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I don't need blade guides?

Started by ray299, May 23, 2018, 12:11:10 PM

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ray299

So I was cutting on my homemade mill. I have two guides, one on each side of the log. Oops, entry guide must have been loose, it twisted and caught the blade. Blade pops off, ruined. I tighten the guide in the shaft it slides up and down and put on a new blade. Same thing happened. New blade bent. Found out the sliding part got twisted during the first oops. So here I am ready to weld a new sliding part on the mill thinking... The blade is (was) brand new, maybe I can bend it straight again. I know, fat chance right? So I take off the bent guide, bend the blade back best I can and put it together, no entry guide. Spin the wheels, blade wobbles but stays put. I try it. Cut a few mantles that way. The wobble wastes material... 1/4" curf instead of a 1/8... But it cuts with only the exit guide... And cuts straight.... Anyone run their bandsaw mill with no blade guides? I'm thinking... Why fix the guide if it cuts without it... Or did this cut work because the mantles were only six inches thick? 

ladylake


 You could maybe get by without guides cutting real slow and not to wide, if pushing hard you need roller guides with 1/4" down pressure.  Steve
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Crusarius

I have often wondered this myself. Especially since on some mills they use ceramic blocks for guides. One on top and one on bottom of the blade. This setup does not use the standard 1/4" down that is always mentioned with roller guides.

Skipper11A

Quote from: Crusarius on May 23, 2018, 12:57:06 PMI have often wondered this myself. Especially since on some mills they use ceramic blocks for guides. One on top and one on bottom of the blade. This setup does not use the standard 1/4" down that is always mentioned with roller guides.
Many manufacturers use guides without any down pressure at all even with roller guides.  A properly adjusted sawmill will saw straight without any guides at all, within reason, of course.  The guides are there to keep the blade straight when you saw wider and faster.  Ray299 got better results because he was only sawing mantles that were only 6 inches thick.

But Ray299 has other problems:
Quote from: ray299 on May 23, 2018, 12:11:10 PMSo I was cutting on my homemade mill.  Spin the wheels, blade wobbles but stays put. I try it. Cut a few mantles that way. The wobble wastes material... 1/4" curf instead of a 1/8... But it cuts with only the exit guide... And cuts straight.... Anyone run their bandsaw mill with no blade guides? I'm thinking... Why fix the guide if it cuts without it... Or did this cut work because the mantles were only six inches thick?
Homemade mill, damaged blade that wobbles, 1/4" kerf instead of 1/8" kerf.  These are all red flags that something is not right in his set-up.  Is he using rubber tires for his band wheels?  1-1/4" blades should have a 1/16" kerf so Ray299's 1/4" kerf means that his blades are cutting 4x as much wood than they should be.  I think Ray299 probably needs to repair his blade guide asap because the only thing I hear that I like is that his sawmill cuts straight.

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