anyone making their own guide blocks the factory blocks are a bit pricey.hickory maby.just wondering what some of you are doing ? thanks slider
i'm not making them, but I had Pad guides on my old Baker and had considered making them out of a piece of old file. Whatever you use needs to be quite hard, I believe. Aren't the WoodMizer pads made from ceramic?
I was told that my old Baker guides were a very hard tool steel.
Quote from: Tom on October 20, 2007, 01:40:44 PM
Aren't the WoodMizer pads made from ceramic?
I think they phased out of the ceramic design and now have steel lower guides. How hard they are I don't know. I never bit into one... :)
they appear to be made of some type of carbon material.I never thought of using steel tom,it sure would be easy to build a set.I wonder if anyone else is running this type of pad. slider
Sintered bronze might make a good material. It holds oil in the structure of the metal. Would work if you were using top and bottom lube with diesel and chainbar oil. I wouldn't use it with water as it would wear too quickly. Joe
logwalker,your probably correct about the bronze but i'm afraid to run diesel in this lubemizer system . not sure if the pump can hold up . I wish someone would check in who has tried it. I saw a good bit of heart pine and going back to diesel would sure make things easier. thanks slider
It is an old argument here , water vs. diesel/chainoil. I think the lubemizer would holdup but I would like to hear it from someone who knows. I just lube the top of my blade and it works well for me. A couple gallons of diesel mix lasts me 6 months. Joe
I've been using water soluble coolant that I use on the milling machine or power hack saw. Seem to do a very good job with no staining of any kind. As it is pumped through the pumps on other equipment I wouldn't think it would hurt the lubmizer, but couldn't say for sure.
shopteacher,have you tried this on heart pine,lotts of pitch,interesting took a machinist course for a couple of years ,didn't think of using this stuff on the mill ,what does it cost ? slider.
I have used the diesel and chain oil mix and had a couple of problems. First is that you will have to change the belts from goodyear to some kind of rubber, the ones I got was from suffolk they are a little tricky to get on but not to bad. The biggest trouble I had was after you have run them a while they will start to throw your blades, ended up be more trouble than it was worth. I havn't tried it but I heard that is a oil they use on cotton picker spindles that work very good with the pitch and such you might want to give it a try.
Have you used Pinesole? 1 Pint of Pinesole to 5 gal of water or Windshield washer fluid ( Winter Mix) I guess winter is comming this year? Add 1 tablespoon of Dawn dish soap to this mixture to help suspend the mixture.
Diesel will do a few things. Make wire coating soft, sawdust hazard, belts soft and slippery.
Wood-Mizer also sells a Lube additive that works well.
The original guides were made of a cermic and now on the LT40's they are made out of a material like you brake shoes on you auto. I am not sure of the exact compound. The LT70 has a metal that is impreginated with something, it looks like aluminum but much harder. I had heard they are working on something for the LT40 guides to be out next year.
If you have the cermic guides you can go to the current design and they work good, they have a replacement block insert ( glue in) available when they wear for about $ 7.00 or purchase the complete block for $ 17.00.
If you manufacture your own guides make sure the blade does not cut a grove in the guide block and rub on the back surface of the blade which will cause blade breakage. We saw this on the LT70 when a customer went from 1 1/2 blade to 1 1/4 blade and used the guides designed for the 1 1/2. Wood-Mizer now makes three different guides for different width blades, this is only for the LT70 guide system.
I have also seen guides to far forward and remove the set from the blade also. Wood-Mizer recomends the guides to be .008 - .010 away from the blade.
Marty
I have been using the replacement blocks($7.00?) since I have owned my 2006 Super. I get several hundred hours before replacement. I pop off the blocks with a screwdriver and use epoxy to glue on the new ones. I clean the metal blocks carefully to remove all glue residue before gluing the new one. I have been using cotton picker spindle cleaner for about 4 years. This may not be available north of cotton country. My local John Deere implement dealer has John Deere brand, probably could be ordered for other areas. I think is is a vegetable based oil. About $50 for 5 gallons, I mix 16oz to 5gal jug on mill. Works well on pine sap and I have not had any problem with damage to Lubmizer system or drive belts. When mixed it looks like milk so you can clearly see the amount as it is sprayed on blade. In the winter I add windshield washer fluid to prevent freezing.
Marty,
Why did Woodmizer moved way from the ceramic guides.?
Ron
I am not sure of the exact reason. If the Wood-Mizer owner neglected to check the clearance or the blade became dirty there would be no clearance between the ceramic guide and the blade, This would cause extream heat. The heat effect on the blades was not good. The new guides will wear if the clearance is not checked.
Marty
I know that they went from a round ceramic block, to a square ceramic block, to the current composite. I heard that the reason for changing to square was that if the round ones were tilted slightly, they would rub on the center of the blade and cause the blade to crystallize and crack from the middle out. I know that the ceramic also was prone to chipping and that creates a sharp spot... I bet that the new blocks are just cheaper and more forgiving...
Ive found that windshield washer works pretty good on its own, it must have some cleaning properties already. I have recently started to give the plain ol water a good shot of cheapo dish soap, and have been pleased. Definately works better, and after free-wheeling the blade with the lube-mizer on high for a few seconds before changing they always go to the setter nice and clean.
Slider,
I think the last gallon I bought was from Enco and was about 12.00. I put a couple oz. on the woodmizer water bottle. I've been cutting mostly red oak and white pine haven't had any build up to speak of. If you feel the the steel it has a slick feel to it. It doesn't appear to mark or stain the wood at all. When mixed it a white transparent look like skim milk. Don't have any heart pine so can't say how it would work. If you could get a couple oz off a machine shop you could give it a try.
I have had good results using abrasive resistant steel for guides that sandwichs the blade between guides. It is used on construction and farm equip. that contact dirt.
ordered a box of blades today from woodmizer also checked on guide blocks.he switched me to a steel block that they offer.I told him about my problem with this heart pine,he recomended concentrated tide or era brand 2 or 3 cap fulls per mix I said I was using dish detergent but he said this heavy concentrate works better,we shall see . slider