Shopsmith Forums

dafixer wrote:Has anyone used the ceramic guide blocks? If so, any problems with them?

They are what I have on my shopsmith bandsaw and I have a set for my other bandsaw but switched to carter guides on that one. I liked them so well that when I got my shopsmith I wanted to do a few things to it like the dual bearings and then the ceramic guides.

They are the best guides on the market before you get to bearings in my opinion. They are also costly and might be hard to find for the shopsmith. When I got mine I could find only two sources.

Ed

It looks like they still make the ceramic guide blocks:

http://www.spaceageceramicguideblocks.c ... ation.html

$26..........


But worth it!

Ed

Spaceageceramics claims because their guides for a Shopsmith are ceramic, they won't heat up as much as cool blocks which have to lubricate the blade to keep it from overheating.

dafixer wrote:Spaceageceramics claims because their guides for a Shopsmith are ceramic, they won't heat up as much as cool blocks which have to lubricate the blade to keep it from overheating.

So no lubricant means less heat??

You know there is all kinds of hype out there. All the big boys use roller/ball bearing guides. The problem with all non bearing guides is heat and not being to be able to put the guides tight to the blade (heat).

Carter has a set of roller bearings for the SS. They are first class. I bought them years ago when they first offered them. Yes they are pricey but they will last your lifetime or more and don't need any dressing or maintenance.

jsburger wrote:

dafixer wrote:Spaceageceramics claims because their guides for a Shopsmith are ceramic, they won't heat up as much as cool blocks which have to lubricate the blade to keep it from overheating.

So no lubricant means less heat??

You know there is all kinds of hype out there. All the big boys use roller/ball bearing guides. The problem with all non bearing guides is heat and not being to be able to put the guides tight to the blade (heat).

Carter has a set of roller bearings for the SS. They are first class. I bought them years ago when they first offered them. Yes they are pricey but they will last your lifetime or more and don't need any dressing or maintenance.

+1. Carter rules!

One major difference is carter guides are $120 and ceramic guides are $26.

I've used ceramic guides for a lot of years and yes I did upgrade to carter guides on my other saw, it cost me more for the the carter upgrade then my whole saw cost when I got it new back in the early 70's!

The ceramic guides are not hype, they work and work well, and I know because I have and still use them.

If I had to buy another set of guides right now my order would go into the ceramic guides. If you got the money then you might want the carter guides and yes I'm a big fan of them and there are posts here that attest to that but I'm also a fan of the ceramic guides due to the much lower cost.

Ed

jsburger wrote: So no lubricant means less heat??

Actually, in the case of ceramics, yes. There's a lot of interesting work in the field of non-metallic crystalline structures. Some of that surrounds reduced friction and heat distribution. It's actually possible to make engine cylinders for cars from these kinds of ceramic that require no motor oil. It's not been adopted, probably because too many manufacturers think people wouldn't trust an IC engine that didn't need oil changes ever.