# Cheapo blade guide, zero-clearance insert, and tires on a little bandsaw



## jspadaro (Mar 20, 2015)

I got a little 10" bandsaw for $20. I don't have a "real" bandsaw still, and this thing was so cheap, I figured why not. It has come in extremely handy for rough cutting prior to the router table or whatever, even at its small size, and it cuts much better than a jigsaw.

However, there were no inserts, the lower blade guide hardly worked, and the tires were extremely worn, so the blade kept falling off the wheels.

I ended up making a UMHW plastic lower blade guide and an oak zero-clearance insert (both out of scrap I had laying around) and re-covering the tires with grip tape.

The results make it a pretty usable little saw for what it is, and it was worth the grand total of $3 and 1-2 hours I threw at it. I'll eventually get a nice 14" ridgid or something, but in the mean time, here's one way to handle this.

Writeup: http://did-it-myself.com/band-saw-blade-guides-insert-tires/


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