Changing tires on Band Saw

[Paul Ray Moore]

Is it difficult to change the tires on a Delta 14" 5X band saw? I've ordered them and just wondered what all is involved in changing them of if anyone has a step by step instructions.
Thanks,
Paul

[Ben Franz]

Not difficult at all. The new tires probably come with instructions (yeah, I know, real men don't read 'em) that involve soaking the new tires in hot water before installing. This really helps so don't ignore the step. Then use two screwdriver shafts and a quick clamp to stretch the new tire over the wheel being careful not to scratch the wheel. The only problem I had with the new tires (Rockler urethane) was a pronounced bump at the weld in the urethane. When a second set had the same bump I installed them and ran the wheel without a blade and held some medium grit sandpaper against it with a block of wood to smooth out the bump.

[Pete Bradley]

The primary requirement is very strong thumbs!! :o

You don't say whether you bought urethane or rubber. The following is probably the authoritative article for rubber tires, should work for urethane too though I hear the hot soak may make it unnecessary. Don't soak rubber tires, it won't help.

http://www.owwm.com/files/pdf/faq/1992-fww-bandsawtires.pdf

Urethane's pretty thin, I wouldn't try to crown them, at most clean up bumps as the previous poster mentioned.

[Paul Ray Moore]

Thanks. I'm not sure if they are rubber or urthane. I guess rubber since I just bought the original replacement tires from the Delta site. The wheels had been fine but for some reason the blade cut into the lower one and messed it up. I think I was pushing the cut and just messed it up. I was cutting blanks for bowls when it happened.

[Keith Harrell]

This timing is great as I just received my new tire for a Rikon 18" bandsaw.
Do most people recommend gluing the tire on the wheel.

[Paul Ray Moore]

After reading the attachment from Pete, I called Delta and they said they don't glue the tires down so I'm not going to.

[Myk Rian]

It helps to have someone hold the starting point when installing tires. That way it won't slip off when you get to the last 6" to put on.
I use a 1" putty knife to slip around the wheel under the tire.
Soak them in 140deg water for a few minutes.

[Josiah Bartlett]

If you have crowned wheels like on a Delta, you don't need to glue the tires down. If you have flat wheels and the crown gets put on the tires, then you need the glue.

[Mikail Khan]

The tires for my 19" grizzly came with a diameter of 16". With that amount of stretch no glue was required.

Use a thermometer ( I used a cooking thermometer) to ensure that the water is hot enough.

I found that it was easier to remove the wheels before installing the tires.

MK

[Thomas Canfield]

I second Ben's easy response. The use of a clamp to fix the band and then work the band like the old days of stretching a tube on a bicycle. Make sure that the band is worked equally and not all the stretch done at the end.

[Max Coller]

When I replaced the tires on my Delta BS I took the wheels off, then put them on a large bolt clamped vertically in my bench vice to serve as a vertical spindle. I bought the urethane tires from Rockler and didn't heat them for my first attempt. I expected the wrestling-with-an-octopus disaster others have described, but they went on really smoothly with no tools necessary - just a bit of muscling. The key for me was having the leverage the bolt/vice provided - about chest high and anchored to the wall so I could do that little extra bit of reefing necessary to get that last edge of the tire over the rim.

[Pete Bradley]

Correct. No need for glue on a 14".

[Phil Thien]

If the first knuckles on your fingers aren't all scraped up when you're done, the new tires aren't tight enough. :rolleyes:

[Ron Jones near Indy]

LOML takes care of changing tires for me. She calls AAA.:D

Sorry, it's been one of those days.:eek: