14"-15" Band Saw Ball Bearing Blade Guides cam Adjustable!

Initially, I was put off by two issues: 1) The post on my Harbor Freight bandsaw is 3/4 of an inch in diameter. The upper guide on this set is for a 7/8 post. A quick perusal of Amazon revealed a huge selection of 3/4 to7/8 inch bushings for under $10. When everything arrived, it all fit together perfectly. 2) The mounting holes for the lower guide are on the wrong side for my bandsaw. I was new to drilling and tapping. But I purchased a very low cost tap set and some brand new drill bits and went to work. It was very quick and easy. Total install for everything was about an hour. I should comment that I purchased my Harbor Freight bandsaw in December of 2022. I don't know if the above problems exist on older models...if the specs of harbor Freight bandsaws have changed. This guide set is wonderful! Everything adjusts very quickly and easily. The saw runs much better, smoother and cuts tighter curves. I enthusiastically recommend this product.

My upgrade kit arrived and I hurried to my shop to install it on a 30 year old band saw (American Machine & Tool, from Royersford, PA, but made in Taiwan.) The casting's hole was slightly larger than the shaft to which it is mounted, but I cut a small brass shim to take up the 1/16" slop and it fit just fine. Some people might want a bushing, but what I did worked. The bearing mounts are fully adjustable and within 30 minutes I had the upper and lower guides in place and ready for a test run. In contrast to the 'cool blocks' on the original guide, the bearings do make a bit more noise, as the blade is now running against stainless steel and not plastic. However, the control and quality of the cutting is vastly improved. I tried a scrap of 2x4 pine using a 1/4" blade and not only did it cut a very nice, tight arc, the cut was *very* close to 90 degrees. With my old plastic guides, cutting thick wood was a challenge due to the twisting and drifting of the blade while cutting. A little touch up on the drum sander brings the cut to perfection. This was $80 well spent and has revived the usefulness of my ancient band saw. I recommend this upgrade. ============ Since the bearing guides arrive without installation instructions, I thought I would share what turned up in my research. The bearing that is located behind the blade should be set to 1/64" behind the blade so that it only contacts the blade during an actual cutting operation. Use a business card as a feeler gauge. Next, the two side bearings should not touch the sides of the blade. Use a piece of paper as a feeler gauge. Adjust the sides bearings so that the blade teeth do not contact either bearing surface. Use a carbide stone to smooth the rear edge of the blade so that the rear bearing is not damaged over time. Coat new blades with a dry lubricant for best operation. Blade tension should allow between 1/4 to 1/2 inch of deflection with the upper blade guide set 6 to 8 inches above the table and with moderate force against the side of the blade. Hope this stuff helps. Source: [...]

The upper guide doesn't work on my Jet 14" Metal & Wood Band Saw JBS-14MW. The lower guide works great! The upper guide ball bearings do not extend far enough to contact the band saw blade. I have checked the geometry on my band saw and everything is in order. This model simply requires ball bearings that extend farther than this upper guide allows. This model of band saw also required some shim stock to fit on the approx. 7/8" shaft, but that was expected and not points were subtracted for this. Part of the problem is the extremely poor quality of the photo. Also, additional information explaining the geometry and measurements of the guides might have avoided this problem. I did my due diligence verifying that the part would likely work based on the limited information provided, and all the info I could find from the reviews. I have seen other ads that have diagrams showing band saw geometry that is compatible with the guides, or do a better job with the measurements of the guides themselves, or at least have decent photos! The guides themselves are of a nice quality, micro adjustable, with eccentric cam adjustment for the blade width. The lower guide works great and I am sure the upper guide would too if the geometry was compatible with my model of band saw. My issue is that is was not possible to determine from the description if they would fit my band saw or not. I am waiting to hear back to see if I need to return both guides, or if I can just return the top guide for a partial refund, or if they have an alternative solution or part for me. I will update this review based upon the quality of the customer service. 8/11/2016 I should have updated this months ago. The customer service was great. I was offered to return both guides, or just the upper guide for a pro-rated refund. I chose to keep the lower guide because as I stated, the quality of the guides is quite good. I ended up keeping the stock upper guides; it's still a huge net improvement and I have sold the modified and improved band saw. The comments about the upper guides not fitting my band saw still apply, as do the comments about the poor photo quality and poor description, which doesn't include a diagram of the band saw geometry or mention that the upper guide won't work with my model of band saw. So raising from 3 to 4 points due to the excellent customer service. I would give 5 stars if the description and photo were to be updated.

got cheap guides on a tiny 14" bandsaw? These guides will help straiten you out. Made a junk ridged 14" into a nice little usable piece of machinery. Side Bearings are cams so...... pics don't accurately show but yes they will snug up against your blade.

I have a 14" Ridgid bandsaw from the local home center. The casting on the saw's original blade guide failed where the set screw holds it against the post. I had to replace the blade guide and bearings or get a new saw. I saw some other brands, but at $200 they were almost the price of the saw. This one fit the bill nicely. The install was simple (if you can use a band saw I'm sure you're handy enough to do this) and unlike the other reviewer, the post fit fine. The machining is high quality and the bearings are superior to the steel blocks standard on many import bandsaws. I can't say how many saws it actually fit, but it fit mine and works better than the original. Less noise, less vibration, and less heat. The blade is superior now at resawing especially.

Didn't fit at all; had to return item.

Functionally good, easy to adjust, but more involved to install than expected. Ad describes 3/4" & 7/8" post diameter available for upper guides but no option to choose. I called the company directly to request 3/4" version after placing order and was assured it would be noted on order - I received the 7/8" diameter. Easily rectified with bushing but . . . . Lower guides had mounting holes on opposite side of bearings from mine (Taiwanese 14"). Drilled & tapped new mounting holes in saw frame, but again . . . . .

These guides were a perfect fit for my 2004 Central Machinery bandsaw. Bolted right in place. You are going to find the adjustment to your saw a bit more tedious. Nothing to do with these guides, any ball bearing guides are harder to adjust than the block type. It's worthwhile though because now I can cut a nice 1" circle where with the stock guides 2" was about as tight as it would go. I recommend these guides.

Well made. Good quality. Much better that the original Rigid 14” bandsaw assembly.

Je recherchais le guide approprié en remplacement pour ma scie à ruban King 14 po. La pose du guide sur ma scie s'est fait en un tour de main. Je suis très satisfait . Je recommande ce produit pour ceux qui recherche un solution assurante.

Works great, my bandsaw cuts accurately after installing this guide. I did have to make minor modifications to my saw for it to fit but that was no fault of the guide

la lame est pas centré et l'ensemble mal fixé au support

Je l'ai installé sur une vieille King de 14" après un ajustement mineur. Les coupes sont maintenant droites et les ajustements plus faciles.