Do band saw tires need to be glued???

[Dennis Nagle]

Hi All, I picked up a Craftsman 12" band saw. I just went through it and did all the adjustments and cleaned it up. I was using it for just a bit and it started to rumble.

When I opened it up, the top wheel tire was half off (on the far side) but not sliding off any further. I took it off and turned it around and when I started it, the tire came off just like before but in the opposite direction (toward me).

The manual is not available from Sears any longer and I can't find it online....but, I've read through Band Saw maintenance articles online and all of them say the tires should be glued on with contact cement.

Is that true will ALL band saws including mine???

Thanks, Dennis

[Jerry Marcantel]

Glue might work, but I doubt it. Not for the long haul. . Mine are actually vulcanized onto my wheels..... It's my experience that when the tires won't stay on, they've stretched and will not stay on, even with glue... Where I live, glue dries out too quickly. ........ Jerry (in Tucson)

[Roger Chandler]

You need to order new tires for your bandsaw wheels......they have stretched due to the blade stopping while the wheel was still turning [likely] so now they are stretched beyond their usefulness............good luck finding the parts........I would call up sears parts or look it up on line.........does it use an 80" blade? There should still be parts available if it does.

[Dennis Ford]

I agree with Roger, you need some new tires. You can get band-saw tires from Carter Products, they sell both rubber tires and urethane tires. The urethane tires are supposed to last longer and do not need to be glued on, the rubber tires will need to be glued on.

[Tim Rinehart]

Check with Suffolk Machinery, maker of Timberwolf blades. They are another source of band saw tires.

[Robert Champagne]

If I were you, I would replace the tires with black rubber. Get them from Carter. They are a bit expensive, but shouldn't be too bad for a 12" saw. I glued mine on with contact cement, but Carter sells an adhesive product they recommend. If your tire is loose enough to slip of, it probably has worn out. New, crowned rubber tires will improve the performance of just about any saw, in my opinion. There are lots of different ways to crown tires. The good news is that once you have done it, and you have used quality tires, you shouldn't have to do it again for a long time.
Rob

[Bart Leetch]

I have urethane tires on my old 80" 1950'S Craftsman band-saw best thing I ever did & no glue.

[Olaf Vogel]

I've got an old Walker Turner bandsaw, with brand new urethane tires that slipped off all the time.
I stuck a pencil between the tire and the wheel, and squirted in some cyanoacrylate, (crazy glue).
Rolled the pencil around the whole wheel and glued it all

Never had a problem again.

if you really want new tires, Lee Valley carries 12"

Olaf

[Gus Dundon]

As far as I know, rubber tires need glue and urethane tires don't. I have blue urethane tires on my band saw for
more than 3 years already . I didn't put glue on it .

[Robert Henrickson]

I definitely did not need glue when I installed a blue urethane replacement tire. Getting it onto the wheel took a bit of effort since it has to be warmed and stretched over the wheel. There is no way it will move.

[Steve Vaughan]

Did a rebuild on my 14" Delta BS and put the blue urethane Carter wheels on. No glue and no issues...good stuff!

[Dennis Nagle]

I should be getting my new tires this week. They are the orange ones from Rockler. I don't know if there is a diff between orange and blue.

[Steve Vaughan]

Dennis, I just checked for the heck of it, and the orange ones are urethane. Wouldn't be surprised if they weren't made by the same people that make the blue ones for Carter.

[Dennis Nagle]

Good to know Steve. I am looking forward to having this in the rotation

[Gus Dundon]

I got an advice before from a tech support that change the tires if and only if your old tires are showing signs of wear.
Do not change your rubber tires to urethane if they're not worn out . I don't know if that was even true, perhaps it was just an old style advise.

[Trevor Walsh]

I put urethane tires on a powermatic A141, nothing will keep them on. I replaced the tires on a huge laguna saw with rubber and weatherstripping and gasket adhesive and they haven't given any problems. I'm not at all thrilled with the hype around urethane, I'll only glue rubber to wheels for the foreseeable future.

[Dennis Nagle]

I'll let you know how it goes Trevor.

[Frank Drew]

Some of the older saw manufacturers (e.g. Oliver) sometimes used shellac to "glue" the tires on.

I once mounted new rubber tires on a Hitachi band saw, without glue; stretching the rubber tires was such an absolute bear that I was sure they'd never come off. First time I ran the saw with the new tires and blade the centrifugal force threw the tires off -- the door stopped the blade!

[Gus Dundon]

Just to make sure, orange and blue urethane tires are the same, right?