Band Saw Tires

Dan Ferron

Member
Messages
7
Location
Humble, TX
I've just got a Crescent 20 in band saw in really good shape that needs new tires. The original ones are all dried and cracked, a few small chunks have already gone. I've looked at the Carter tires - blue polyurethane, sort of pricey and some orange ones a lot cheaper. What recommendations can the forum make ? Any others to consider ?
Thanks,
Dan
 
Contact Louis Iturra at Iturra Design - toll free - 866-883-8064

I have bought my bandsaw blade and some parts from him for my Davis-Wells bandsaw i was restoring. He is very knowledgable about bandsaws and helpful in suggesting things you may need - prices are not bad at all and i find his blades to be excellent in quality - also ask him to send you one of his catalogs - it has all kinds of parts and accessories plus alot of helpful information on maint - tweaking - etc - ....and its "Free"
 
I prefer the black rubber since they can be crowned and are simpler to install.

If you wheels are crowned then it's not a problem. You can just install the tires and not have to worry about trueing and crowning.
 
I prefer the black rubber since they can be crowned and are simpler to install.

If you wheels are crowned then it's not a problem. You can just install the tires and not have to worry about trueing and crowning.

I completely agree with Jeff, the black rubber tires are the way to go.

I guess if you remove the tires now, you will not be able to use the saw, but if you did remove the tires, you could see if the wheels are crowned or not, if they are crowned, then you are good to go, pick a color you like. If the wheels are flat (most, not all of the older saws were flat) then you need to crown the tires.

I'm not very knowledgeable about bandsaws, so gotta ask... what does crowning mean...

Chuck, the wheels that I got for my bandsaw build were from an older Taiwanese saw, they were 14" but they were NOT crowned, I had to replace the old tires, and I got some of the new orange tires. I could not for love or money make my blades run true, it just about drove me over the edge :eek:

The former owner, Steve Clardy, said he had no problem, but he only ran a very narrow blade on the saw, 1/4" or so, for scrolling. I could get that to run straight, but nothing else.

I ended up with a bit of a problem with the glue on the black tires, it was a mess, and ruined them, my own fault, so it was suggested to me to run a few wraps of electricians tape (that I cut to be about 1/4" wide) around the center of each wheel, then put the tires on, and they would be crowned, well it worked, and worked well, I still use it set up like that, and run a 1/2" or even 3/4" blade without any problem.

Why does crowning work?

Well if the wheel is flat, the blade, under tension can certainly be made to run straight but things really have to be nicely lined up, if the wheels are crowned, the blade, spinning along on the wheel will always run up to the high part of the wheel, the crown.

I hope that explains it, and it does not take much of a crown at all, I think I have three wraps of electricians tape of a crown on mine.

Cheers!
 
Another seldom thought about advantage to crowning, controling the drift.... When a blade tends to drift, it can be altered by placement on the crown. blades located behind the crown will pull to the right, blades in front will pull to the left, A good blade on the top of the crown will run straight. The crown contols this not the guides, they are only there to keep you from pushing the blade off the track. If you blade drifts, then you can re position the blade forward or aft of the crown.

Most fellows think "If I replace a 1/2" blade with a 1/2" blade just like it, I don't need to change the settings..." Not so, as each blade is an individual of its own. When ever you change a blade you must go back to the basics and back off al thrust bearings and guides, Adjust the tension and tracking so that the blade is running staight and true, (forward and aft of the crown till it does not drift. then bring the thrust bearings (top & bottom) to thickness of US$ then the guides the same and behind the set.

Yes the crown helps saws to run true. Larger saws sometimes have crowns and sometimes don't, smaller saws seldom do. as they usually run thin blades where the crown has little effect. The blade will always climb to the wides part, the crown give some additional control.
 
Last edited:
:thumb: thanks for the good information.:thumb:
I looked at the wheel where a 1/2 in chunk of the tire is out. The wheel appears to be crowned when I put the shaft of a small screwdriver across it. Almost looks flat when first viewed. I plan on calling Louis Iturra too.

Thanks again, Dan
 
Top