Grizzly Bandsaw Guide Bearings - Opinions Please

[cputnam]

Murray M in this thread opined that the guides were so poor as to put the saw at the bottom of his heap.  Since I have not yet pulled the trigger on a saw, I was wondering what the rest of the here assembled thinks.  Saw in question is the GO513X2.  If you disagree with Murray M, please no bashing - I need a constructive discussion about the guides and guide mounts.

TIA

[jteneyck]

Murray M in this thread opined that the guides were so poor as to put the saw at the bottom of his heap.  Since I have not yet pulled the trigger on a saw, I was wondering what the rest of the here assembled thinks.  Saw in question is the GO513X2.  If you disagree with Murray M, please no bashing - I need a constructive discussion about the guides and guide mounts.

TIA

The guides on the G0523X2 look exactly like the ones on my G0636X.  I've had my saw for a little over 2 years now and have absolutely no complaints with the saw or the guides. The guides worked perfectly fine when the saw was new, and after many hundreds, maybe thousands, of feet of resawing and veneer slicing they still work fine.  I have not replaced any of the bearings.  Adjusting the bearings isn't hard and Grizzly even supplies the wrench needed to do so.  What more do you want?  

I would not eliminate the G0532X because of one person's negative opinion of the guide bearings.  I've read many positive reviews from happy actual owners.  

John

[Tony Z]

Murray M in this thread opined that the guides were so poor as to put the saw at the bottom of his heap.  Since I have not yet pulled the trigger on a saw, I was wondering what the rest of the here assembled thinks.  Saw in question is the GO513X2.  If you disagree with Murray M, please no bashing - I need a constructive discussion about the guides and guide mounts.

TIA

I have this saw and have absolutely no problem with them. What I did when I bought this saw, was disassemble and thoroughly clean everything, including the guides, so as to have secure mountings and smooth adjustments. Great band saw!

[fredhargis]

I'm glad you asked this question, since I was curious about Murray's comment. I'm not in the market, just an interested spectator. But my saw has those type of guides, hence my curiosity.

[barryvabeach]

C,  I think Murray was talking about the base model  GO513, which has what are referred to as Euro style guides  click on the last photo to the right   https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly...2-HP/G0513   Many complain they are hard to adjust and poorly designed

The x2 that you are looking at comes with conventional ball bearing guides  -  https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly...on/G0513X2   check the right most photo in the top set of photos.  His complaint is that the x2 is over his price limit, and also he does not like the rear bearing.  There is no good photo of the rear bearing on the X2, but the top rear bearing on the x2 is in the same orientation as the base model - the force of the rear of the bandsaw blade in perpendicular to the bearing. On the bottom set of guides, the rear bearing is facing the "correct" way, meaning as the rear of the blade hits the bearing, it rides on the outside face and the bearing turns.  I have had my X2 for a long time, and never even noticed that the top rear bearing was oriented that way.  I checked it after I read his post, and there is no sign of wear ( though read below ), and I have never had a problem with it.

I think most posters will agree the bearing set up on the X2 may not be optimum, but it is pretty good, and most like it over non bearing models, like the old Delta with solid guides.  Many think that the actual bearings are not very high quality, and many posters here have replaced them with new bearings from Accurate bearings after a few years.   Sawdust can be very hard on the bearings, though of course, it depends on how hard you use your bandsaw, and how good the sawdust collection is, the original bearings may last fine.  I did replace mine a few years ago because a few of the original bearings did get some sawdust in them, and replaced all the bearings, including the rear upper bearing.  IIRC, the cost was well under $50.  

In fairness, I have read a number of reviews that suggest that ball bearings don't give enough support, so I have converted the upper and lower to lignum vitae blocks, and am pretty happy with that.

Murray also complained that the guides should be tool free to adjust.  It is true you need an allen wrench, but when I got the saw, I just stuck a super magnet inside the top door and kept the allen wrench there so it was handy.  I love modifying things, and eventually changed out all the allen screws to thumbscrews, so my adjustments are tool free, though I don't see that as a major issue.   

My main piece of advice is that the biggest impact on how much you like the saw is the blade, not the saw.  So splurge on a good blade.  I use the Resaw King as my primary blade, it is quite expensive but I love the way it cuts.  You can buy a $5,000 bandsaw, it will still cut poorly with a dull blade.

[stillgotten]

I've had that exact saw he was talking of (the GO 513X original) have had it for a while and it has had much use with no bearing wear.

The problem with my version, with they rectified on following models, is the height adjustment crank. Specificallythe way the worm gears is designed, there is no support on the tail end and there is no locking mechanism on the other side of the worm to stop it from flopping around.

What they did, and I bought the parts to change mine, was change it to a threaded guide bearing, now you lock that guide bearing up against the housing and all is tight and smooth.

But like I said the newer versions already have this.

Great saws and I would buy it again.

[mdhills]

...
His complaint is that the x2 is over his price limit, and also he does not like the rear bearing.  There is no good photo of the rear bearing on the X2, but the top rear bearing on the x2 is in the same orientation as the base model - the force of the rear of the bandsaw blade in perpendicular to the bearing. On the bottom set of guides, the rear bearing is facing the "correct" way, meaning as the rear of the blade hits the bearing, it rides on the outside face and the bearing turns. ...

All of my bandsaws (powermatic 044, Minimax, and Inca) have had the rear thrust bearing with the blade riding along the edge of the face.
The powermatic was used and the lower thrust bearing had frozen up and become grooved, but this was a simple replacement.
I haven't had issues with the rear bearings on the other saws.

For guide adjustment, I think the ability to smoothly adjust the guides and then lock them down without shifting is highly desirable.  Tool-free adjustment would be attractive if the resulting assembly isn't too bulky, but not as important as the smooth adjustment.  And good wheels and blade still trump both.

Matt

[Phil Thien]

All of my bandsaws (powermatic 044, Minimax, and Inca) have had the rear thrust bearing with the blade riding along the edge of the face.
The powermatic was used and the lower thrust bearing had frozen up and become grooved, but this was a simple replacement.
I haven't had issues with the rear bearings on the other saws.

I believe that is the far more typical arrangement for a trust bearing.

I don't think there is any problem until the bearing becomes frozen, like you indicated.  But you'd have the same sort of issue either bearing orientation.

[Ohio Mike]

For reference, here is a pic of the guides on my Grizzly 17 inch bandsaw.  Eight years of hobby use and the thrust bearings are still original.

[Arlin Eastman]

Murray M in this thread opined that the guides were so poor as to put the saw at the bottom of his heap.  Since I have not yet pulled the trigger on a saw, I was wondering what the rest of the here assembled thinks.  Saw in question is the GO513X2.  If you disagree with Murray M, please no bashing - I need a constructive discussion aboutthe guides and guide mounts.

TIA

Just because the guides might not be great does not make the saw bad.  Now on the guides; I have had to replace them twice in 8 years and the third set I made lignum veite (Spelling)  to go in their place.  On the double I must made them thicker to make up for two bearings.  Plus I think the bearings cost way to much and find that Router bearings worked better on my smaller bandsaw.