JustAnotherGuy Posted April 23 Report Share Posted April 23 How reliable is a bandsaw upgrade kit? Got a new Laguna 1412 but I was thinking of updating its guides to maximize precision. Anyone ever tried using one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 23 Report Share Posted April 23 Get what you can out of it like it is before looking for improvement. I expect it will be fine. I don't find that guides make a lot of difference in properly tuned bandsaws. I even used my 24" once with the table and upper guides off of it to get more than stock resaw capacity for one job, and it didn't make much difference even with no guides at all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 24 Report Share Posted April 24 On 4/23/2024 at 6:53 PM, Tom King said: Get what you can out of it like it is before looking for improvement. I expect it will be fine. I don't find that guides make a lot of difference in properly tuned bandsaws. I even used my 24" once with the table and upper guides off of it to get more than stock resaw capacity for one job, and it didn't make much difference even with no guides at all. +1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted April 24 Report Share Posted April 24 +2 Totally agree with Tom and Coop! I actually like the Laguna guides. Full disclosure I have both a 1412 and a 16HD with the ceramic guides so I am probably just used to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherGuy Posted April 24 Author Report Share Posted April 24 I was actually looking at the band saw upgrade kit off of sawblade.com. It guess it would be different from the currently installed guides because of the extra bearings. https://sawblade.com/order-band-saw-guide-upgrade-kit.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 24 Report Share Posted April 24 You can't jamb any kind of guide right up hard against the blade. The guides just keep it from getting too far out of line when and if it does. Don't worry about it until you get used to running a bandsaw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted Monday at 07:36 PM Report Share Posted Monday at 07:36 PM Hensley I've used bearing guides and ceramic guides and i prefer the ceramic guides that come on laguna saws. The only modification I'd make is to ditch the tool free knobs and just install bolts to tighten the guides. I never felt like i had the finger strength required to get the knobs tight enough. To get used to setting guides have a fold over piece of paper that you wedge between the ceramic guides and the blade it'll help set the guides perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherGuy Posted Monday at 09:46 PM Author Report Share Posted Monday at 09:46 PM How long do you guys think the ceramic guides will last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted Tuesday at 08:37 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 08:37 PM On 4/29/2024 at 4:46 PM, JustAnotherGuy said: How long do you guys think the ceramic guides will last? 19 years and counting... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted Tuesday at 10:10 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 10:10 PM The blade won't touch the guides unless you're trying to force the saw to do more than what it should be doing. Using a too dull blade is included under that category. Sort of the same with cutting with a chainsaw. The guys struggling are pushing too hard on the saw and probably not using a sharp blade. You cut with a light hand on a bandsaw just like you should with a chainsaw, and really any other saw. I put new ceramic guides on my 24" right after I brought it home after over 30 years of abuse in someone else's shop. I ran 10,000 lineal feet of Cypress through it, plus other smaller jobs since then, and the guides are just as good as when I put them on the saw. Here is a video of an old man cutting with a light hand with a hot rod chainsaw. He didn't work up a sweat cutting up this dead Maple tree. I'm glad to say that my pant size is a couple of sizes smaller now.. I'll have to show this to Pam. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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