dirk martin
07-26-2011, 10:14 PM
My Minimax 24" bandsaw has rubber tires that go around my cast iron wheels.
There is a groove in the cast iron wheels, and a ridge on the underside of the rubber tires. That ridge in the tire, snaps into that groove in the cast iron wheels.
Hopefully this makes sense to anyone reading this.
Yesterday, I had one of my rubber tires (it's actually like a big 'ol rubber band, then a tire) wear out (the tire starts to come out of that groove, indicating that ridge is starting to break down), so I called Minimax to order a new one. Their computers were down, and couldn't help me.
So, I called my local wood working store, Woodwerks. They said they could order me one, and have them here by the next day....so I did.
I got the new tire from Woodwerks, and a paper was enclosed saying that I need to rough up the underside of the tire with sand paper before gluing it to my cast iron wheels. I've never had to glue tires to my bandsaw in the past. These new tires are a thicker rubber also, and are wider than the standard Minimax tires, also.
So, since these tires fit onto the wheels VERY snugly, I figured I'd put it on, and see how it fits.
So, I pryed and streatched the rubber tires, and finally got it over the cast iron wheel. The first thing I noticed is that the rubber tire is widder than my wheels. Thus, I have about 1/4" of rubber hanging off the front edge of my wheels. Regardless, I then mounted my bandsaw blade, and spun it by hand, to view tracking. Typically I run my blades such that the teeth just barely hang off the front edge of my wheels. But, because my tire is already hanging off the front of my wheels by about 1/4"....I couldn't really do that. Under tension, the blade would track to the front edge of the tire, and then it would bend the rubber lip, and slide off.
So, I'm kinda stumped. These are obviously not Minimax tires, since they don't have that ridge on the udnerside, to snap into the wheel groove. However, they seem to be a very high grade of rubber. Since the problem seems to be that the rubber tires are wider than my wheels, my neighbor suggested I put the tire on the wheel, and then take a razor blade, and cut along the edge, thus making the the exact width of my wheel.
I think that idea should work. What do you folks think?
Also, do I have to glue these tires on? In the past when I've used the standard Minimax tires, Minimax just told me to snap the tire into the groove...no glue required. However these new tires (I'm not sure whom the supplier is for Woodwerks) don't have that ridge.....
Also, the wheels on the Minimax MM24 are flat, not crowned.
There is a groove in the cast iron wheels, and a ridge on the underside of the rubber tires. That ridge in the tire, snaps into that groove in the cast iron wheels.
Hopefully this makes sense to anyone reading this.
Yesterday, I had one of my rubber tires (it's actually like a big 'ol rubber band, then a tire) wear out (the tire starts to come out of that groove, indicating that ridge is starting to break down), so I called Minimax to order a new one. Their computers were down, and couldn't help me.
So, I called my local wood working store, Woodwerks. They said they could order me one, and have them here by the next day....so I did.
I got the new tire from Woodwerks, and a paper was enclosed saying that I need to rough up the underside of the tire with sand paper before gluing it to my cast iron wheels. I've never had to glue tires to my bandsaw in the past. These new tires are a thicker rubber also, and are wider than the standard Minimax tires, also.
So, since these tires fit onto the wheels VERY snugly, I figured I'd put it on, and see how it fits.
So, I pryed and streatched the rubber tires, and finally got it over the cast iron wheel. The first thing I noticed is that the rubber tire is widder than my wheels. Thus, I have about 1/4" of rubber hanging off the front edge of my wheels. Regardless, I then mounted my bandsaw blade, and spun it by hand, to view tracking. Typically I run my blades such that the teeth just barely hang off the front edge of my wheels. But, because my tire is already hanging off the front of my wheels by about 1/4"....I couldn't really do that. Under tension, the blade would track to the front edge of the tire, and then it would bend the rubber lip, and slide off.
So, I'm kinda stumped. These are obviously not Minimax tires, since they don't have that ridge on the udnerside, to snap into the wheel groove. However, they seem to be a very high grade of rubber. Since the problem seems to be that the rubber tires are wider than my wheels, my neighbor suggested I put the tire on the wheel, and then take a razor blade, and cut along the edge, thus making the the exact width of my wheel.
I think that idea should work. What do you folks think?
Also, do I have to glue these tires on? In the past when I've used the standard Minimax tires, Minimax just told me to snap the tire into the groove...no glue required. However these new tires (I'm not sure whom the supplier is for Woodwerks) don't have that ridge.....
Also, the wheels on the Minimax MM24 are flat, not crowned.