Bandsaw wheels

[smessick]

I have a Powermatic Model 141 14" bandsaw which I am upgrading with new Carter guides and new urethane tires. When I installed the tires I discovered that the old rubber tires had had a crown on them and that the wheels were not crowned.

I took the wheels to a machine shop to have them crowned without reducing the center diameter, but the shop called and told me that the wheels were .010" out of round. I told them to true them and crown them.

When I had the urethane tires on I noticed that they could be moved slightly on the face of the wheel, so they were not super tight. Now I will have reduced the wheel diameter and my question is, will I be able to get tires to fit properly? Should I go back to rubber?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Stan Messick

 

[gator]

If it is just a smidgen of movement, you can use glue to keep them in place.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7162825_replace-bandsaw-tire.html

http://vintagemachinery.org/files/pdf/faq/1992-fww-bandsawtires.pdf

http://zenedy.com/all-about-bandsaw-tires

George

 

[Joe Scharle]

George, what glue sticks to urethane (and metal). Name brand would help too....Thanks,
Joe

 

[bob vaughan]

Oh dear.
You need to have a little heart to heart talk with whoever talked you into doing what you did with those wheels.

SOP for a 141 is to glue on the tires, then crown them. The rim of the cast iron Powermatic 141 wheel is supposed to be flat. Whoever told you that they should be crowned needs to apologize at the least.

The pre-crowned wheels come standard on the lighter weight Delta saws and other saws that imitate that lighter design, but not with the heavyweight 141/143 duos.

If you got Carter tires, you should have received a little sheet telling you how to glue on the tires. The drawings in the illustration even used the 141 wheel as a model plus my hands.

For gluing on Poly tires, clean everything with acetone or lacquer thinner. Put on the tires. Squeeze some polyurethane construction adhesive under the tire. Let sit and cure for 7 days, then crown with what you have available.

 

[gator]

George, what glue sticks to urethane (and metal). Name brand would help too....Thanks,
Joe

I have not personally changed bandsaw tires but I understand that some recommend contact cement. Of course, as is true much of the time, I could be wrong.

George

 

[bob vaughan]

I use contact cement (or various forms thereof) to install black rubber tires all the time.
Polly parrot plumage colored tire sellers will get real vague real quick about adhesives and for good reason. Polyurethane, once cured, is a polymer like a frisbee. Hardly anything sticks to it. Contact cement just rubs off.

I've tried and had good luck with 3M 5100 marine adhesive for poly tires. I did that as an experiment. I'll also add that the adhesive itself will make a good tire if you can get it on even enough and wait out the 7-day cure period. As with all good working things, it comes with a price - its messy to work with and will stain your hands.

Most poly tires are intended for the Delta and Delta clone style tire that is crowned and has a lip on the edge to restrict side to side movement of the tire. Essentially, the tire lays in a channel. There are so many copies of this style wheel that some people think its the only style 14" wheel there is, like a 93-1/2" blade is the only size 14" bandsaw blade there is. Many original designers and makers of 14" bandsaws had flat rimmed tires, but once the Delta 14 came on the scene in the late 1930's, the other makers popularity faded. Walker Turner and Powermatic are two other designs of 14' bandsaws that are often seen today. Both have flat rimmed wheels.