I Finally Found A Riser Block Kit Made For A Porter Cable Band Saw

About a year ago I found a good deal on a Porter Cable Band Saw and have been very happy with its performance. It has good power and seems to be easy to operate. My only complaint was that I couldn’t cut material taller than 6” and I couldn’t find a riser block made specifically for this machine…until now.

As I was searching the internet for a Porter Cable riser I finally found one made specifically for the Porter Cable band saw. The part number is XOJX and appears to be made by Rexon which is the same company that makes the band saw for Porter Cable. I couldn’t find any way to order this part online, but you can order the riser block kit by calling 1-888-609-9779. The cost for this kit when I purchased it years agoa was $80 + shipping which in my case was $16 for a total of $96.

What You Get

Below is a photo of what comes in the kit.

Porter Cable Band Saw Riser Block
Porter Cable Band Saw Riser Block Kit

As you can see there is a riser block, blade guard, blade (completely useless), guide post, guide post blade guard, and bolt to hold the band saw riser block assembly together. It’s hard to see in the picture, but the blade guard is grey just like the riser block itself. Everything else is black. The grey doesn’t match the doors all that well but it’s better than the white Jet kit.

What You’ll Need:

  1. Phillips screwdriver
  2. Metric Allen wrench. (The one used for adjusting the blade guide)
  3. 27 MM socket or wrench
  4. 105″ Band Saw Blade (Amazon Link – I may earn a commission.)

Step-By-Step

Step 1: Removing Parts

Remove the blade, blade guard, and the lower door. DO NOT REMOVE THE GUIDE POST! (See step 2.) You can also remove the upper door, but it just increases the chances of losing little screws, washers and nuts (which I did). Remove the wiring cover plate and lower arm cover plate. You can remove the wiring as well. Just make sure you mark where the wires need to go before you take them off.

Step 2: Replacing the Guide Post

Remove the upper guide from the guide post. DO NOT REMOVE THE GUIDE POST YET! Remove the bolt holding the upper portion to the bottom portion. Set the upper portion down lying it with the door side down on the table or on a workbench. Loosen the guide post set screw. Slide the guide post up so that the bottom of the post is at the bottom of the post hole. Push the guide post through with the new longer guide post so that it acts as one continuous post. Once the old guide post is out you’re done. (Why do it this way? There’s a spring and a tiny metal ball. If you remove the guide post first the spring will shoot the ball out of the guide post hole and good luck finding it.)

Step 3: Installing the Riser Block

Lift the upper portion of the saw and put the riser block in place. To help you hold the upper portion in place you’ll want to brace it with something while you get the bolt tightened down. I used a Quick Grip Clamp and turned it into a spreader. This worked well except any time I lifted the upper portion the spreader fell to the ground. You could just stack a bunch of scrap boards there and that would probably work better. Tighten the nut just enough to hold the upper portion on. (Hint: put the bolt in the middle of the riser block before setting the riser block in place. There’s a piece of case iron in the way so you can’t easily put the bolt in afterwards.)

Step 4: Installing the Blade Guards

To install the blade guard on the arm side of the machine you will need to first remove the posts that the blade guard goes on. This can difficult if you have not removed the upper door as it gets in the way of the wrench. You will then remove the washers behind the posts, and then put the posts back on. This is necessary because the new blade guard is not as wide and will not be secured if the washers are still in place.

For the blade guard by the guide post simply put it in place and tighten the screws. You won’t be able to raise the guide post all the way because of the curve in the upper door. I plan on keeping the old blade guard so that when I want to raise the post I can swap it out and be able to guard the blade while the post is raised all the way up.

Step 5: Putting Your Band Saw Back Together and Fine Tuning

Put the guides and doors back on your machine. You will now need a 105″ blade to account for the increased capacity of your saw. I tried to use the blade that came with the kit so that I could make sure everything was lined up without worrying about hurting the blade, but absolutely would not fit on. Go ahead and throw it away. Put your aftermarket blade on and try to get it to track in the middle of the top and bottom wheel while the arm assembly bolt is still a little loose. If you’re blade does not track in the middle of the wheels on both top and bottom, spin the top wheel manually while at the same time tapping your riser block into place. Once the blade tracks in the middle on the top and bottom wheel, tighten the assembly bolt.

Summary and Issues

Overall the assembly went really smoothly. Some of the processes in this tutorial are not how I installed the riser block, but this is how I wish I would have done it. If you have all the tools handy and your kit has good parts, it should take you about 1-2 hours to install the riser block. Unfortunately the blade guard I got will not go far enough to the left so my blade does not track in the middle of the slot. In fact, the blade rubs along the left side. To fix this I’m going to bore the holes out that go over the posts to see if I can move it over about an 1/8”. If this doesn’t work I’m probably just going to make my own blade guard out of wood.