Does your bandsaw's upper guide run square with the blade?

[Andy Fox]

Sorry, another bandsaw thread.... :o I might be in the market for a new bandsaw to replace my new bandsaw :(, and I'm wondering how many bandsaw upper guide assemblies run square with the blade?

If yours does run square, what brand/model is it? Do you have a riser block? Is the assembly adjustable for squareness?

I have a new Craftsman 14" (Rikon-like design), and the guide is out of square by at least 1/16" - 1/8" over the 8" of travel. It would be nice to not have to readjust the guides everytime the height is changed.

I looked briefly at the Shop Fox 14" the other day, and it seemed like the guide assembly was square to the blade.

[tod evans]

andy both my minimax saws do...02 tod

[Mark Pruitt]

...my Delta upper guide runs square.

[Fred Woodward]

My Rikon 14" saw does.

[glenn bradley]

Even my (very old) Craftsman 12" runs square top to bottom of the adjustment range and to look at the mechanism, I think it's just luck.

[Jim DeLaney]

Louis Iturra sells an 'improved tracking arm' for the 14" saws, and has instructions in his catalog (pg 52) for installing shims to make the guide bar track parallel to the blade.

Call 866-883-8064 for a catalog. Iturra doesn't have a website.

[Jim Becker]

My MM16 runs square and the telescoping guide guard moves smoothly.

[Charlie Plesums]

My MM24 has an upper guide that reminds me of a train track...It's not going anywhere it isn't supposed to.

My Grizzly G0555 14 inch with riser block can be put out of alignment when raising and lowering the upper guide, but it isn't a problem to keep it aligned. Incidentally, it appears to be built from the same castings (same factory) as the Jet that it replaced, had more features, and cost far less.

[Andy Fox]

Thanks for the info all. Here's a link which describes a method for shifting the wheels to get the blade to run parallel with the upper guide column:

http://www.owwm.com/files/PDF/FAQ/110124076.pdf