Rikon Blade Guide Retrofit Kit
#8
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I just installed the Rikon 10-900 Tool-less Blade Guide System Retrofit Kit on my 10-325 bandsaw.  Currently Woodcraft, and maybe others, has this on sale for $99.99, https://www.woodcraft.com/products/rikon...trofit-kit .  

I have always been satisfied with this bandsaw however setting the blade guides has always been a tedious process and time consuming ordeal with iffy results.  This new updated guide system makes all that go away.  After I completed the installation of the guides I doubt if it took me a maximum of 5 minutes to reinstall the blade and set the bearings in place.

This kit is designed to update their 10-325 and 10-324 bandsaw's so there are some model specific instructions that need to be followed.  Nothing too complicated, just don't try and get ahead of yourself and go step by step.

As I said before, I have the 10-325 and for anyone who owns this model and isn't satisfied with their current upper and lower blade guides I really recommend this retrofit kit.
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#9
(09-30-2017, 04:22 PM)sweensdv2 Wrote: I just installed the Rikon 10-900 Tool-less Blade Guide System Retrofit Kit on my 10-325 bandsaw.  Currently Woodcraft, and maybe others, has this on sale for $99.99, https://www.woodcraft.com/products/rikon...trofit-kit .  

I have always been satisfied with this bandsaw however setting the blade guides has always been a tedious process and time consuming ordeal with iffy results.  This new updated guide system makes all that go away.  After I completed the installation of the guides I doubt if it took me a maximum of 5 minutes to reinstall the blade and set the bearings in place.

This kit is designed to update their 10-325 and 10-324 bandsaw's so there are some model specific instructions that need to be followed.  Nothing too complicated, just don't try and get ahead of yourself and go step by step.

As I said before, I have the 10-325 and for anyone who owns this model and isn't satisfied with their current upper and lower blade guides I really recommend this retrofit kit.

I wish I had realized they might go on sale.   As soon as I heard about the new guides, I went right over to Rikon headquarters in Billerica, MA and paid $150 for a set.  The curse of living to close to attractive tool places.
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#10
(09-30-2017, 06:20 PM)joespehar Wrote: I wish I had realized they might go on sale.   As soon as I heard about the new guides, I went right over to Rikon headquarters in Billerica, MA and paid $150 for a set.  The curse of living to close to attractive tool places.

I got the first consumer set in the US. I contacted as soon as I heard about them on a new saw. They had 3 sets for final inspection before full production started, so they sold me a set. I had to drill out and file the mounting hole for the lower guides, an issue they were unaware of. My 10-325 is an older green model and had an old circular mounting hole design instead of the more updated elongated hole. Whoops. Not an issue for me, I didn't mind, and I gave them a lot of feedback which they at least acted like they were listening to. 

I love these guides, even with the tweaking I had to do to install them. They're so much easier to use than the old guides, which weren't bad themselves. Ultimately I'd like to have a quick change set so I could swap out the bearings (used for wider blades) for wooden blocks (for using narrow blades).
Jason

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#11
(10-02-2017, 10:55 AM)Jason28 Wrote: ................ I had to drill out and file the mounting hole for the lower guides, an issue they were unaware of. My 10-325 is an older green model and had an old circular mounting hole design instead of the more updated elongated hole. Whoops. Not an issue for me, I didn't mind, and I gave them a lot of feedback which they at least acted like they were listening to. 

They must have listened because that exact issue was addressed in the installation instructions.
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#12
(10-02-2017, 04:24 PM)sweensdv2 Wrote: They must have listened because that exact issue was addressed in the installation instructions.

That's one of the reasons I look to Rikon when I'm considering a new tool purchase: they listen to their customers.
Jason

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#13
(09-30-2017, 04:22 PM)sweensdv2 Wrote: I just installed the Rikon 10-900 Tool-less Blade Guide System Retrofit Kit on my 10-325 bandsaw.  Currently Woodcraft, and maybe others, has this on sale for $99.99, https://www.woodcraft.com/products/rikon...trofit-kit .  

I have always been satisfied with this bandsaw however setting the blade guides has always been a tedious process and time consuming ordeal with iffy results.  This new updated guide system makes all that go away.  After I completed the installation of the guides I doubt if it took me a maximum of 5 minutes to reinstall the blade and set the bearings in place.

This kit is designed to update their 10-325 and 10-324 bandsaw's so there are some model specific instructions that need to be followed.  Nothing too complicated, just don't try and get ahead of yourself and go step by step.

As I said before, I have the 10-325 and for anyone who owns this model and isn't satisfied with their current upper and lower blade guides I really recommend this retrofit kit.

Do they make a kit for the 10-340 saw?

Thanks,

Doug
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#14
(09-30-2017, 04:22 PM)sweensdv2 Wrote: I just installed the Rikon 10-900 Tool-less Blade Guide System Retrofit Kit on my 10-325 bandsaw.  Currently Woodcraft, and maybe others, has this on sale for $99.99, https://www.woodcraft.com/products/rikon...trofit-kit .  

I installed a kit on my Rikon 10-325 yesterday.

Nice Kit.  Much more robust bearings.  Much easier to adjust.  I think it is a worthwhile purchase, especially at the $99 sale. I ordered thru Amazon who let Woodcraft fulfill the order at the $99 price. (I did have to pay shipping and VA tax because of that)  I get the flyer from Woodcraft and found out about the sale price there.  I looked on Amazon to compare prices and ordered from Amazon since I order from them often.

My saw is an older one, but it is blue and not the older green color. I'm not sure about the saw's age since I purchased it used.  The kit instructions did come with an addendum on installing the lower guide. (older saws need to have a round hole drilled out to be an oval hole, or else an alignment pin on the lower guide must be ground off)  My saw did not need this done.

The upper guide came with an attaching bolt already loosely installed in it. On my saw the attachment method was different. Instead, a nut was welded to the vertical support bar and a bolt went thru that nut and jammed against the guide block, locking it in place.  The new system is better, the bolt goes thru a hole in the vertical support bar and into a tapped hole on the guide block pulling the bar tight against the vertical support bar.  I drilled out the welded on bolt hole and used the new bolt. There was no mention of this in the instructions.

I also did not have to remove the lower band wheel. The instructions say to remove it to make the install easier.  My install was perhaps a little easier than some, since I did not have to do any mods for the lower guide install. (if you did have to do the mod you could choose the "grind off the pin" method then you could still get away with not removing the lower band wheel)

Its a nice addition and not a lot of trouble installing.

Frankie
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who know binary and those who do not.
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