Bandsaw guide bearings

[Bill]

Anybody know where to find guide bearings for the HF 14" bandsaw? Those plastic guide blocks it shipped with have just about uttered their last.

Bill

[OTR]

These things are ok >

I like the ceramic guides a little better, the roller guides can be noisy - have used both in the past can also get "cool blocks" but I havent used those so can't say.

-- Regards,

Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews

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[Hax Planx]

Cool blocks are good and reasonably priced. I used the plastic ones for a total of about 30 seconds. You can get them at Woodcraft, Rockler or a hundred places online.

[Andy Dingley]

I'd stick with blocks, but go for Cool Blocks as a better material.

IMHE, after-market bearing guides for small bandsaws are a bit of a nightmare. They're usually taken from the parts bin for another saw and although they "fit", you may well find that they don't accept the full range of blade sizes you want. Cheaper bearing guides also have a lot of trouble with narrow blades.

After a lot of faffing around, I'm back to Cool Blocks. For one thing they halve the adjustment time between a narrow "scrollsaw" and a "resaw" blade.

[Bill]

Thank you, Dean. Good links.

Bill