bandsaw

scottss · Post by **scottss** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:06 am

Anybody use the carter stabilizer for shopsmith?

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:49 pm

Scot
I assume your talking about the ball bearing blade guides.
I haven't seen a set advertised as fitting on the SS.
I have been tempted to buy a set made for delta to see if I could fit them on the SS.

Right now I getting more excited about the new ceramic guides that are being sold. They say you set them and use them like the graphite guides but without the wear. But I haven't seen those for SS yet either.
Ed

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:24 pm

I checked their web site and saw no mention of Shopsmith guides. You'd think there's a big enough market for them to produce them. What are the cool blocks that SS sells? Are they ceramic?

scottss · Post by **scottss** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:28 pm

They do make the carter for shopsmith check out
http://home.nc.rr.com/shopsmithrepairs/id4.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AMK5R

reible · Post by **reible** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 2:11 pm

Hi,

I don't have the shopsmith bandsaw but I do have the carter set for the bandsaw I have.

The saw I have is a craftsman made about 30+ years ago. It came with the metal guides and when the laminated graphite ones came out I went to those. Then when the ceramic ones came out I gave those a try and by the way they are not new.......

I had a friend who always bragged on the carter system and he got me interested but they are expensive, in fact the set cost more then the orginal bandsaw did by a few $$. I kept it in the back of my mind but at the time I put it off.

About 2 years ago I sprang for the set and now I'm sorry I waited so long. The noise level of the saw drops enough to noticed at power up and even while cutting. It was like having a new bandsaw! Most of the things I do involve scroll type cutting and once in a while resawing, the prefomance was most noticed on the scroll cutting.

The only negative on the set I have is they made no provision for replace the guard. I complained to them but well it fell on deaf ears so to speak. I designed my own and it turned out to be an easy job with just a piece of sheet stock.

The second item I have been looking at is the narrow blade add on that lets you use smaller blades..... basicly a wheel behind that is notched and no side wheels. I think the set I have limits you to 1/4" blades or above.

I have never used a shopsmith bandsaw so I can not say how much better or worse this would be on your system but I know it sure improved mine.

Ed

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:16 am

scottss wrote:Anybody use the carter stabilizer for shopsmith?

I purchased a set on ebay and it works much better then "Cool Blocks". The installation instructions are TERRIBLE, and they don't work with very large blades.

I called Carter and the excellent service tech walked me throught installation, you really do need to remove a lot more parts then you think.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 6:47 am

What problem does the Carter Stabilizer resolve?

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:17 am

I'm with Dusty on this, what problems do they resolve.
I wasn't aware they made a stabilizer as such. I thought everyone was talking about the ball bearing guides Carter makes for most Bandsaws. As of yet I haven't seen any for SS. The Stabliizers are limited to blades 1/4 inch or less and I guess if you use those blades a lot they would be okay.

Most of my bandsawing uses larger blades. I have found the graphite blade guides work well with both large and small so I wonder what the stabilizers do, do.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:30 pm

Carter makes a stabilizer that they advertise to be for the Shopsmith but I am unable to determine why I might need one. It looks like just another bearing that mounts behind the blade. If one has their bandsaw adjusted correctly, I am at a loss to see what it might do to improve performance.

http://www.carterproducts.com/product.a ... &cat_id=14

Those of you who are using one are the only ones who will be able to answer this?

dickroan · Post by **dickroan** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 3:39 pm

What I believe this bandsaw guide is supposed to do, is stop the "drift" when sawing or ripping long pieces of wood. If you are not careful....as an example, you might start out to slice a half inch off of a 2 foot long piece of wood and by the time you are through the cut, end up with a 3/4 to 1" slice. Perhaps I am wrong, but this is what I think it is....In passing, there are ways to make sure this does not happen without spending $70.plus dollars for this thing....This might be the subject of a new string.....

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