Harbor Freight Band Saw Upgrades | Riser Kit, Upper Guide, and New Tires

Upgrading the Central Machinery 14 inch Band Saw from Harbor Freight using a Grizzly 6 inch Riser Kit. There are some modifications required to make the kit work. You will also need to buy 3/4 inch bar stock to create a new post for your upper blade guide. With these upgrades done, this goes from an "alright" band saw to a very capable machine that could rival most any other 14 inch band saw.

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[hurdygurdyguy]

4:45 ... I've been using the same Harbor Freight bandsaw for over 30 years! Last year one of the trunnions cracked apart. Fortunetly it was easy to replace it. However recently the bolt on the blade guide assembly stripped out the threads on the (poorly) cast assembly. Finding a replacement was proving difficult so I ended up drilling it out and retapping for a larger bolt! Fixed!!

[Hicks]

Absolutely every mod I’m looking to make on mine I just picked up today thanks for the video!

[Michael-Homerepair]

Thank you! Just a heads up at one point when I tried to click on your attachments, it went into a description of what an attachment is instead of showing me the attachment. But I just checked and it is working now.

[randyneese]

Just up graded my harbor freight with the grizzly riser block . I had a little trouble getting the pins out. I damaged them so I used some cut off bolts and that worked. I bought a 3/4 rod from tractor supply. Unfortunately the rod was a little bigger then the hole for blade guard. I’m going to bore them out a little and this should work. Thanks for posting your video. It gave me the confidence to make the upgrades on my saw.

[paulwaldrop]

I had the same saw and did similar upgrades. There are a couple I would recommend. There is a handle turning tension, that gets rid of the knob, that works great. Also, I replaced the regular belts with the Link belts, and it took my saw vibration to zero and quieted it down. Only other thing is that there is a kreg import fence kit that works great on it. Good video and great job.

[rbwoodwork]

Good video. Exactly what I want to do to mine! I had a friend make an aluminum insert to replace that plastic one. Made all the difference in operation.

[rrb]

Grizzly H7316 riser block kit has a diameter of 3/4" and apparently that's the only difference with the one used in the above video (per live chat).
Has anyone used that kit with their HF bandsaw?

[jamyers]

Did you see if you could just turn the riser on upside down? Or is there something I'm missing. It looks like turning upside would flip the holes in the direction you want and just transfer the pins, unless the riser didn't come with them

[Dj-vehx]

Did you replace the lower guides also? The kit looks like it is only two upper guides.

[ForbiddTV]

Ever cut foam with your band saw? Does the foam debris accumulate or gum up the works in the lower wheel chamber?

[Rebel]

Also nice :) I have an old 14" Delta (28-276) I plan on putting a riser kit on soon. I think the Jet riser kit will fit mine without any modifications to it. As for now I'll just keep using my old cool block guides though. My tires are still in really good condition so I won't have to change those either and be able to save a couple of bucks. I'm fortunate in that my old saw has a quick release tensioner on it.

[Michael-Homerepair]

Thank you for the great video. I just got an old bandsaw that I’m working on. Where did you get the upper guide upgrade?

[kevinbrown]

Where did you purchase the blade guide from and what was the part number? I would like to change to the ball bearing blade guide.

[aball]

Thanks for the video. How do you know what size blade to buy after installing the riser?

[daringetae]

Man, that was a lot of work. Can you resaw with that thing? Thanks for sharing.

[jamesmanning-tt]

I'm thinking of doing this. What would you saw is the largest "reasonable" resaw depth?
Maybe 8" soft woods, 6" hardwoods if you're not doing large quantities?

[bernardlauer]

Where did u get the hardware to hold the blade Gide wheels

[fouroakscrafts]

Nice video and thanks for the upgrade ideas! I'm looking at buying this bandsaw to upgrade from my old Delta bench-top bandsaw. Just curious does this have 3/4 HP motor or 1 HP motor and would it be good for making bandsaw boxes? I'm really not too interested in re-sawing but just need a little more powerful bandsaw to make things like small boxes or other crafts. Thanks again for the tips!

[kevinpawpadawgmoore]

wife gifted me an old green version of this same saw...has 1hp motor, however the previous owner abused the the blade running along side the edge of the bearings that were suppose to be behind the blade, as such the added tension and stress broke the outside cool block holders.
I am.looking to replace them and saw your video, however when I went to look up the parts the only one that seems to not load is the link you have listed for the guide bearings.
I looked online and the only ones I see are rather pricey ($229).
where did you purchase yours?

[dustinmantei]

What is the resaw capacity now with the riser? Cost for additional capacity is astonishing for new saws