Ceramic blocks and guides for bandsaws question

[mpounders]

Has anyone any experience using these or know if they are any good? I have a Jet 14" with a lift kit and urethane tires. I have been using the cool blocks, made of phenolic resin and they have worked ok. My saw has started making a different noise when I saw thick pieces of wood. It appears to be caused by the blade pushing back on the upper thrust bearing and causing it to spin. I don't know if I need to lubricate it or even if you can (it appears to be sealed). It's not a squealing noise, just something different. I saw some ceramic blocks and a ceramic replacment for this bearing in the Klinspoor catalog
Web Store Item Detail Page= &shipRemaining=0&daysBetween=0&daysBetweenFix=0&mo nthsBetween=0
for $20 and was wondering if it might improve things!

[Tom Ellis]

Mike, It sounds to me like your bearing is doing just what it is supposed to do. If it wasn't turning, then you would have a problem.

Tom

[SeaLeveler]

Sounds like everything is working right.Tony

[mpounders]

Yeah, everything is working, the noise is different. The first time it happened, I stopped the saw. I thought something was slipping or my bands had broken. I use the low-tension Timberwolf blades and tighten them according to the instructions, but was worried that something was too loose and I might damage the blade or the tires, from slippage. It may just be my tendency to want to tweak my bandsaw for a little better performance?

[squbrigg]

Not sure how helpful this is, but my Laguna bandsaw came with Ceramic guides, and they are super! If you can change over to all Ceramic guides I don't believe you would be dissapointed.

Bob

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Mine's been making that sound for years. I use cool blocks too.

[Magicman]

Ceramic Blocks work great on about any bandsaw. I love mine.
LARRY

[mobjack68]

When you are cutting thick(er) stock, you put more pressure on the blade, pushing it back into the guide bearing. I am going to assume that the sound you are hearing is the bearing "turning" , which as stated above, is what is supposed to happen. The blade , at rest, should be a couple of thousandths in front of the bearing and the bearing should only turn when the blade is pushed back......

A dry bearing will make a little extra noise. Spin the bearing by hand (without the blade moving AND the machine unplugged) if the bearing spins free, it may need to be replaced. The bearing is not expensive and the R&R is very easy.
My .02....we use ceramic stones to sharpen knives. I cannot believe that ceramic guides for band saw blades is a good idea, cool blocks, absolutely...ceramic?? Hhmmm..

[TreeWizard]

I made some guides out of walnut and soaked them in WD40 for about a day before I installed them. They work great.

[mobjack68]

Originally Posted by TreeWizard

I made some guides out of walnut and soaked them in WD40 for about a day before I installed them. They work great.

Sounds good Wizard...we experimented with all kinds of materials for guide blocks. We had some real fun with plastic pieces, some good, some not so good. We were cutting something one time and decided to try different blocks. On our way to lunch we found the tread from an 18 wheeler tire (tire gators, if you live in fl) and cut a chunk of the rubber into blocks to try for guide blocks. They worked great except for the smell...unless you like the sight of the tree flashing green and the smell of the start of the 1/4 mile go fast.....


BTW, we got a few extra miles out of that tread....