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Band saw -- Adjusting blade guides
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:53 pm
by davebodner
I'm finding turning the knobs to adjust the depth of the blade guides to be quite difficult. It takes as much force as I can muster to adjust the guides for a wider or narrower blade (i.e. setting the guides just behind the blade gullet). The instructions mention lubricating the threads on the knobs, but that didn't quite do it. Do I need to take the mechanisms apart and clean them? Any other trick I'm missing?
Re: Band saw -- Adjusting blade guides
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 7:43 pm
by reible
My bandsaw came to me used and both of the adjusters were bent and needed to be replaced. No idea how the PO did that but they did. It was a pain to remove the old ones due to the damage but once the new ones were in it was like night and day.
You might want to check to see if yours are bent and at the very least clean the treads up with a brush and see if that improves things.
Ed
Re: Band saw -- Adjusting blade guides
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:24 pm
by cham-ed
Mine were hard to adjust from the beginning. i ended up taking it apart and used a fine file to clean up the interior of the square opening. And I stoned the square shaft until both were very smooth. The factory finish left something to be desired. After some work they now move easily. You may need to rework yours.
Re: Band saw -- Adjusting blade guides
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:25 pm
by davebodner
I took them apart, cleaned them, graphite-lubed them, and put them back together. Much better. I may work on them more in the future, but for now I'm happy.
Thanks for the recommendations.
Re: Band saw -- Adjusting blade guides
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:34 pm
by jsburger
cham-ed wrote:Mine were hard to adjust from the beginning. i ended up taking it apart and used a fine file to clean up the interior of the square opening. And I stoned the square shaft until both were very smooth. The factory finish left something to be desired. After some work they now move easily. You may need to rework yours.
Mine is the same way since new. I have my SS band saw mounted on a power stand and I have had a 14" Powermatic band saw for years. So I don't have to adjust the SS band saw much now because it stays most of the time with the same blade. Before the Powermatic it was a pain changing the blade on the SS. I tried dry lube but it never really worked. I am going to give your solution a try. Thanks for the tip.