Allan Speers
05-27-2015, 4:54 PM
I need new tires for my BS, which came with polyurethane stock.
I did a bunch of research last night on whether there is any difference between various brands, and colors. The general consensus was that they are all the same, but I couldn't find a single post or article that actually verifies this, it's just people guessing without actually knowing.
Here is the tiny bit that I DO know:
Some tires are thicker than others. When I bought my 14" Delta X5 years ago, it came with orange tires. Being anal retentive, I decided to buy a set of spares, in case I ever needed them in a hurry. I purchased a set of orange tires from Hartville tool. To my surprise, they were significantly thicker than the ones that came with the saw. (I removed one from the Delta, to be sure it wasn't just stretched thin.)
Of course, I have no idea if thicker is better, or worse.
2: My 21" Grizzly appears so far to be a very well made machine. I have no complaints. - But the tires seems awful. They are black in color, and very soft to the touch, easy to stick your fingernail into. Additionally, these tires are like a magnet for sawdust. (All urethane tires attract dust more than rubber tires, but these are much worse than the orange ones on my Delta.) Not surprisingly, Grizzly sells replacements for about $30 a set, (21") so they must surely be of an inferior material.
No problem, the important stuff like bearings, pulleys, etc all look top quality. This is NOT a dig at Grizzly. - But it does show that not all urethane is created equal.
3: The Ebay seller that offers "Blue Max" tires claims that they make their own urethane, in New Jersey, and that it repels dust better than the orange stuff. I have also read elsewhere that typically, orange urethane comes from China. (I can't confirm this.) So, it is POSSIBLE, that there are differing formulas, but who do you believe?
The best urethane tires should be:
1: long lasting, of course
2: The ideal thickness, whatever that is
3: As resistant to picking up sawdust as possible.
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So, does anyone actually know if these differences exist, and which formulation is best?
I did a bunch of research last night on whether there is any difference between various brands, and colors. The general consensus was that they are all the same, but I couldn't find a single post or article that actually verifies this, it's just people guessing without actually knowing.
Here is the tiny bit that I DO know:
Some tires are thicker than others. When I bought my 14" Delta X5 years ago, it came with orange tires. Being anal retentive, I decided to buy a set of spares, in case I ever needed them in a hurry. I purchased a set of orange tires from Hartville tool. To my surprise, they were significantly thicker than the ones that came with the saw. (I removed one from the Delta, to be sure it wasn't just stretched thin.)
Of course, I have no idea if thicker is better, or worse.
2: My 21" Grizzly appears so far to be a very well made machine. I have no complaints. - But the tires seems awful. They are black in color, and very soft to the touch, easy to stick your fingernail into. Additionally, these tires are like a magnet for sawdust. (All urethane tires attract dust more than rubber tires, but these are much worse than the orange ones on my Delta.) Not surprisingly, Grizzly sells replacements for about $30 a set, (21") so they must surely be of an inferior material.
No problem, the important stuff like bearings, pulleys, etc all look top quality. This is NOT a dig at Grizzly. - But it does show that not all urethane is created equal.
3: The Ebay seller that offers "Blue Max" tires claims that they make their own urethane, in New Jersey, and that it repels dust better than the orange stuff. I have also read elsewhere that typically, orange urethane comes from China. (I can't confirm this.) So, it is POSSIBLE, that there are differing formulas, but who do you believe?
The best urethane tires should be:
1: long lasting, of course
2: The ideal thickness, whatever that is
3: As resistant to picking up sawdust as possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
So, does anyone actually know if these differences exist, and which formulation is best?