Bandsaw Blade Guides - Need Pics.

[Rob Will]

I'm a WW newbie and I need some education about bandsaw blade guides. Would any of you care to snap a close up picture of your of your blade guides and post them here? Do you like the waythey work? Is one particular style of blade guide better for WIDE blades as opposed to a scrolling blade setup? Adjustment tips?

Generally speaking, if I purchase an OLD IRON saw like a Tannewitz or Oliver 36", can / should modern blade guides be installed?

Thanks for the advise!

Rob

[Christian Aufreiter]

Panhans APA guides (http://hw.roesch.de/Bilder/B524.jpg) are considered to be the best guides in my neck of the woods.

Regards,

Christian

[Roy Wall]

Here are the MM euro - guides........

[Scott Banbury]

Rob,

For those big saws, Carter Products offers 2 series in several sizes each.

One series uses slippery alloy flat guides and a thrust bearing. This version is cheaper and better if you really need to get the guides as close as possible to the work.

The more popular series uses bearings for the guides and a grooved inline bearing on the back. This variety is best for heavy use and resawing. The bearing guides are in full contact with blade yet produce virtually no friction since they travel with the blade.

www.carterproducts.com (http://www.carterproducts.com)

[James Boster]

Rob, I have a Tannawitz bandsaw and I can't imagine a better guide system that what they have on their saws already. Unless you get one with bad or wore out guides I would'nt change them. Their may be better guides if your just going to use 1/8" or 3/16" blades but I run 1/4" blades on mine without any problems.

[Rob Will]

Does anyone have a photo of Tannewitz (36") blade guides?

Thanks for the info.....it is helping a lot
Rob

[Rob Will]

Panhans APA guides (http://hw.roesch.de/Bilder/B524.jpg) are considered to be the best guides in my neck of the woods.

Christian, nice looking guides. One question: I see the backup bearing that appears to not be adjusted out to the blade. Behind that appears to be another small bearing running on the opposite side of the blade from our direction of view (?)

Rob

[Bill Simmeth]

Does anyone have a photo of Tannewitz (36") blade guides?Here's the upper guide on my 36" GHE...
33216

Hope it helps...

[Bill Simmeth]

Here's the upper guide on my 36" GHE...Rob,
Let me know if you have any questions on the stock Tanny guide I posted above...

[Rob Will]

Rob,
Let me know if you have any questions on the stock Tanny guide I posted above...

Bill,

The guide looks solid. On a related topic, what is the difference between a Tannewitz GH and GHE?

Thanks,
Rob

[Bill Simmeth]

The guide looks solid.
They are indeed solid. Not sure there'd be much benefit in trading them out for another.


On a related topic, what is the difference between a Tannewitz GH and GHE?The "H" in both stands for "hydraulic". The braking system uses a Wagner automotive brake master cylinder and drum brakes. The "E" stands for electric, surprisingly enough! On the GHE models an electric solenoid drives the master cylinder (replacing the brake pedal on the GH). The solenoid is actuated when the machine is turned off. It also has a tension system that automatically cuts power and actuates the braking system if your blade breaks. Very cool. Tannewitz still offers the GHE at about $18K per copy.

[Jeff Geltz]

I use Laguna's ceramic guides with good result on my LT18. Had a set of Euro guides which had given up the ghost. These are a dream to use.

http://www.lagunatools.com/ProductImages/guides_300.jpg

[lou sansone]

I'm a WW newbie and I need some education about band saw blade guides. Would any of you care to snap a close up picture of your of your blade guides and post them here? Do you like the waythey work? Is one particular style of blade guide better for WIDE blades as opposed to a scrolling blade setup? Adjustment tips?

Generally speaking, if I purchase an OLD IRON saw like a Tannewitz or Oliver 36", can / should modern blade guides be installed?

Thanks for the advise!

Rob

not sure what you mean by modern guides... roller guides have been around to over 50 years in the US. if you mean ceramic guides then I understand the word modern. from what I have been able to determine, the big saws still run some type of roller guide. my 36" BS uses paddock guides which I personally think are the best out there for a few reasons. first they are really very well made and massive with high grade sealed ball bearings, second they do appear to be some what hardened so they really wear well, third they are very easy to adjust and most importantly they really do a fantastic job of guiding the blade without making a racket. the coffee cup is for scale

I believe that I have a 3/4" blade on in this photo

Lou

[Rob Will]

Lou, I suppose that I meant to say: "Should I update the guides or use the existing?". Thanks, Rob

[Reed Wells]

Jeff I have an LT 18 also. It has the euro style bearings that I constantly have to adjust the side bearings. What kind of price did you pay for your version. Do they adjust fairly easy between blade sizes? I mostly use the 1 1/4" resaw blades, but do like to use a 1/4" once in a while.

[Jeff Singleton]

Jeff, I have an Oliver 17, 30" bandsaw from 1925. It uses Wright guides and a Guideall thrust bearing. They look a lot like Tann. guides. They are what came on the saw in 1925 and they still track great. Come to think of it, the wheel bearings are also original and show no sign of wearing out. Best part is that parts are avaiable if the guides need rebuilt.

Jeff Singleton:rolleyes:

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Just out of kicks, here are some pics of my aweful guides on my JET bandsaw of the late 1980s. They look like they were carved out of wax by a child....

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/Slide3.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/Slide2.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/Slide1.jpg

[Jeff Geltz]

Jeff I have an LT 18 also. It has the euro style bearings that I constantly have to adjust the side bearings. What kind of price did you pay for your version. Do they adjust fairly easy between blade sizes? I mostly use the 1 1/4" resaw blades, but do like to use a 1/4" once in a while.
They weren't cheap. I bought them a couple years ago directly from Laguna. They were on sale and they threw in a good deal on a resaw king blade. If I recall the guides were around $200 or so. My stock euro guides were so bad that the bottom guides would spark when the machine was running. I bought the machine used and had to do some rehab. As to ease of adjustment, all I really have to do to change blade sizes now that I have them set up is move the guides forward or back depending on the size of the blade. They suggest turning the back stop once in a while to avoid cutting a groove in it. Having said that, I haven't seen any indication that mine are wearing.

[Dave Fifield]

I converted my Delta 14" bandsaw (with 6" riser) with the Carter ballbearing guide set and haven't looked back since.

http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/carterguides3.jpg

http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/carterguides1.jpg

http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/carterguides2.jpg

I recommend you get one of those handheld blade stones (can't think how else to describe it). Making sure the back of the blade runs flat and true is essential to clean cuts. I have found it makes a huge difference. Even brand new blades benefit from trueing up.

Dave F.