine the guide assembly is set all the way back on the post and cannot be adjusted further back for smaller blades (I'd have to be running 1/4" blade with the teeth hanging off the wheel) I think the frame configuration is slightly different and I have MM-28 guides on my MM-20. Other than the number on the thrust bearing, they look identical to me. I think what I'm supposed to have is a height adjuster bar more like what is on your MM-16; the post points back away from the camera rather than out towards the camera.

And Paul, your observation about the difference in the bearing holders sounds reasonable... simple design improvement making for better ease of use but not a defect fix.

Bill W.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I had the same problem last March when I got my MM20. Sam sent out parts to fix the problem. I still not happy with the solution so I modified the saw to my satisfaction. It has worked well. I can use any size blade & do not have to flip parts.

[tod evans]

bill, actually i was just posting my observations at large:). it looks like chris has found a workable solution if what rob sends doesn`t fit? sorry for any confusion.....tod

[Bill Webber]

First a comparison of the old and new guide assemblies. They are interchangeable and functionally identical. The old guide is on the left in the first two pictures, then a side view of both. The bearings are smaller on the new model. The old bearings are 1.375 in diameter and about 1.260 thick. The new ones are 1.135 in diameter and 1.175 thick. Both assemblies have locking rings to secure the adjustment. Anyway the guides have nothing to do with my problem. See the next post.

[Bill Webber]

The first picture is the original configuration. Viewed from the side, in the second picture, you can see that the guides are positioned as far back as possible. There's no way to move the guides further back.

Rob sent a spacer and suggested I reverse the black height adjust bar. When you do this the bar covers the part of the thrust bearing where the blade is supposed to ride... picture three.

Picture four shows the new height bar Rob sent. The angled top should cure the problem, right? Wrong!

Picture five shows the two height adjust bars. Note the position of the slots relative to the post for the guides. In order to use the second bar Rob sent, the top has to be angled to the right. This puts the bottom of the bar back in the path of the blade.

I understand what Chris Rosenberger did and why, but I would hope there is a more proper fix out there. What is particularly aggravating is there is no parts list with any detail in it. The parts shown are rather generic. Any suggestions? Anyone?

Bill W.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Hmmmmm very interesting I HAD the same problem with my B-24 but we will see when I get my new one.......