Band Saw Tire Question

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I just received new urethane band saw tires for Christmas. I have a 12" Jet and the new tires are 3/8" wider than the old rubber ones. The new ones do not fit into the wheel indention. I thought that these were one size fits all 12" saws. Should they be taken back or can they be cut down?:confused::)

[Bob Genovesi]

Chris,

It's always best to use the proper replacement parts when servicing equipment. Can they be modified and used, I would say "probably" but don't these tires have a crown in the middle? If the correct replacements are available then I'd opt for the right ones, they'll be less troublesome.

[Wilbur Pan]

Go ahead and cut them down. The easy way to do this is to get them on as centered as you can, then spin the wheel and trim off the excess with a razor blade or utility knife. You will want a sharp and/or new one for this.

I'm not sure exactly what the 12" Jet bandsaw wheels look like, but the fact that they are indented makes me think that there is a crown in the middle of the wheel. A crown, either on the wheel or tire, helps the blade track in the middle of the wheel. Because of this, you won't have to worry if the edge of the trimmed off bandsaw tires aren't perfect. On a crowned bandsaw wheel, the blade will never go near the edge.

The thing to be careful of is to make sure that the trimmed down tires fit completely into the recess. If you don't trim down the tires enough, they won't completely seat down in the recess, and you won't get the proper crown, which will lead to all kinds of tracking problems.