Using very narrow blades on 17-inch band saw **photos**

[Al Navas]

Several members have been wondering about using narrow blades on the larger band saws.

I purchased the Carter stabilizer for use with 1/4-inch and narrower blades. In addition, I also bought the Carter upper and lower guides that use the bearings, to replace the stock Euro-style disk guides that came with my Grizzly 17-inch band saw.

I have not had a chance to use the large upper and lower guides to do some resawing, but will be doing just that very soon. I may post a follow-up when I do use them.

I had to modify the stock blade guard to allow the larger upper guide to fit properly while still having the blade above the guide buried in the guard.

NOTE: I am currently testing the stud shown in the photos below. I have been working with the Carter Products engineer on the re-design, to get away from the machine screws in the original design. The screws had a tendency to work loose, which usually meant having to re-align the upper guide.

Now to some photos to illustrate:

1. Upper guide, front shot:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/Sandal_Woods/Shop%20Tools/Upperguide-frontshot.jpg


2. Upper guide, with side of blade guard cut out - I prefer the support that the thrust bearing provides in this guide, in contrast to the blade riding on the "flat" edges of the bearing on the stock Grizzly guide:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/Sandal_Woods/Shop%20Tools/Upperguide-sideshotwithcutoutguard.jpg


3. Rear shot of the upper guide, showing how much of the guard I had to cut out to allow proper installation of the upper guide:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/Sandal_Woods/Shop%20Tools/Upperguide-backshotwithcutoutguard.jpg


4. The Carter stabilizer, which works extremely well with the narrow blades to allow close to scroll saw performance:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/Sandal_Woods/Shop%20Tools/Stabilizerand0.jpg

I am very pleased with the stabilizer, which allows use of the very narrow blades on my 17-inch band saw. I know that several members have wondered whether they could use the very narrow blades on their large band saws - the answer is YES!!

My initial impression is that the Carter upper and lower guides will be very useful for general work with the wider blades, and will truly show their usefulness during resawing. These things are massive.

Thanks for looking.

[Kyle Stiefel]

Al,

Thanks for the information. I have desired to do what you have done for quite sometime but was wondering how much modification I would need to complete. I also run a Griz 17".

Where did you pick up your Carter guides?
How much were they?
Was the modifaction of the stock blade fairly straight forward?

Thanks,
Kyle

[lou sansone]

good information
thanks for posting it
lou

[Al Navas]

...
Where did you pick up your Carter guides?
How much were they?
Was the modifaction of the stock blade fairly straight forward? ...
Kyle,

The set of lower and upper guides costs right around $160, and the stabilizer is $69, as I recall. I just called Carter and ordered on the phone - the package showed up just a few days later.

This weekend I will give a workout to the newly designed stud for the upper guide, and will notify the Carter engineer whether the new stud is suitable, or whether any additional fine tuning may be needed. At this time I believe that the new stud works great!

To modify the blade guard I simply used a pneumatic cutoff grinder to follow the lines I marked on the guard when I had the upper guide installed. After grinding away on the guard everything that got in the way of the guide, I fine-tuned the corners and removed all burrs using a file, to make sure that either LOML or I don't get cut on the sharp edges.

The modification truly is trivial, but it requires patience to make the cuts, as the metal was thick in a few spots. I am sure that someone with better skills and metal-working equipment would do a better job than I did, as it shows in the photos I posted above :o .

Please let me know if you need additional information.

.

[Al Navas]

good information
thanks for posting it
lou
You are welcome, Lou. Sharing some info with the community is half the fun :cool: !


.

[Chris Livingston]

I added the Carter HD guides to my Grizzly 20" saw as well as replacing the standard V belt with the Powertwist red linked belt and could not believe the difference in cut and vibration. These two upgrade set me back about $225 but was worth it. I can cut 1/32" and thinner veneer that needs virtually no sanding its so smooth. Of course the Lennox tr-master helps but before the upgrade it was still a fairly rough cut.