Contributor
Carter Zephyr have been on big bandsaws for years and work very well. I prefer the Wright guides as I think they are a little better built but they don't work any better. The MM 20 is stout enough that you could tension the blade and take the guides off and not notice. Dave
Member
I have a MM 20 that I bought at about the same time as the OP. It has the same guides. I haven't used the saw much and mostly with a 1/2" blade. Recently I tried a 1" blade and the lower guide will not adjust far enough forward. I checked the Carter site and the lower guide is designed for 3/4" blade max. When I first got the saw I questioned the rep that the top one is only for 1 1/4" blade (didn't notice the bottom was different) and the saw is advertised capable of using a 1 1/2" blade. He said that it was a typo and most only use a 1" blade, however, they still advertise 1 1/2". Along with feeling deceived I am concerned about how safe it is to run larger blades on the saw. I have checked with Carter and they don't recommend using larger than a 3/4" blade. After the amount of money that I paid for this saw I am rather disgusted at the prospect of spending several hundred dollars to get the saw to operate as intended. Do other owners of this saw have any problems using wide blades on their saw? Perhaps it doesn't make much difference. I am happy with the saw, but think I was hoodwinked on the guides/sawing capacity.
Contributor
you are much better off running a narrower blade at high tension than a wider at low. Most saws refer to the max width that the wheels will allow which is often wider than makes sense to run. I have a 36" cast iron saw and don't run a blade wider than 1". When you get wider the band gets thicker and it is very difficult to tension. Resaw machines with power feeders are the only saws that benefit from blades wider than 1" or 1.25 if a Resaw King. The MM 20 is a stout saw and you should have the guide that allows for a 1" blade but don't go wider than that. Blades on bandsaws are kind of like horsepower ratings in cars. Doable maybe but not exactly correct. Dave
Contributor
When I didn't know any better, I bought a 1.25" RK blade for my MM16. So far, so good.
David
Confidence: That feeling you get before fully understanding a situation (Anonymous)
Contributor
RK runs a thinner band - .024 vs .042 for most others on their 1.25" blade so it works well on smaller saws. DaveOriginally Posted by David Ragan
Member
I was always instructed the blade should not touch in thrust, mine doesn't, it works great. The Carter instructions (looking at the Carter page rendered by the link Ken provided) seem to indicate it should. Just trying to reconcile that discrepancy.
The Micro-Precision ball bearing rub block guide provides full contact with the blade for maximum accuracy.
My Centauro 800 (some Minimax have been Centauro models in the past) which uses what looks like the Carter CP20, says the following in the manual ...
The blade guide thrust wheel must never be adjusted in contact with the back of the blade, but at a distance of3+4 mm. If the blade is sharp and the feed force regular, it must not trip. On the contrary, the side wheels must skim over the blade, though without locking it, since they have the specific task of eliminating its vibrations, due to sawing. The wooden buffers of the bottom blade guide have to be adjusted using the same criteria.
Last edited by Bill Adamsen; 02-12-2015 at 12:01 PM.
Contributor
If you adjust it all the way forward, how much gap remains between the face of the thrust bearing and the rear of the blade?
The Carter site is a bit conservative in my opinion, more of a "suggestion" than a hard rule. We've got lots of MM owners using 1.0" or wider blades on that same lower guideset and zero issues. Or at least not that I'm hearing about. I wouldn't worry about it.
Erik Loza
Minimax
Member
I adjusted the blade so that it is close but doesn't touch the thrust bearing. Here is a picture with a 1" blade on it.
IMG_0664.jpg
It's good to know you haven't heard of any problems with it.
Contributor
Jim, please check your PM box.
Erik Loza
Minimax
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