Carter band saw guides.

[Dave Monk]

I am contemplating buying Carter band saw guides.  Appreciate any comments on them. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Work well but they are metal bearings so be aware of this. I had them on for awhile but took them off because I am still liking my old delta fiber cool block guides. The reason behind my thinking is if a blade slips out of guide it hits the metal bearings and basically kills the blade. Have had this especially those 1/8" or 3/16" blades. There is a special guide for those smaller blades. I use that more than the other bearings when I had them on. It is all about setting up the blade on the tire correctly, and adjusting the guides correctly. keeping those bearing just behind the gullets is key. I would be on the fence with them to be honest. I think they are a love them or hate them type tool. Both have good and bad sides to thought process. I know I am no help in your decision but it is what I seen. I use their magnetic fences until I recently bought a new rail system fence for the bandsaw. Have not really put it through its paces yet. Got busy doing some shop clean up. Good luck.

I found them to be very good for resawing and using the larger blades. Keeps the blades running true and bearings are really smooth. 

Edited April 20 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[PawPaw Vern]

I purchased a set and installed on my Luguna 14 inch so far so good. They seem to be of good quality , I wanted to replace the ceramic guides that come with the saw. I think I will like the roller guides better than the ceramic ones pretty good investment but I hope it was worth the expense.

[Ber Gueda]

I am planning on buying a Laguna and I like doing quite a lot of research before. For what I have heard/read, the Carter are better guides than the ceramic ones. But I don't know if it worths the investment. Probably it depends on what is going to be your normal use (resawing?). Sparking on the ceramic ones seem to be an issue, but as John said, the right set up would make the trick. 

Let us know if you change them and how much it improved the work.

[Dave Monk]

10 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Work well but they are metal bearings so be aware of this. I had them on for awhile but took them off because I am still liking my old delta fiber cool block guides. The reason behind my thinking is if a blade slips out of guide it hits the metal bearings and basically kills the blade. Have had this especially those 1/8" or 3/16" blades. There is a special guide for those smaller blades. I use that more than the other bearings when I had them on. It is all about setting up the blade on the tire correctly, and adjusting the guides correctly. keeping those bearing just behind the gullets is key. I would be on the fence with them to be honest. I think they are a love them or hate them type tool. Both have good and bad sides to thought process. I know I am no help in your decision but it is what I seen. I use their magnetic fences until I recently bought a new rail system fence for the bandsaw. Have not really put it through its paces yet. Got busy doing some shop clean up. Good luck.

I found them to be very good for resawing and using the larger blades. Keeps the blades running true and bearings are really smooth. 

All I use my bandsaw is for resawing. I use my Pegas scroll bandsaw for all other work. 

[Dave Monk]

5 hours ago, Ber Gueda said:

I am planning on buying a Laguna and I like doing quite a lot of research before. For what I have heard/read, the Carter are better guides than the ceramic ones. But I don't know if it worths the investment. Probably it depends on what is going to be your normal use (resawing?). Sparking on the ceramic ones seem to be an issue, but as John said, the right set up would make the trick. 

Let us know if you change them and how much it improved the work.

I am currently using ceramic guides. They do spark a lot which makes me nervous around all the dust. They are not square any more so I'm planning on doing something. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

4 minutes ago, Dave Monk said:

All I use my bandsaw is for resawing. I use my Pegas scroll bandsaw for all other work. 

If that be the case, I will say that the carter system would be a good investment. It allows the blade to run cooler because the bearings are smoother and when the blade runs cooler the tire that the blade runs on does not get as hot and could melt or get ripples in it. never did like ceramics for guides because of the sparking action at times which I always worried about fires. The cool blocks were the answer to that years ago. I am satisfied with that system and has lasted a long time. The carter bearings as well as all other type bearing systems need to be kept clean from resin build up. They are a sealed bearing so never need oiling. But it is a bearing and they do wear. Very easy to install and easy to tune in. From the many reviews I have read over the years I never really saw one that the person hated them. But did see many that said they did not make that big of a difference from what they had. So much more goes into having a tuned bandsaw than just the guides. And all they are is bearings running against a blade to keep it straight. They line up exactly the same place as all other guide systems, right behind the gullets of the blade. The advantage is you can get them real close to the blade because they ride smoothly against a blade. As with a cool block which is fiber and ceramic blocks which is hard material they need spacing or between the blade and them. They rub against the blade and causing more heat to the blade. if the bearings run smooth and are free of dirt they will just spin. Thus the reason the Carter System gets high marks. keeping the spacing to a minimum keeps the blade tracking straighter. If I used my bandsaw for just resawing I would use the set I have on there all the time. If I am doing a ton of resawing I change them out because of this but for other things I like the cool blocks and I use lots of smaller blades. Again I know I am not giving you definite answers because to me there is none. But they are a good tool and work well. As far as price, you get what you pay for. Just make sure you get the ones for your saw. Good luck.

[Ber Gueda]

I think that the ceramic guides are more a marketing trick than anything else. Every producer needs to "make up" something new so they sell their machines. I am not saying they are bad, but maybe not as good as they praise. It might be more than possible that classical bearings (in fact, the ones that big machines have) will do, at least, as good as these. And if thus... why then spending a couple of hundreds in the carter ones.