Urethane Bandsaw Tires

[lowell holmes]

The last time I replaced the tires on my 14" Jet B.S, I warmed the tires in the microwave to soften them. I was advised to do so by the store keeper I purchased them from.
My tires failed and I have new urethane tires from Carter coming, so the problem presents itself again.
Have any of you done it this way?

[Carroll Courtney]

Warm water---Carroll

[Charles Lent]

I put mine in hot water, almost boiling, for a few minutes. Then, while wearing work gloves, I stretched them onto the wheels. It went fairly well, but they still don't go on all that easy. I wouldn't use a microwave because they don't heat evenly. They put a rotating table into microwaves to try to even out the heating, but they still don't do that well of a job.

Charley

[glenn bradley]

+1 on hot water. Microwave??? Really??? I would watch further recommendations from that fellow.

[george wilson]

Micro wave isn't going to heat plastic. It has no water in it. Do you mean you put the tires into a container of water in the microwave?

[Myk Rian]

140º water for 5 minutes. Wear gloves.
Call the storekeeper and get a new set, for free.
His directions were bad.

[Phil Thien]

Very hot water.

If don't don't say a few well-chosen words and end up with a couple of sore fingers, they aren't tight enough.

[Jay Allen]

Hot water on mine too, and it's still tough. I used a flat-bar tire spoon to help stretch it on there, while a clamp kept it from being chased off of the other end.

[lowell holmes]

The advice was to put them in the microwave without water. I did it and they lasted for 3-4 years.
Yesterday, the bandsaw popped and I found about 2 1/2" of the top tire on the floor.

As I was considering how to heat the tires this time, I became skeptical about the microwave treatment. That's why I posted this inquiry and will use the hot water method this time.

Thanks for all of the responses . It helps. This is a great forum.

As a side light, I ordered a set from Amazon with one day delivery. Tracking indicates that they arrived in Houston early this morning and delivery is scheduled this afternoon. Shipping costs were less than $4.

I would have had to make a 60 mile round trip to purchase them locally.

[Ben Davis]

Do these urethane tires require sanding, like the rubber ones, to even out the shape?

[lowell holmes]

No, the tires are uniform in thickness and flat. The crown is cast into the wheel rim.

The tires arrived 22 1/2 hours after I ordered them. Total shipping cost was less than $8.

The manufacturers recommendation is to heat them in water not to exceed 120 degrees F for a specified time. Thats what I will endeavor to do.

[george wilson]

How can a micro wave heat plastic???? Does it somehow have water in it? Did the tires actually get hot from just being put in the micro wave? Now I'm curious.

[ian maybury]

Can't specifically say about urethanes, and I don't know the science - but some polymers (e.g. nylon and HDPE) definitely take up quite a lot of moisture.

Nylon somehow becomes quite brittle if it's dried out....

ian

[lowell holmes]

The tires did get warm and I could stretch them.
The tires I microwaved were open on a rack at a local store and no instructions came with them.

The microwave will heat china and most any thing stuck in the oven. I wonder if microwaving plastic might change the plastic's properties. It could have made the tires brittle, although the failure came about 3-4 years after I put them on.
Only one of the tires failed, but it was not at all resilient after the failure.

The Carter tires that I received today have instuctions to warm the tires in hot water at 120 degrees F. That's what I'm going to do.

[Rick Fisher]

I used 3 hand screw clamps.

Clamp the tire to the rim.. Stretch the urethane about a foot from the clamp.. Apply a second clamp to the stretched area, then do the same in the other direction..

Remove the first clamp and repeat.

It worked really well for me.