Band saw tyre material

[Arutha]

I need to replace the tires on my bandsaw, as the rubber is of uneven thickness (makes the machine vibrate a lot). It's a used machine I bought recently. The wheels are 12" (or more exactly 325 mm in diameter). The width of the tires are 18 mm.

I've tried turning them down to using sandpaper, but that seems slow. I even tried using a knife as a turning tool, while turning the wheel with the other hand, but gave up.

So, what are the options.

I've read about using poly v belting for tires. Has anyone tried this? How does it work? Do you need to crown the tires afterwards? Or are they thin enough to follow the crown on the wheels (as on many smaller bandsaws)?

I've also read about cork, which looks like a good option. I've had a look at what's available at Scott&Sargeant, and the narrowest cork is 30mm wide, which would mean I'd have to cut it down to 18 mm wide. I won't look forward to doing that. But maybe it isn't as difficult as I think?

I've also had a look at the urethane tires that are popular in the US. However, I haven't found a supplier within the EU. Ordering from the US might get expensive after shipping and customs fees.
Two examples:
http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/71 ... ccessories
http://www.carterproducts.com/product.a ... &cat_id=30

I also saw that some people use bicycle inner tube for slightly smaller wheels, so that you need to stretch them to fit the bandsaw wheel. I think they would be a bit too thin (as I can't just put them on top of the old tires).

 

[xy mosian]

In the days of block/parquet flooring being popular over here, it was possible to buy cork strip to take up gaps and expansion between blocks and wall. From memory this cork had a rectangular section, sadly I don't remember the dimensions but it might be worth keeping an eye open for it.
xy

 

[Keith 66]

About 20 years ago i re tyred an ancient Wadkin bandsaw, a friend got me some polyurethane strip this i glued onto the wheel rim with epoxy.
Crowning the wheels was done byone person using a sanding drum in a powerful drill to drive the wheel and another holding a sanding block to the wheel on the other side. Took a while but it turned out fine. A quick google found this firm doing similar stuff, http://www.bonaprene.co.uk/shop/3_Polyu ... ts__Blocks, might be worth an ask?

 

[Arutha]

As I was looking for where to buy new tires, I found an interesting idea on this web site:
http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/Bandsa ... smith.ashx

I decided to try the same on my lathe. I started by mounting the bottom wheel 90 degrees to the sanding disc mounted on a face plate. I removed the wheel axle from the bandsaw, and mounted it on a piece of wood, that I clamped to the lathe bed.

Not having any fine adjustments, like on the Shopsmith, I adjusted by trial and error.

I slowly rotated the wheel in the opposite direction to the sanding disc. After having removed the worst bumps and irregularities, I loosened the clamps, and inserted a thin piece of wood I had lying around. I now had the wheel mounted at a slight angle. The angle happened to be about 2-3 degrees.

After doing one side, I removed the wheel from the axle, and mounted it the other way.

Sometimes things got jammed, and I had to stop the lathe and adjust the wheel to take a lighter cut.

In the end, both wheels ended up perfectly round, with a 2-3 degree slope to the centre of the wheels.

After mounting the wheels in the bandsaw again, I can only say that it's like a new machine! Now it runs perfectly with almost no vibrations. Before fixing the wheels, it vibrated a lot, and it was even hard to see exactly where the blade was, as the saw was shaking sideways.

I'm attaching a photo I took as I had completed the first wheel.

The 2-3 degree crown works well, and the blade tracks as it should. If I did it again, I might have made it 5 degrees instead, but feel no need to change it now. In the web page I referred to, he used 5 degrees, and I've later read an article in an old woodworking magazine (Fine Woodworking issue 95, How to Install Bandsaw Tires by Robert M. Vaughan), where he recommends using a 7 degree angle.

 

[Bluekingfisher]

If you are intent on turning the tyres down can't you just use the bandsaw motor? If the wheel in need of smoothing is the top wheel can't you swap the wheels over, so the top wheel is now the bottom wheel, which is now being driven by the saw motor.

Just a thought

 

[Arutha]

If you are intent on turning the tyres down can't you just use the bandsaw motor? If the wheel in need of smoothing is the top wheel can't you swap the wheels over, so the top wheel is now the bottom wheel, which is now being driven by the saw motor.

Just a thought

Yes, I tried that at first. I found it difficult to do. It seemed to go really slowly. It was probably because I was holding the sandpaper, trying to keep my hand in the same position, and the wheel was so out of round. It only touched in one spot, and you really need to keep the hand steady. It would be possible to construct something that holds the paper perfectly (in the article I mentioned, he did something like that). For me, the lathe was much easier to use for this.

 

[Bluekingfisher]

I hope it all turns out well in any case :wink: . Good luck

 

[custard]

In the days of block/parquet flooring being popular over here, it was possible to buy cork strip to take up gaps and expansion between blocks and wall. From memory this cork had a rectangular section, sadly I don't remember the dimensions but it might be worth keeping an eye open for it.
xy

Getting off topic so apologies, but I recently had wood flooring laid in my house. They used cork expansion strips wherever it wasn't possible to leave an expansion gap under a skirting board.