delta riser block

[jackl young]

I have found the threads for using grizzly and powermatic riser blocks on harbor freight and other bandsaws but no one has mentioned delta.I have a delta bandsaw and want to use a riser block which from delta is over $100.00. Has anyone used a powermatic ot grizzly with success.

[Jim Becker]

Jack, note that the riser kit is not just the riser block, but also new guides and a few other things. Rigging a block is relatively easy in many cases, but it may not be so for the rest of the important things.

[Ben Rafael]

The grizzly, ridgid, hf and many others are basically copies of the delta. I wouldn't be surprised if they are interchangeable. I put a grizzly on my old ridgid BS. It came with the block, blade, and blade guard. It did not come with any guides, the guides on the saw were not effected by the riser or other parts that came with it.
Look for the delta riser on ebay.

[Jim Becker]

I mis-spoke when I said "guides"...I meant the guide arm and telescoping guard. They need to be longer when you install the riser.

[Lance Norris]

There are differences in diameter of the upper guide post. Measure your guide post and ask others that have installed risers what the diameter is of the longer post in the kit and what brand it is.

[Jim Becker]

Adding to Lance's comment, some of the guide posts on Delta saws are not round, either...depends on the age/model.

[jackl young]

the column is .940 and is round with a key slot milled along its lenght

[Wes Bischel]

Jack,
I put a Ridgid riser kit on my no-name Chinese bandsaw. There were a few issues I ran into. One, new holes for the roll pins on the block itself had to be drilled - not hard, but precision is needed. Two, the guide post that came with the kit was larger diameter than the original, so a new post was made. Three, on my saw, new holes had to be drilled and tapped to relocate the switch. Finally, the guard had to be modified and new holes punched to attach it to the saw.
None of these items were hard to do, but were time consuming. I did the modifications because there was no kit available for my saw. As others have mentioned, if another kit is a close fit, go for it. If not, you might consider how much your time is worth, versus paying for the Delta kit.

FWIW,
Wes

[Matt Meiser]

I had the same experience as Wes. When I replaced the Chinese saw with an old Delta/Rockwell, I just bought the Delta kit and was done in about an hour.

[Lance Norris]

Jack,
I put a Ridgid riser kit on my no-name Chinese bandsaw. There were a few issues I ran into. One, new holes for the roll pins on the block itself had to be drilled - not hard, but precision is needed. Two, the guide post that came with the kit was larger diameter than the original, so a new post was made. Three, on my saw, new holes had to be drilled and tapped to relocate the switch. Finally, the guard had to be modified and new holes punched to attach it to the saw.
None of these items were hard to do, but were time consuming. I did the modifications because there was no kit available for my saw. As others have mentioned, if another kit is a close fit, go for it. If not, you might consider how much your time is worth, versus paying for the Delta kit.

FWIW,
Wes

I used a Grizzly kit on my Ridgid. The Grizzly kit was $60. The Ridgid kit is $160. With a little investigation, I saved $100 and it was a bolt in. Do a little research and you will find a kit that is a perfect match. I would recommend looking at Grizzly.

[Lance Norris]

Grizzly sells 2 riser kits, one of the differences between them is the guide post diameter. The Grizzly kit I installed on my Ridgid has the larger of the 2 posts. It measures .865. This tells me that neither of the Grizzly kits or the Ridgid kit will work for you, at least as far as the guide post is concerned. There are kits for Jet and Powermatic, but you are going to find that there probably isnt much money to be saved by going that route, and I have read of people using the Grizzly kits on Jet bandsaws. You probably have no choice and will have to pony up and get the Delta kit. Sorry.

[Wes Bischel]

The Ridgid kit is $160.
Ouch! I picked one up as a close-out for $35 or so. Good call on the Grizzly!

Jack, let us know how you make out.
Wes