Product reviews for Blade Guide Upgrade Kit For - Elektra Beckum BAS 315 & 316 Bandsaws

[These notes refer to the BAS315]
My first thought on seeing this blade guide upgrade was that it seemed a bit pricey but this was dispelled on opening the box. The bearing housings are accurately machined from chunky solid bar and all adjustable parts are free from play. Adjustment is by hex socket cap and grub screws and is precise. Once in place the screws are readily accessible other than one of the three on the back of the lower bearing but attending to that should rarely be necessary.
The drilling template is sturdy pressed steel and there are replacement trunnion bolts if needed and a replacement slide rail. The instructions suggest the latter may not be needed or suit all models but mine fitted perfectly and was very welcome as I’d had to modify the original to reduce wobble that developed over the years.
Assembly was very straightforward with the aid of the clear instructions (only one hole needed to be drilled in my case) and when finished everything was very solid and precise indeed. I fitted a new blade and ripped a length of oak against the fence without any noticeable inclination for the blade to wander. I then ripped a 25mm by 110mm oak board on edge freehand to a pencil line without difficulty and little need to adjust the angle of the board to the blade to maintain an accurate cut.
This upgrade has increased the precision of the saw immensely and I recommend it.

I waited a while for this item to come back into stock but I am pleased to say that the company as promised emailed to say it was now in stock again. I ordered the set along with two new blades. As the happy customer in the other review I was also impressed with the quality of the product and found the assembly (using all the components as received) an easy job. This conversion set will bring your BAS315 up to scratch and if like me you will wish you had done it sooner. The two new blades (purchased at the same time) of which one was used after the assembly  performed well and allowed me to cut an 2mm wide piece of wood from a 50mm by 40mm section with ease, both true in each plane.  

First class replacement ,easy to fit, totally satisfied with service

Product looks well made and was easy to fit.

I too am a happy customer. I fitted the kit using all the components supplied in about twenty minutes. The kit is beautifully machined out good quality material unlike the  metal equivalent of chip board the original was made from. I tested the finished job on various hard and soft woods of varying thicknesses both freehand and against the fence and found all the cuts to be accurate. I would happily recommend this kit to anyone with a BAS 315 even if their guide set hasn't broken as yet. Fitting this kit will greatly enhance the performance  of the saw.

Excellent kit of parts that were easy to fit to my BAS315. A sturdy basic machine with a weakness regards blade guide/support. This kit eliminates that problem totally.

Very happy customer,Excellent quality and very easy to fit. This transforms my machine, would recommend this to anyone.

The 315 wasn't performing as well as it should. I then spotted that one of the lower blade guides had gone walkabout at some stage and the blade was cutting erratically. I searched the web and discovered this upgrade. So easy to fit it only took less than 15 minutes. Along with the blades supplied by Bedford I feel that I have a new machine!

All parts and kit were excellent, first class service

Completed the upgrade with a few little problems, mainly to do with the upper guide.  Took a bit longer than I expected, but the result was well worth it.  This seems to be a much better solution than the original, and the bandsaw now runs really well.  I am not an expert and only an occasional user, but the upgrade was well within my capabilities.

As the title suggests this kit is in excellent product that does away with the problems of the blade wandering.  Setting up is easy as the instructions are comprehensive and the accuracy of manufacture is high. Highly recommend.

I am very happy with the replacement guides. They were easy to fit with full instructions. My machine is now cutting true & accurate. Worth every penny.

I am really pleased with this buy. V well machined alloy blocks and perfect bearings and guide system. I needed to go to this youtube to be sure how to set up the bearing positions https://youtu.be/bxVyKsbuwZQ
Otherwise can't recommend this upgrade and service enough, it's totally transformed my wandering blade problem - the original bottom guide was useless.

Happy customer, blade guide kit was a very quick delivery, easily fitted and set up in approx.. 1hr. I have never bee able to set this saw to cut accurately all the time with the original guides, greatly improved performance with this upgrade guide kit, would recommend.

Hi I had to wait a few months until this became available and boy was it worth it this bandsaw is now the ultimate machine in bandsaws for the money. Obviously with all the fine tuning you need to do to get perfect results like blade quality and positioning and making sure your bandsaw tyres are in good condition and wheels are balanced. Amazing upgrade.

Very good quality well worth the money and very easy to fit. Much better than the original fence

I purchased this blade guide upgrade because the original guides were wearing out and the original casting of the guide has always had a twist to it, making accurate setting of the guide bearings quite difficult. The upgrade fixed everything and was easy to fit. The saw now has no tendency to cut at an angle and even when ripping oak to a pencil line freehand.
A new sliding upper extrusion that holds the blade guide replaces the existing part and clearly comes from the same aluminium stock. I spent some time ensuring that the  depth extrusion guides (two steel strips) are accurately set (requires modification) to remove most of the play. Without doing this, you find that the depth guide can move backwards and forwards quite a lot.

