So, here's my top blade guide.
I've got 2 blocks of Bocote which is a exotic hardwood.
And they're held on using these knock-down fasteners.
And the nice wide head
using little blocks of wood with a slot in them.
And then that's screwed onto here.
Now on my old blade guide design I put some T-nuts in the back here
to get the thread for the screw to thread into.
But, on this one, I've simplified it a little bit so I'm actually just using
a piece of exotic hardwood for the backer.
And, I just tapped
the thread straight into the exotic hardwood.
For the new blade guide that I made for my 16 inch band saw
that's worked out so far. So, that simplifies the construction of it.
And saves a little bit of money.
And the thrust bearing is mounted just on a carriage bolt.
Like so. And I cut a slot into it in the front with a hacksaw
And I put a nut on the back to lock it in place.
And, it can be moved back and forth just by
screwing it in and out of the block with a screwdriver.
And, to lock the forward and aft position
when it's attached to the guidepost.
Like so. That squeezes the gap shut when I clamp it on here.
And that pretty much
locks it in place so that this bearing
doesn't screw itself in and out on it's own.
And, here's my bottom blade guide. Again, with the
thread for the guide blocks through just straight in the wood.
And, this piece of exotic hardwood is just screwed with a few drywall screws
into the end of the body of the guides.
Let's put the guide block back on here.
And, the thrust bearing
goes down on here.
With a washer behind it.
And then on the opposite side a T-nut.
And, I've modified this T-nut so only one of the prongs
is still standing. The other ones have been flattened.
And that prong goes into the slot.
And that prevents that T-nut from turning.
So, as I tighten this on.
So, once this is tightened on.
I don't need to have access to the other
side to hold the nut as I'm tightening this.
I just turn this here and that locks it
in that particular place.
And to move it I just again loosen it. And I can adjust it
and again lock it in place.
So, I don't need access to the other side
because that's gonna be against the frame.
So, I've measured my guide post. And from where the blade goes to the left edge
of my guide post is about
37 milometers.
So, I've marked on my frame here
37 milometers from where the blade is
just by coming off the square like that
And then measuring
So, this is where I need to put a cut on the frame.
And, also glued a piece of hardwood on here.
Just to give me a little more bearing surface for that guide column.
I've also marked on the bottom where the blade guide needs to go
again by measuring this distance and then measuring out here and marking it.
If I put the guide on here
you can see it goes right up to the edge of that line.
So again, this is where I need to cut the frame
to have the right amount of allowance to get this blade guide in exactly
the right place.
All of my saw didn't cut quite deep enough so
I'll have to finish this off with a chisel.
Close enough.
Now the cut along the top for this line is much more critical.
Because the guide post slides along it like that.
And if that is not exactly vertical
then the alignment of the blade guides is gonna change
with respect to the blade as I move it.
So, I have to jig things up very accurately.
Like this cut. So, I've got a guide rail set up.
And I've checked that it's the right distance from this mark.
Corresponding to my saw. And that is parallel to the back edge here.
So that, I'll use that as my vertical reference.
And this track should line up just right to make this cut accurately.
I've had to move my clamps a little bit so they wouldn't get in the way of the saw.
But I think I'm raising it this cut.
Well, I couldn't quite cut deep enough with the skill saw here.
I just don't have enough depth. Especially being on top of this board so
I think I'll try to finish this cut on the table saw.
So, here's my lower blade guide.
And I've got two slots in here 'cause I want
to play around with positioning this in
two different positions vertically.
And, this would be the lower position and this is about as far
forward as I want to put it.
So, I'm gonna use this big bolt to just mark
where I should put the screw hole.
So, I have a divet here now where the screw needs to go.
Now, I could use a big wood screw in here but I'm gonna use
a thread insert that's gonna go in here.
And then a screw like this that goes into the insert.
Now, to attach this guide post
I've got this clamp that fits on here.
That needs to be screwed in there and that presses the guide post in.
Now, last time I built the band saw, I used
a thing like that, which is a wood screw on one
side and a machine screw on the other side.
And I just screw it into the wood.
But, I don't want to leave that sticking out.
So, this time I'm just gonna put
a threaded insert in here and then a screw that goes into that.
Now, I couldn't find a threaded insert that was big enough for this.
So, I'm using this thing called a coupler nut.
And I'm just gonna drill a hole for it and ram it in there
and put some screws around it to hold it in place.
So, I've roughened up my barrel with a hacksaw.
And I'm also gonna use some glue on it. I'm not sure if that's gonna
help that much, but I figure it can't hurt.