Why my neighbor is a great guy

[Brmorgan]

When I first got my project bandmill home in April, I gave the single roller guide that was on it to my neighbor, who is a machinist at a plywood plant, to see if he could make me a matching one. I told him it was no big rush since it would be a while before I got working on the mill. Today he presented me with these:

They're pretty much an identical copy of the one I gave him, though the inner diameter is different to fit a more commonly available bearing with a 3/4" ID instead of 1/2". He even grooved the bore for snap rings to keep the bearings and gave me a set of all the rings and bearings. The only thing I regret is not asking him to groove the main surface of the wheels, but at the time I asked the favor I hadn't really noticed the grooves in most. They look bigger than the ones on the WoodMizers that I saw at the demo last week, but I can't be sure. Can't beat the price of zero though.

 

[BobL]

These fellas are gold.

I hope you bought him a beer or 2 ?

 

[DaltonPaull]

Yeah, those look great. I'm doing research right now and planning to build a bandmill this summer. I might buy the guides from linn that look like pretty much the same idea for $80 each! Looks like they have groves too but I'm not sure why.

 

[Brmorgan]

That seems a bit steep. Cook's Saw supply sells them for various mills and in different sizes for mostly under $50, though they don't have the nice red paintjob (not like that would last anyway). I believe the grooves have two functions - one is to help with band lubrication and the other is to help keep the rollers clear of sawdust and pitch buildup. I'm just going on common sense here, I don't know for sure.

 

[Mike Van]

What Brad said - :agree2: