Ensuring that your bandsaws work as effeciently and smoothly as possible is very important. One of the most important things you can understand is the guides and adjustments associated with band saw blades. If you don’t keep your bandsaw blades adjusted properly, they will not be able to do the job you need them to do.
There are a lot of different types of guides you can use for your bandsaw, but from our research we have found that greasable band saw blade roller guides seem to be the best. It has a very hard and tough outer shelling that can roll against the band saw blade. On the inside, it has two bearings that have a half inch diameter hole so it fits perfectly on a half inch arbor shaft. It’s recommended that you use these, and grease them a couple times during the day, this if of course if they are going to be used all day long.
There are some bandsaw blade guides you can buy which simply are not greasable. We strongly recommend against these because you won’t get nearly as long of life when using them. Even if you can find them cheaper, in the long run you will be spending more by constantly replacing them. It’s also important because whenever a bearing goes out it will lock up, and after about half a minute of the band saw blade rubbing the same spot it will create a flat spot to develop and the roller will cease to become useful.
When you do grease the guide you will want to grease it around the middle and end of day, and it’s very crucial that you grease towards the end of the day because after a days worth of use the rollers will become their hottest and this is when they can get damaged. Once you stop cutting they will actually draw lubricant into the baring. If you let it sit there the pitting of rust on the bearing will dillute the grease and it won’t be properly lubicrated the next time you use it.
Another important thing to take into consideration is that you take good care of the guides and grind each one as perfectly as you can. When you grind the guides it’s going to ensure that there will not be any vibration coming from it and therefore transferring over to the blade. Even if your roller is out of round, even ever so slightly, it can cause your blades to break prematurely. The vibration is a major cause of breakage, but also when the roller guide is out of round it will create a hammering effect and curve the bandsaw blade, which is no good.
The backs of the roller guides for your band saw blade will have a flange on the back, which is actually part of the hard shell. Since this flange turns together, it can’t get a groove worn into it. You can find some guides that will have a backup bearing, but these can get one spot that rubs up against the bearing and will wear a groove into it.
Ultimately there are a lot of precautions you should take when dealing with these, just like many things associated with bandsaw blades. Just make sure you do your research or talk to a professional before you delve into anything you are quite sure about. Doing so without the proper steps can cause damage to your equipment or yourself.