FS-350 - Idler Tire

[Jim Becker]

While doing a "marathon" milling session today for a client project, my FS-350 started to get noisy and there was that absolutely wonderful aroma of, um...burnt rubber. A bit of investigation determined that the tire on the idler wheel for the infeed/outfeed rollers was loose and wandering on the wheel. Is there a product of some sort that I can use to bond that tire to the wheel? The parts manual seems to only offer the whole wheel and tire as a single part...and I'm waiting with baited breath to find out what it costs once my password at PartsPronto gets reset.

Your thoughts? The tire is the "orange thing" and is about 3-4mm give or take thick and made of some form of rubber like compound. The wheel is cast metal.

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I did manage to get through the remaining material, but have other jobs waiting, so a solution to keep that tire from wandering would be nice...thanks in advance!

[Dan Friedrichs]

Looks very similar to the arrangement on my Felder C3-31. The few times I've accidentally stalled the planer, I wore a flat spot into that rubber and had to replace the wheel. It wasn't terribly expensive - $50 or so.

[Phil Gaudio]

I'd be tempted to try a urethane/polyurethane construction adhesive: the tricky part is determining the compatible adhesive for the orange material.

[John Lanciani]

3M 08001 weatherstrip adhesive is the glue of choice for bandsaw tires, should work perfectly for you.

[Jim Becker]

3M 08001 weatherstrip adhesive is the glue of choice for bandsaw tires, should work perfectly for you.

Can that kind of product be applied, say, with a syringe? That might allow me to make the fix without tearing down, or at least having to remove the drive belts. 'Just curious and I appreciate that suggestion!

[John Lanciani]

It comes in a toothpaste tube, and the consistency is often referred to as “elephant snot”. If you can get the tip of tube to the wheel you should be able to pry the tire up and work it in.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks, John. I just ordered some and will have it Saturday. Even if it's ultimately only a temporary solution, it's worth trying. It did get a little chewed up when I was running those last pieces as I really had to get that work done before totally shutting it down.

[Jim Becker]

Just in follow up, John's advice to use the 3N weatherstrip adhesive was spot on. I removed the wheel, cleaned things up, glued the "tire" back on. (it was actually keyed to the wheel), let it cure overnight just for good measure and reinstalled. No more "orange snow" or noise. Back in business!

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[Jim Becker]

In the immortal words of Mork..."Chuzbut"....

No joy. The tire ripped itself apart today while I was doing some final milling of some stock. I ordered a new wheel/tire replacement (only available as an assembly) which will ship from Italy and be here in a few days. I'm guessing that the material that the tire is made of degraded over time given I bought the machine in about 2003. It did seem a little "crunchier" than I would have expected. If the new one lasts 17 years, too, I'll be fine with that. I imagine it heats up a bit when in use for thicknessing.

[John TenEyck]

Oh well, it was worth a try. They must have changed how that wheel/tire is made from my vintage to yours. I have a FS-35 from the mid 80's and the tire is black and appears to be vulcanized to the wheel. Still running fine - and I hope it continues to.

John

[Ronald Blue]

Oh well, it was worth a try. They must have changed how that wheel/tire is made from my vintage to yours. I have a FS-35 from the mid 80's and the tire is black and appears to be vulcanized to the wheel. Still running fine - and I hope it continues to.

John

And now you have jinxed yourself John. Just kidding.

[Jim Becker]

Oh well, it was worth a try. They must have changed how that wheel/tire is made from my vintage to yours. I have a FS-35 from the mid 80's and the tire is black and appears to be vulcanized to the wheel. Still running fine - and I hope it continues to.

John

The orange tire seemed to be a coarser material than typical rubber, etc. That could either be because it's "different" or because it degraded and turned into something else. The picture of the new part/assembly shows the same orange color, however. $197 for the wheel/tire combo. Sadly, $90 for express shipping to avoid about a 12 day wait. I can't be shut down that long from being able to thickness material. I can run to a friend's shop for something quick and small, but that wouldn't be appropriate for bigger jobs. (I actually need to do that tomorrow to dimension a few small filler strips for the client project I'm working on, but it's four sticks about four feet long and will only take a few minutes with minimal debris into their DC system)


And now you have jinxed yourself John. Just kidding.

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[James Biddle]

I wonder if you could send the old wheel in to Western Roller and have them make and install a new tire?

[Jim Becker]

I wonder if you could send the old wheel in to Western Roller and have them make and install a new tire?
Interesting company, James....I wasn't aware of them. I kinda suspect that with design and setup, it would likely be more than the $197 that the assembly costs from SCM. They don't seem to have a standard product that would be a match that I can see.

At any rate, I should hopefully have the part tomorrow or Monday from "sunny Italy", hopefully virus free. :) :D

[Bill Dufour]

I was going to ask if the corona virus is affecting shipping from Italy. I understand it is in northern Italy where something like 30% of industrial production is slowed. Glad to hear it is shipping soon.
Bill D.

[Jim Becker]

For $90 for DHL International, it sure as heck better have shipped! LOL

[mreza Salav]

Too bad. I have the same machine. For me it was the chain that once broke loose, the chain connector clip broke. Had a hard time finding a matching one in the local shops but finally found something that worked.

[Jim Becker]

New idler wheel/tire arrived today. This one appears to be urethane and much nicer than the original. I'll hopefully get it installed tomorrow and be fully "back in business". Literally. I need to mill some stock for a client project. :)

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