My saw does have the Baldor motor. It also has the 5 inch high aluminum
fence. It has been hard for me to get it tightened to the bracket it is
on so that it doesn't flex or move as I slide something along it. If I
am resawing, I have a high fence that I made. It is clamped down on
both sides.I use the aluminum fence for a general guide in cutting bowl
blanks. With the carbide blade (a Lennox ) I can see that it will cut
as well or better than my table saw. Being a former concrete man, I
like things over built rather than under built, and it isn't over
built. Also, you can't remove the fence without taking the blade off,
or unbolting it.
I haven't tried the link belt on the saw yet. I do have some links, but
haven't had any slipping or vibration, or lack of power since I last
tightened the belt.
One modification I made is to the dust collection port. It is a 4 inch
port, and has a metal cross hair type of bracket in it. I rip log
sections for bowls with them standing on end. This produces long thread
like shavings, which instantly colg up on the cross hairs. Laguna said
that this was to prevent someone from sticking their hand inside the
saw. Well I cut that out, and it works better. I think the next step is
to remove the 4 inch port, and put on a 5 inch port. I have an 3 hp
Oneida dust collector, and it doesn't pull out all of the dust. I think
that having the port in a different place might help. It also could be
that the openings in the saw may be too small to allow that much air to
move through it. I have thought about removing the throat plate to see
if that helps, or making another plate with more open space.
The ceramic guides seem to work really well. I haven't had any previous
experience with them. It is kind of freaky to see those orange sparks
coming off into the saw dust, but like someone said in an earlier post,
they (sparks) aren't hot. My other bandsaw is a Powermatic industrial
14 x 6 inch with a 1 hp motor, and cast iron frame. It has the roller
guides. It is much noisier.
Having a good blade can make all the difference in the world. I am
fortunate to have a guy locally who will make up what ever I need. I
just went to him, he asked me what I did on the saw, and he said that I
needed these certain blades (no, I don't know tpi, set, thickness, or
other details) and the blades he sold me work fine. He is also handy,
because the PM uses a 96 inch blade where most 14 inch saws use a 93. I
did loose one carbide blade because the lower thrust bearing slipped
and wasn't supporting the blade. Add to that I wasn't always lowering
the guide to height of the material. That cost about $175, but I won't
make that mistake again. I do love the way that the carbide blade cuts,
very smooth, with almost no saw marks. My blade man said to only use
the carbide blade (can't be resharpened) for resawing and veneer
making, and use a bimetal blade can be sharpened) for my turning
blanks.
robo hippy