WOODEN BANDSAW GUIDE BLOCKS

"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 18 Jan, 14:59, Charlie Self <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> > Lignum vitae. No other can come even close.
>>
>> And if you hit Crafts, Woodworking on Ebay you may get the same
>> surprise I got: there is a LOT of it for sale in turning block and
>> small spindle size at semi-rational prices.
>
> And I'd lay odds that two-thirds of it is actually an African
> blackwood, not genuine lignum vitae.
>
> Still a pretty good choice, dense and hard, but not as self-
> lubricating as lignum vitae.

Of course a lot of people oil their blades and thus the guides periodically
anyway.

On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:49:45 -0800 (PST), Charlie Self
<[email protected]> wrote:

>True, but the stress on a bandsaw blade guide is not close to what it
>is on a prop shaft. Or, if it is, adjustment is in order.

Depends on your boat. Ever seen the bearings on a paddle steamer?
Lignum vitae staves too, and a _lot_ of radial force.

If you want to see wooden bearings having a hard time, look at the
history of the first Royal Navy destroyers, around 1900 - especially the
first turbine-driven ships with ungeared turbines.

On 18 Jan, 14:59, Charlie Self <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Lignum vitae. No other can come even close.
>
> And if you hit Crafts, Woodworking on Ebay you may get the same
> surprise I got: there is a LOT of it for sale in turning block and
> small spindle size at semi-rational prices.

And I'd lay odds that two-thirds of it is actually an African
blackwood, not genuine lignum vitae.

Still a pretty good choice, dense and hard, but not as self-
lubricating as lignum vitae.

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:55:19 -0500, [email protected] (J T)
wrote:

>http://home.mchsi.com/~lawlhote/guideblocks/guideblockspage.htm
>
> This has obviously been discussed here before. However, I never
>tried it. But I've not been thrilled with my present metal guide blocks
>for a bit and decided to give wooden guide blocks a try.
>

Try oak soaked in oil (minwax or the like), wait for the oil to dry
and then harden them up in the oven for about 1/2 hr at 250 - 300.
Mine have lasted quite a few pass/feet.

I made 6 a year or so ago and am still on the first pair.

Pete

>Try oak soaked in oil (minwax or the like), wait for the oil to dry
>and then harden them up in the oven for about 1/2 hr at 250 - 300.
>Mine have lasted quite a few pass/feet.
>
>I made 6 a year or so ago and am still on the first pair.
>
>Pete


This from a 'formulae' that was posted on the net. I tried looking it
up again and can't find the article. When I say oven, that means a
old toaster oven in the garage or your inlaws oven - not your oven
where your wife cooks and can kill you for heathen blasphemous
desecration.

P

On Jan 18, 2:00 pm, "J. Clarke" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Andy Dingley wrote:
> > On 18 Jan, 14:59, Charlie Self <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >>> Lignum vitae. No other can come even close.
>
> >> And if you hit Crafts, Woodworking on Ebay you may get the same
> >> surprise I got: there is a LOT of it for sale in turning block and
> >> small spindle size at semi-rational prices.
>
> > And I'd lay odds that two-thirds of it is actually an African
> > blackwood, not genuine lignum vitae.
>
> > Still a pretty good choice, dense and hard, but not as self-
> > lubricating as lignum vitae.
>
> There are different grades of lignum vitae as well. The stuff the
> local supplier has is from Argentina (all his exotic hardwoods are
> from Argentina) but it's not the grade used for shaft bearings.
>

True, but the stress on a bandsaw blade guide is not close to what it
is on a prop shaft. Or, if it is, adjustment is in order.

On Jan 17, 6:07 am, "dadiOH" <[email protected]> wrote:
> J T wrote:
> >http://home.mchsi.com/~lawlhote/guideblocks/guideblockspage.htm
>
> > This has obviously been discussed here before. However, I
> > never tried it. But I've not been thrilled with my present metal
> > guide blocks for a bit and decided to give wooden guide blocks a
> > try.
>
> > The thing is I'm wondering what wood to try.
>
> Lignum vitae. No other can come even close.
>
> --

And if you hit Crafts, Woodworking on Ebay you may get the same
surprise I got: there is a LOT of it for sale in turning block and
small spindle size at semi-rational prices.

J T wrote:
> http://home.mchsi.com/~lawlhote/guideblocks/guideblockspage.htm
>
> This has obviously been discussed here before. However, I
> never
> tried it. But I've not been thrilled with my present metal guide
> blocks for a bit and decided to give wooden guide blocks a try.
>
> The thing is I'm wondering what wood to try. First at any
> rate.
> Quite awhile back I got some hardwood floor samples. They're about
> 4X4", or a bit larger, and a few are laminated. Nothing really
> large
> enough to make anything out of, but figure I might save a couple of
> the imported pieces until I can think of something, maybe trim,
> inlay,
> whatever - like the Brazilian cherry, and Massaranduba. The ipe is
> definitely interesting, so I'll groupt it with the ash, red oak,
> maple, birch, black walnut, cherry, as potentials. I'll be giving
> the WD-40 a shot too.
>
> I won't be doing this immediately, so thought I'd just check if
> any of you have tried this, and if so, what type of wood seems to
> work best for you. I'll be doing it regardless, but haven't decided
> yet which wood to try first.

