Looking to upgrade my metabo bas317 band saw blade guide

[RELMEIS]

Hello everyone I am new to the forum. I am an amateur woodworker, mostly with hand tools and recently decided to upgrade my small workshop with a band saw. I bought a really cheap second hand saw, metabo bas 317. I read reviews on it and realized that it is not really recommended but that with the right maintenance and a good blade it can work quite well. I have already bought a quality blade. What I have left is to upgrade the blade guide with a one with bearings instead of the old disks guide that does not help keep the blade straight. From what I understand the standard upgrade kit does not fit this saw as it is without any adjustments. Since I do not have that much experience with machines, I will ask for your help in this matter.

 

[deema]

Have you read my thread on the subject?
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/bandsaw-blade-guide-theory.135481/

 

[RELMEIS]

Wow so much information! If I'm trying to simplify what you're saying this is that the blade guide actually does not matter as much to the proper operation of the saw as the blade tensioning .. I'm still a little confused as to what I can do to improve the saw's performance

 

[Ttrees]

If ripping or resawing,
My money would be on improving the tires.
One could look into what performance one can attain with an equivalent sized machine.
Say a startrite with the sheet metal wheels Is it the 302?
Just thinking those tires might be nice and hefty.
Another way of approaching things is to look into flat tires on small machines like the kitty or the Inca....
Should you find someone who doesn't have one of these for curves, and actually uses it for ripping , and cares for their tires, which is a rare thing to say the least.

Another wallet based approach is to see what tires is been used on this machine..
Someone recently posted this here and have to say it's the best results I've ever seen from a small saw.
Seen folks freehanding to a line but not seen anyone resaw using the fence,
Unless you call a " little ripper " a fence.
Beyond this involves welding I'd imagine.


Just my 2 cents on the matter, as potshot guessing the tires are the same as on the eb315.

 

[deema]

@RELMEIS youve got it. IMO blade guides do not affect for how straight it cuts, they are a safety feature, not a saw cutting feature. Have a look at this thread that Sideways wrote on a SCM bandsaw we refurbished. We show how to set it up, what upgrades we did and also cutting 52mm oak without the blade guides anywhere near the blade.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/scm-minimax-s45-bandsaw-teardown-overhaul.135069/
What exactly is wrong with the cut of the saw?

 

[chaoticbob]

RELMIES,

+1 for the findings in deema's informative essay - I came to the same conclusion (that guides don't affect straightness of cut) after much struggling with my Record 350S - only a wee bit bigger than your machine. Because I have metalworking stuff I was planning to making new guides in the hope that might solve the problem of the cut wandering (often by several millimetres over a 500mm cut in pine at a depth of 50mm) but I solved the problem by adjusting tracking and tension, so the project went to the back burner where it remains. I wouldn't put new guides high on your list of priorities if I were you.

At the risk of muddying the waters, reading the Deema/Sideways thread made me wonder about my (horizontal) metal cutting saw. On these machines the blade is twisted by maybe 30 degrees on entering and exiting the guides, so the guides are absolutely essential to keeping the blade true. On my machine the blade is supported by roller bearings on each side of the blade and roller bearings on the back. The back bearings are orientated so the back of the blade bears on the periphery of the roller rather than the 'face' . I've never understood why some woodcutting saws have the back bearings in the 'wrong' orientation! On metal saws the guide rollers are always in contact with the blade of course, to maintain the twist, and it seems to work. Hmm ... just thinking out loud.
Bob.