Ceramic Bandsaw Block Adjustment?

[Art Davis]

I just finished converting my Griz G0555 to ceramic block guides as per an earlier posting by Tom Berninghausen. The conversion was easy, but now I have a dilemma. How do I adjust the blocks? That is, what spacing between the blocks and the blade? I have noticed that the blocks shift a bit when I tighten up the set screws holding them in place, so clearly it has to be an iterative procedure. Any ideas? All help appreciated. Thanks.

Art

[Frank Fusco]

I did a search on guide blocks and saw a lot of references to ceramic being better than rollers. Someone sells lignum vitate blocks and I know there are other materials (steel, carbon fiber, etc.) But nowhere is there a good explanation of why blocks are considered better than rollers. Bits and pieces of info were offered but I would appreciate a fuller explanation. I'll add, that after four years of pretty constant use my Grizzly G0555 has started giving me fits with blade wander. This with old/new blades and blades of different sizes. I'm on my knees adjusting more than I am cutting lately. Maybe going to blocks will solve this.

[Jesse Cloud]

Bandsaw tuning is awful close to 'religion' among woodworkers. There are lots of different theories, more than a little mystery, and strong feelings about the subject. So here's my free advice - and you know what that's worth:rolleyes:

I set my guides very close to the blade, no more than a dollar bill's width away. They need to be far enough back so that they don't contact the teeth. Get a $5 stick of saw blade lube - it will help a lot of things on your bandsaw and will probably last as long as you do.

Another thing, the guides should be opened when you change blades and adjusted AFTER THE BLADE IS TENSIONED.

As far as ceramics and cool blocks and rollers are concerned - I don't think they are worth the $$. None of them work well on small blades. I use shop-made hard maple guides, and I have a few different sizes to accomodate small blades.

In my experience, the usual cause of blade wandering is tension or tracking being a little off. If your blade won't track on the center of the tire, its most likely time for a new tire. Try a little more tension if the blade wanders. The other thing that causes blades to wander is trying to do too much with them. Try keeping the feed rate slow and gentle, but steady. If you are resawing, you need at least 1 1/2 horsepower to resaw anything large.

Like I said, this is my two cents. Others get great results with different methods. Good luck!

[Karl Laustrup]

Art, my Laguna 16HD has the ceramic guides and I use a dollar bill between the guides and the blade. It can be tricky and it does take some getting used to but, I really like the ceramic guides. They seem to run cooler than other types.

Karl

[Andy Fox]

Art, I set my blocks so that I can see just a hair of light between the block and the blade.

To reduce shifting while tightening, leave the screw loose enough that the block can be moved, but tight enough that it doesn't shift when tightened.

[Mark Rios]

Myself, I like to use a 20 dollar bill to adjust to. I feel that this makes my BS feel more important and of a higher class thereby giving it a more confident personality. I seem to get much better cuts this way and far less blade drift than by using a one dollar bill.

[Andy Fox]

Mark, be careful.... $20 bills are probably a few nanometers thicker because they see less use and wear than $1 bills. :D

[Bryan Ferguson]

I was watching the video Laguna sent me on their bandsaw with ceramic guides. IIRC he said to barely touch the blade and set it at the back of the gullet. The ceramic does not generate the heat that steel on steel friction does.

[Al Willits]

""""""
Myself, I like to use a 20 dollar bill to adjust to. I feel that this makes my BS feel more important and of a higher class thereby giving it a more confident personality. I seem to get much better cuts this way and far less blade drift than by using a one dollar bill.
"""""""""

I'd use a $20 also, but after all the Amazon updates I don't have one....:)

Wouldn't rollers help keep the blade straighter, I'm assuming they being rollers, you'd have them in contact with the blade?

Also what about the rollers that are attached to the end of blocks, these work as well as the more expensive full roller set?

Al
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[Andy Fox]

Al, nonmetal blocks can be set right on the blade too. Blocks actually support better because they support closer to the workpiece than rollers. The entire block touches/supports the blade, but only the very middle of the rollers touch the blade.

[Frank Fusco]

Art, my Laguna 16HD has the ceramic guides and I use a dollar bill between the guides and the blade. It can be tricky and it does take some getting used to but, I really like the ceramic guides. They seem to run cooler than other types.

Karl

How wood you know when blocks/rollers are not running cool?

[Frank Fusco]

Myself, I like to use a 20 dollar bill to adjust to. I feel that this makes my BS feel more important and of a higher class thereby giving it a more confident personality. I seem to get much better cuts this way and far less blade drift than by using a one dollar bill.

For those of us who have never seen a $20.00 bill, except on b/w tv, can we fold over a $1.00 for the same effect?

[CPeter James]

Blocks clean and cool the blade with the scraping action. Rollers compress the pitch and dirt onto the blade. That is the theory and I buy it. I use cool blocks, but know some who use hardened steel blocks. Similar effect as ceramic, but in older odd sized holders, these can be custom made by a good machinist and it is a one time purchase as they never wear out. Position the blocks behind the gullets on the flat part of the blade.

CPeter