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Jonathan Harvey
10-31-2007, 4:18 PM
Well I ruined the tires on my band saw and am now needing to replace them. I have a 17" General International. Is it better to buy aftermarket parts or Should I buy OEM? Does anyone have any recommendations for tires. My original tires were yellow and looked almost plastic, but I am fairly sure they were polyurethane.

Is rubber better? Any and all insight is appreciated.

Jonathan
William Falberg
10-31-2007, 4:26 PM
Poly is always better.
Lee Schierer
10-31-2007, 4:31 PM
The folks at Suffolk Machinery are very helpful and sell a good product. They have excellent bandsaw tires.
Jonathan Harvey
10-31-2007, 4:53 PM
The folks at Suffolk Machinery are very helpful and sell a good product. They have excellent bandsaw tires.


I called them and they can't help me out :( It seems that My general bandsaw comes with a crowned tire rather then a crowned wheel, Thus I need to order straight from General. I'm sure they will be more expensive
Murray Roblin
10-31-2007, 7:13 PM
Jonathan,

If you go the forums on OWWM.com, you can find many discussions on bandsaw tire crowning. The folks there advocate natural rubber tires and then crowning them yourself. McMaster Carr sells rubber tires as does suffolk.

Murray
Pete Bradley
10-31-2007, 7:29 PM
If the General normally uses a proprietary tire and it's available, I would get that. This tire may also snap into a groove in the wheel. I've done rubber tires, but the install and crowning will be more of a hassle than it would be worth in this situation (at least to me).

Pete
Jeff Clow
11-01-2007, 12:20 PM
Poly is not always better! I put a set on my late '40s Walker-Turner 16"...they did not work. The W-T has flat wheels, thus requiring the crown to be on the tire. The poly tires were too thin to be crowned. They also wouldn't stay on the wheels. It originally had rubber tires, and is made to run rubber tires (I don't think poly had been invented in the '40s). I am switching back to rubber, and cutting the crown.
What to use really depends on the saw and what it was designed for. There may be some cases where you can switch, but not in my case.
I would go with the suggestion of OEM, if possible. It may cost more, but you can't go wrong.