Haven't tried it (my band saw came with roller guides and unless I
want to machine something up there's no retrofit for solid guides
available that fits it that I know of) but my gut reaction would be to
go with ipe. Stuff's infernally dense and hard and doesn't seem to
burn easily like Purpleheart.

> Hmm, a stray thought just zipped thru my mind - most of those
> are
> just the right size to make a pair of pistol, or revolver, gips.
> Think I'll hold back on using the black walnut and maple for this
> project, maybe one or two more too. That black walnut, or cherry,
> would probably look good on the wondernine.
>
>
>
> JOAT
> 10 Out Of 10 Terrorists Prefer Hillary For President
> - Bumper Sticker
> I don't have a problem with a woman president - just not Hillary.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Andy Dingley wrote:
> On 18 Jan, 14:59, Charlie Self <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>> Lignum vitae. No other can come even close.
>>
>> And if you hit Crafts, Woodworking on Ebay you may get the same
>> surprise I got: there is a LOT of it for sale in turning block and
>> small spindle size at semi-rational prices.
>
> And I'd lay odds that two-thirds of it is actually an African
> blackwood, not genuine lignum vitae.
>
> Still a pretty good choice, dense and hard, but not as self-
> lubricating as lignum vitae.

There are different grades of lignum vitae as well. The stuff the
local supplier has is from Argentina (all his exotic hardwoods are
from Argentina) but it's not the grade used for shaft bearings.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"J T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> http://home.mchsi.com/~lawlhote/guideblocks/guideblockspage.htm
>
> This has obviously been discussed here before. However, I never
> tried it. But I've not been thrilled with my present metal guide blocks
> for a bit and decided to give wooden guide blocks a try.
>
> The thing is I'm wondering what wood to try. First at any rate.
> Quite awhile back I got some hardwood floor samples. They're about
> 4X4", or a bit larger, and a few are laminated. Nothing really large
> enough to make anything out of, but figure I might save a couple of the
> imported pieces until I can think of something, maybe trim, inlay,
> whatever - like the Brazilian cherry, and Massaranduba. The ipe is
> definitely interesting, so I'll groupt it with the ash, red oak, maple,
> birch, black walnut, cherry, as potentials. I'll be giving the WD-40 a
> shot too.
>
> I won't be doing this immediately, so thought I'd just check if any
> of you have tried this, and if so, what type of wood seems to work best
> for you. I'll be doing it regardless, but haven't decided yet which
> wood to try first.
>
> Hmm, a stray thought just zipped thru my mind - most of those are
> just the right size to make a pair of pistol, or revolver, gips. Think
> I'll hold back on using the black walnut and maple for this project,
> maybe one or two more too. That black walnut, or cherry, would probably
> look good on the wondernine.
>
>
>
> JOAT
> 10 Out Of 10 Terrorists Prefer Hillary For President
> - Bumper Sticker
> I don't have a problem with a woman president - just not Hillary.
>
I have used red oak, white oak and hard maple to make my own wooden cool
blocks. Red Oak is my choice followed by White Oak. Maple did not do well
in use for me. I soak the block with wd-40. Problems I have found are that
the block will scorch, harden and wear a little faster then I would like but
the are easy to refurbish and last as long or longer then cool blocks.

J T wrote:
> http://home.mchsi.com/~lawlhote/guideblocks/guideblockspage.htm
>
> This has obviously been discussed here before. However, I never
> tried it. But I've not been thrilled with my present metal guide blocks
> for a bit and decided to give wooden guide blocks a try.
>
> The thing is I'm wondering what wood to try. First at any rate.
> Quite awhile back I got some hardwood floor samples. They're about
> 4X4", or a bit larger, and a few are laminated. Nothing really large
> enough to make anything out of, but figure I might save a couple of the
> imported pieces until I can think of something, maybe trim, inlay,
> whatever - like the Brazilian cherry, and Massaranduba. The ipe is
> definitely interesting, so I'll groupt it with the ash, red oak, maple,
> birch, black walnut, cherry, as potentials. I'll be giving the WD-40 a
> shot too.
>
> I won't be doing this immediately, so thought I'd just check if any
> of you have tried this, and if so, what type of wood seems to work best
> for you. I'll be doing it regardless, but haven't decided yet which
> wood to try first.
>
> Hmm, a stray thought just zipped thru my mind - most of those are
> just the right size to make a pair of pistol, or revolver, gips. Think
> I'll hold back on using the black walnut and maple for this project,
> maybe one or two more too. That black walnut, or cherry, would probably
> look good on the wondernine.
>
>
>
> JOAT
> 10 Out Of 10 Terrorists Prefer Hillary For President
> - Bumper Sticker
> I don't have a problem with a woman president - just not Hillary.
>
Mine came with (round) steel guide blocks. I tried wood and brass.
Both wore down so that I was often turning them and I couldn't see any
improvement in the cutting, tracking or any other parameter. I tried
roller guides, but I cut a lot of green bowl blanks and they just
pressed the gunk onto the blade. Then I went back to the originals and
have been happy ever since.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

Warranty voided upon receipt of final
payment.

J T wrote:
> http://home.mchsi.com/~lawlhote/guideblocks/guideblockspage.htm
>
> This has obviously been discussed here before. However, I
> never tried it. But I've not been thrilled with my present metal
> guide blocks for a bit and decided to give wooden guide blocks a
> try.
>
> The thing is I'm wondering what wood to try.

Lignum vitae. No other can come even close.

--

dadiOH
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