Changing Band Saw Guides 

 In a band saw, one of the most important part is the blade guides. Blade guides allow the blade to accurately cut material by holding the blade in its place so it will not run off the drive and or the idler wheel. Replacing blade guides is critical in every band saw machine because these blade guides play an important role to have an accurate and efficient cut and it also prolonged blade life. Here are the steps on how to change or replace blade guides for a typical Band saw Machine:

 1. Align the upper thrust bearing. The blade should ride along only on the outer edge of the bearing. If one face is scarred from use, flip over the bearing and use the back face.

 2. Align the guide assembly with the blade. Loosen the Allen screw on the upper guide assembly and adjust the assembly until the faces of the guide blocks are parallel to the blade.

 3. Replace the lower thrust bearing. Remove the nut on the end of the guide rod and slide off the tube to free up the bearing. Clean up everything and, if necessary, slide a new bearing into place.

 Bandsaw operators should give time and effort to change the guides every now and then to have a good quality end-products and well-conditioned bandsaw machine.

source :  http://bandsawblog.com/changing-band-saw-guides/