Rikon 10-325 Bandsaw tune up

I've always "liked" my Rikon bandsaw. Now, I just might learn to love it. The saw, like any bandsaw, needs to be well maintained and adjusted to perform well. The most annoying issue of bandsaws is their tendency to drift, if not set up with real care. I've worked at tuning up this saw in the past, but today I achieved results never before attained.

My adventure started with a newsletter from Fine Woodworking in my inbox. I resisted trashing it, and listened well to the video included. The approach to curing drift made sense, and I wanted to pursue it.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2018/07/16/two-fixes-for-bandsaw-drift

Before beginning the project, though, I realized that I'd procrastinated a tune-up of the saw for so long because I really despise the supplied blade guides. They are fussy and difficult to work with. So I went searching for replacement guides, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Rikon is offering a blade guide upgrade for the saw. My Rikon 10-325 is now at least 10 years old, and the new "tool-less" blade guides offered for retrofit are the same guides that Rikon is putting on it's latest version of the saw. After seeing the offering at Highland Woodworking, it took just a few seconds to place an order. They looked really good!

https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/toolless-blade-guide-retrofit-rikon-band-saw.aspx

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the original upper blade guide and the new blade guides installed. Adjustment of the new guides is super simple. I admire the engineering that went into them.

The ultimate test of bandsaw drift: Accurate resawing with zero drift, effortless control, and zero cussing.

Sweet!