1. For my Oliver 192 18" Bandsaw I was not in love with the ultra-small pinch blocks. The rest of the guides were nice with ball bearings sealed away from dust.
My solution was to replace the pinch blocks with cammed bearings. This became the foundation for the next two sets of guides that I made.
The bearings look like they are mounted to bolts, but in reality it is just a hex headed stud which allows me to cam the bearing side to side. The off center socket head cap screw is the pivot point and the clamp system.
from the side you can see the stud turned onto the rectangular block- this was done in the four jaw chuck on the metal lathe.
2. Guides for my Tannewitz 30" saw. The guides that came with this saw were made by Paddock. They were is lousy shape and I was not too keen on the design. After pricing new guides from tannewitz- $250 ea I decided to make entirely new guides for the saw. I based the design upon the oliver guides and set out
from the side here is a view of the guide block rod. Note the two set screws which prevent it from rotating
A close-up of the cammed bearings. They are bigger on this saw than the oliver
3. My 16" Walker Turner metal cutting bandsaw was in the same boat as the tannewitz, factory supplied guides that I was not wild about. I didn't have the dedication of making super fancy guides. I came up with a quicker design that has served well through the years. It uses an exposed bearing for the back of the blade and the same pinch bearings up front.
from the side you can see the body is just a block of steel
and from the back.