The upgrade is well worth the money and transforms the saw.

The blade guide works perfectly well, it has been a huge upgrade for the crappy original guide of my Elektra Beckum 315. Especially with a so affordable price, I cannot be more satisfied.  I recommend this device without hesitation.

I received my package yesterday. Everything is in order. Thanks again i am truly grateful, this conversion kit is absolutely superior to the original factory bearing guides.

I’ll start by a description of the Bedford Saw Elektra Beckum 315 modification and its advantages:
This kit replaces the existing top bearing assembly of two side bearings with two new side bearings. There also a new top-rear bearing where the rear bearing is in the same plane as the bandsaw blade. In my view this is much better than the old top-rear bearing which was located at 90 degrees to the blade. It also replaces the existing bottom assembly of one rear side-acting bearing and two side restraining rubbing strips with a new three bearing bottom bearing assembly, of a similar design to the new top bearing assembly. It is the bottom bearing assembly which is the most important part of the modification, giving vastly improved and more accurate blade guidance. The top bearing assembly is also a good improvement, it is neater and better designed than the original and takes up less space, resulting in a greater available depth of cut – Bedford say 18mm extra cutting depth but I estimate it to be about 25mm. The kit also includes a new aluminium extrusion to carry the top bearing guide assembly, plus all the nuts and bolts needed and a drilling template.
I have a 1998 Elektra Beckum BAS 315 with a cast iron table and here are my comments and tips on fitting the modification kit – bear in mind that the 315 was manufactured over many years and mine might not be exactly the same as every other machine:
After removing the table, the bottom bearing assembly requires a new hole to be drilled in the top of the bottom cabinet and this is located and drilled using the provided template. This works very well but my only comment would be that the positioning of the newly drilled hole means that the bearing supporting rod is extended perhaps a little further than ideal when the assembly is adjusted to fit the blade.
I did not need to drill new table mounting holes for the 4 x M8 Bolts, as the existing holes were correct.
The existing top bearing assembly is removed in two main parts and is held onto the bottom of the aluminium extrusion by two self-tapping screws. I removed the old extrusion by first removing the two self-tapping screws holding the end stop plate – top of the extrusion – and then sliding it out. I found that the new extrusion was only about 0.4 mm wider where it fits between the top cabinet guide rails but this was enough to prevent it from sliding in the guide rails. At this point I was almost resigned to the new extrusion being too wide. The fitting instructions state that it might not fit the 315 and that the old extrusion could be used in this case?
Looking at the old and new extrusions it was apparent that there are two significant differences.:
1.  The old extrusion was longer than the new one and this was due to an extra length of blade housing at the bottom. The new extrusion lacks this extra length because it’s not needed with the reduced height of the new bearing assembly.
2.  The new extrusion has a milled 15mm slot starting at 5mm above the bottom of the section, that fits between the top cabinet guide rails. The milled slot corresponds to a protruding part on the new bearing assembly which positively locates it when fitted.

From the above differences I first thought that I’d have to either shorten and mill a slot in the old extrusion or mill 0.4 off the width of the new extrusion – not quick or easy in either case. I then had that “Doh” moment! Would the top cabinet guide rails move? The two rails (two lengths of small section angle iron) are held in place with 4 x M6 (10mm spanner) bolts and nuts. Examining the rail mounting holes I could see that they looked slightly oversize, allowing for some movement and adjustment. I moved one of the rails slightly and adjusted for a snug but movable fit for the new extrusion. From then on it was plain sailing and the new top bearing assembly was held in place with a plate in the new extrusion T slot and an M8 nylock nut and bolt.
I concluded that the old extrusion would not work with the new bearing assembly on my machine unless significantly modified, and in my case, I have to disagree that the old extrusion could be used with the new bearing assembly, as stated in the fitting instructions.
When initially setting both sets of bearings, I left the table off for visibility and first adjusted the tracking of the blade with the top cabinet handle. I found the best sequence of adjustment for the bearing assemblies was to first adjust the fore and aft position of the assemblies so that the side bearings located correctly on the blade – just behind the teeth and gullets. I then adjusted the side-to-side adjustment of the side bearings and the fore and aft adjustment of the back bearings.
This is a vast improvement over the old system, giving greater more consistent accuracy together with easier adjustment. Bedford Saw are to be commended for their continued support of Elektra Beckum bandsaw spares and modifications kits. Highly recommended.