# Carter vs. Accura bandsaw guides



## xeddog (Dec 14, 2009)

I am going to be purchasing some roller guides for my bandsaw and was wanting to know if anyone has firsthand experience with both brands. If the Accura guides are just as good as the Carters (or very nearly so), and cost less than 1/2 of the Carters, then I will go with the Accuras. but if they aren't very good then maybe I'll spend the extra and get the Carters. Opinions wanted.

Thanks,

xeddog


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## John in Tennessee (Jun 11, 2008)

*You Might Need To Look at This*

Amazon.com: 14"-15" BAND SAW BALL BEARING BLADE GUIDES: Home Improvement


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## xeddog (Dec 14, 2009)

The link didn't make it. Please try it again.

thanks,

xeddog


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

I had a set of Accuras on my HF 14" band saw. I took them off and put on cool blocks in the OEM guide assemblies, the blade is MUCH less prone to wander now...

I have a now former neighbor that had Carter guides on his HF bandsaw, he too took the rollers off in favor of the OEM assemblies / cool blocks.

The rollers work great when running big blades, but when running anything 1/4" or under don't seem to work all that well at keeping the blade straight.

Amazon does sell roller bearing guide blocks that slip into the OEM guide assemblies like cool blocks do.

Not sure what band saw you have, but I had to get a reducing machine busing to adapt the Accuras to my HF saw. 

If you are interested, I still have my Accura guides and would consider selling them. Very low usage on them...


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*There are as many blade guides as saw blades*

They each do different things better. Before I could recommend a specific guide I ask what excatly are you going to do? resaw? intricate curves, what radius? Carter has recently come up with a back roller only guide for cutting tight radius curves. There is a video here, I'd watch it. http://www.carterproducts.com/product_list.asp?cat_id=14

Another member here http://www.falbergsawz.com/ has an very interesting video link, look at the very bottom in blue, cutting a 15" doug fir block with tight curves. :thumbsup: bill
BTW,
I have roller bearings, European style guides and ceramic guides on my saws. Proper blade tension is the secret to most cutting issues and a blade with adequate set in the teeth to make a tight radius and to clean out the chips.


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## falbergsawco (Nov 25, 2009)

Blade guides are really pretty simple devices and you could make your own if you wanted to. I have illustrations for DIY blade guides in my up-coming book that should work on any bandsaw. One of the neat little tricks you can do is sandwich a washer between two radial bearings to run narrower blades; if you have enough room in your present housing/bracket to mount tandem bearings. It really depends a lot on what you're doing, though, so use your own judgement when it comes to blade guides. They're all good for some things.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Good to hear from you*

Please make sure you post a link to the book when it's finished! :thumbsup: bill


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## xeddog (Dec 14, 2009)

Thanks for the replies everyone. As to the question of what I do with my bandsaw, I do everything with it, but the blade that I have on it most of the time is a 1/2" resaw blade. I would also like to get a 3/4" resaw blade at some point later. I use the saw for resawing (duh!) and also for cutting out bowl blanks, etc. for my lathe. Nothing much smaller than maybe 6" diameter. 

I also cut some curved work that requires a narrower blade, but so far I have not had to use anything narrower than about 1/4". I can see times, though, that I might want to use something even narrower. I have a 1/8" blade that I used once without much success. It was just too narrow. I was thinking with that blade maybe I could just make some guides out of some maple or something, and encase the blade in them. Might last long enough to get a cut or two done. If I really get bored maybe I could fashion my own Carter style blade stabilizer.

Anyway, I already ordered a set of the Accura guides. I hope they will fit. I have a Craftsman Professional 14" (cast iron frame type with rounded wheel covers). I tracked down the real manufacturer of this saw and it is Rexon out of England. The round shaft that holds the guide assembly is machined to only .822" (21mm) at the bottom inch or so, but I can turn it over and it is .865" (22MM) for the rest of the length. That should be close enough to 7/8" so I am hoping that teh Accura's will fit ok. I have not been able to find any discussion of what is needed under the table.

dbhost - I have seen the roller bearing guide blocks. I was considering them but since the Accura's were even less expensive . . . The big advantage I can see to them is that if you want to use a very narrow blade it would be hella easy to swap out the rollers for other kinds of guide blocks like maybe cool blocks. If the Accura's don't fit and I have to send them back, I will try those. I wish I had known just a tad sooner that you might be willing to sell your Accruas. From the timestamps on these posts, I was ordering them at about the same time you were typing up your post.

woodnthings - I had already seen the vids regarding the Carter stuff. That other vid about sawing a 15" Doug Fir was interesting. I'll have to go back and look at that again, but from what I gleaned from it was that the guides don't really matter. It's all tooth set. hmmmm.

falbergsawco - Oh! It's you! :yes: Is it really all tooth set and tension?

Thanks again,

xeddog


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## falbergsawco (Nov 25, 2009)

"Is it really all tooth set and tension?"

No. It's all about cutting solutions, of which tooth set and tension are key components. The "it" you're referring to deals with dark, mysterious forces beyond our understanding or control. "It" is a black hole of ever-changing variables; "it" ebbs and flows with same elemental forces that govern the timeless order of the universe. "It" has many names, but I call "it" the cutting solution and weigh the parameters in accordance to their nature; compromising truth and beauty to fit my saw's abilty to execute my woodworking dreams.

It's taken me a year now to describe "it" in a book of 160 pages and the bumper-stickers haven't been written yet. You'll probably find it in the "Comedy" section of your local book store some day. Or a yard sale. I'm going to self-publish, if that's a clue.


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## falbergsawco (Nov 25, 2009)

Off-topic, totally irrelevant status update: The SliceMiester II prototype is pretty much done now and I started road testing a couple months ago. As you may remember; it has a 2HP 3450 RPM 220V motor and uses two Iturra Yellow springs on a frictionless slide assembly for tension (I had to set them waaay loose- they flattened the urethane on my tires. The Drive pulleys are now ratioed down 1.5" to 5" to slow it down) the tabletop is 36" x 48" ; x 32" high. I have a rail/ sled for milling a flat plane on logs; a sled/rail for milling the first flat on twisted hardwood motherboards . I can reduce the veneer thickness in 1/16" increments until I start cutting the plys out of my plywood backing board. It's using the same 1" Woodmaster carbon-tipped blade I started with. It will accept blades from 1/4" W to 1" W. It's so precise and feels so safe and docile that I'm using the band saw for everything I do these days; including my aluminum cuts(rip, miter, cross - I have a jig for everything). The finish I'm getting from these cuts is so smooth I only need to use a cheap palm sander to start finishing. Getting old is slowing me down some but I'll make more videos whenever I can get some help moving logs around. You're all welcome to visit my shop if you ever get out to Delta, Colorado. This is really something that must be seen to believe. I did it ! Now what? Don't wait for any of the three main corporate tool magazines to include SliceMiester in a documentary tool review. I would just make their sponsors look like toymakers. SliceMiester does everything you always wanted your bandsaw to do; and does it well. If they had any integrity they could have done this 30 years ago. A thousand pounds of cast iron is not the cure for vibration. Machined perfect wheels are; and they're expensive. Shouldn't that be YOUR choice to make?


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