I need tires.

Dale Johnson

Member
Messages
489
Location
lutefisk capitol, USA
The neighbor's son gave me a Powermatic 14" bandsaw that has a need for new tires. I have no idea how to go about this. Any help would be appreciated. It is the older model that has the welded box frame.
 
From what I've heard, the folks at Iturra Design have the info and the tires you need. They don't have a web site, but I believe their number is 1-888-722-7078.
 
The neighbor's son gave me a Powermatic 14" bandsaw that has a need for new tires. I have no idea how to go about this. Any help would be appreciated. It is the older model that has the welded box frame.

Dale, somewhere on the net or in one of the WW mags, in the last two weeks I ran across a real good tutorial with Pics about changing the tires on a bandsaw, but for the life of me I cannot remember where it was. Maybe someone else has seen this and will remember where. I'm so frustrated,:doh: I have been looking for a magazine I have for a week now, to give some information tho Rob, and I haven't found it yet, and I also haven't found the article with plans for a pull out TS extension for Stu either.:bang::bang::bang:

I guess I'm going to have to start a list of interesting things I run across and keep it in a Spiral notebook If I ever want to find it again.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I do know that if you put the poly tires on, you need to warm them up pretty good in warm water first to make them more pliable and stretch easier, then if you use use a thin wood strip on top of the tire at your starting point and clamp it to the wheel then use a round screwdriver shaft under the tire to run it around the wheel to stretch the tire in place, it goes on fairly easy. Then you take the clamp off and continue to run the screwdriver around the wheel under the tire two or maybe three times, and it will even out the tension/stretch of the tire.

Do not glue the tire to the wheel.

Gee, a Free PM Bandsaw, what a nice surprise from your friend, (especially with your current employment status).:thumb:
 
Go over the OWWM and search. There have been a lot of good posts on installing tires. The feeling there is stay away from the Urethane and stick with rubber.

Unless the wheels have a crown in the center, your going to have crown the tires to make it run right. Lots of debate on that but it's physics, tires (blades) want to run uphill.
 
If I rember right I got mine from Carter.
myrtelwoodtbltop025.jpg


myrtelwoodtbltop027.jpg


myrtelwoodtbltop028.jpg


I can'r rember the name of the epoxy but its touch stuff. One of the things you might need to do after you have the tires on is have the wheels crowned and balanced.
Reg
 
Urethane - Rubber, I've replaced the tires on both my bandsaws and went with urethane both times. The 14" tires are available at just about any woodworking store as well as on line. They're pretty easy to put on - drop them in a bucket of hot water with just a little bit of soap in it. This softens them up and makes them a little easier to stretch into place. Once you've got them on the wheel, let them dry and you're good to go.

I'd be VERY surprised if your wheels didn't have a crown machined onto them. If that is the case, there is no reason to crown urethane tires after they're installed. It's still a good idea with rubber because of the nature of how rubber tires are made - they're not perfect and crowning addresses this. There is not doubt that crowning the tire on the wheel also addresses any slight imperfections with the wheel casting, but you shouldn't have any real issues with this. Powermatic machines are high quality and steps were taken during manufacturing to make sure the wheels were machined true.

Even if your wheels aren't machined with a crown on them, you can build one up simply enough with strips of tape. I did this on my smaller band saw (17" C-frame from a hundred years ago) and it worked perfectly. I used 3 or 4 layers of masking tape and trimmed them into narrower strips as the layers built up.

I think rubber tires are fine, but prefer the urethane for a few reasons:
1) cost - urethane tires are less expensive
2) availability - rubber tires are not as widely available as urethane
3) installation - urethane tires are much easier to install - no glue, no crowning
4) durability - the urethane tires are much more resistant to chip embedment than rubber tires are. They don't compress as easily either. Both of these issues mean that they hold up better than rubber.

All that said, i haven't installed rubber tires, just replaced old rubber ones that were shot. My experience is limited, but i've had very good luck with what i've done.

Good luck with it.
Paul Hubbman
 
Top