Dressing bandsaw tires, a sure method of truing the wheels + an edge question for ye

[Tom Trees]

Hi folks
Just thought I'd post some videos I made, as I've tried dressing tires in the past but there was always some niggles that needed to be sorted out...
Took me a while, say at least a dozen attempts, and twice as many videos to develop a technique which was a sure way of doing things.
My last efforts has made all my other video attempts redundant , so I won't bore ye with those.
I think this comes across fairly clear, some of the details as to the why or why not's, are in the description of the first video linked, but it's super tedious and not really worth the watch...even for a bandsaw fanatic like myself.
Might help if you're trying to sleep, but I'm sure my "good" videos will do that anyways.

I know it's nothing special, but all the same I'm delighted to get the job done and to help other folks who might be in the same boat as I was.
Not saying I'm finished yet, as I might address the edges of the wheels to give a constant edge, but I don't think I'm too far from the finish line.

Eager to see what you folks with flat tires/tyres, who run wide blades off the wheels have to say about crisp edges.
There isn't many folks who actually talk about tires and dressing, as many just buy new ones.
I even bought a rubber tire myself, but it has a track which would need be dressed off anyway, so it's not only valid for the
frugal.

Truing the lower wheel (with super tedious previous attempts linked in the description)
Dressing bandsaw tires PART 2, truing the lower wheel. - YouTube

Truing the upper wheel
Dressing bandsaw tires PART 3, truing the upper wheel - YouTube

And a test at the end, I have the before in my first tire dressing video
Test run after tire dressing - YouTube

And a snippet of the machine running beforehand, if its of any interest.
Dressing bandsaw tires part 1 - YouTube

I tried to merge these videos without success as the files were too large.
Sorry I ain't no youtuber, just trying to add a raindrop into the pool of knowledge.

My tires are a bit shook, and there area few lumps missing, but thinking I might just get away with mounting the cutter at 60 degrees or thereabouts, as the flat might get quite narrow if set at 45, should I need to get that far into the wheel.
Eager to see what you folks have to say about crisp edges and anything else on the subject.

Thanks for reading, I might try and take a few photos of the setup shortly, rather than screenshots,
incase some of you have slow internet connections.
Likely it might help my query, to give a clearer idea of the edges of my wheels, and to see what ye say,
i.e...

"My tires are like that, but it doesn't look like I have a bad blade weld",
or...
"My tires are like that, but I don't track the blade so far forwards fr it to be a problem"
or
"My tires were like that, but the blade settled down when the lumps got a bit filled up with resin/sawdust"

And other factors which would be interesting to know, be it repair or whatever else.

bandsaw dressing snapshot .jpgdressing bandsaw tires .jpg

Cheers for reading, eager to put my machine back together, but holding out until I hear you folks thoughts.
All the best
Tom

[Tom Trees]

Hello again all, will have to edit this in a bit to add some clear photos
I will pose a question, since I'm guessing you guys have mostly crisp edged tires on you're Italian machines.

Regarding a crisp edge acting as a crown..
I'm trying to see if I can bevel my tires so they can have a constant edge and not the blade not follow a wavy one.
I figure that I should see if I can eliminate the need for dressing the edge first.
So for clarity, I will level my machine in situ, properly... using a pair of plumb bob lines and four blocks,like so
Plumb bob and blocks.jpgSAM_4729.jpg

Once I get that done, I will be making sure the wheels are plumb with each other, for my queries sake.
Seems the hub on both my wheels are the same, so can use the bolts for easy alignment.
The top wheel mount is movable on my machine for this.
Hopefully you can see the plum bob.
SAM_4595.jpg

So with that in mind that there is adjustment, I'm trying to find out...
If by going by the laws of camber, i.e the blade will track at the highest point on a crown,
and the edge of a flat tire does the same...
Then does this mean that I could find the widest part of the tire, since the flat is inconsistently wide due to the variable bevel of the edges,
and use this as a reference point.
Mark it out with a biro, and measure from the edge of the rim.
Do this on both wheels, and adjust the distance.

Seems worth trying, will have a muck about in a bit, have to see what tracking the blade further off the wheels is like beforehand,
but in my mind, the blade shouldn't wander regardless of what position it's tracked to, (within reason)

Thanks for reading
Tom

[Mike Kees]

Tom, I can not figure out what exactly you are trying to accomplish ? Are your tires worn ? Seems to me it would make the most sense to replace the tires with new ones and get back to making sawdust.

[Tom Trees]

Yes there is damage to the tires Mike, but I'm guessing it's only the edges of them which is at fault now, and maybe a lump or two missing.
Some major work has been done to my machine, plenty of welding, so it's not just broke yesterday.
Might as well finish the job off as I see it.

Knowledge seems to be missing about dressing tires.
I remarked in the first video, that the Centauro replacement tire (the only 600mm rubber tire I could buy)
has a rib which would need to be dressed off, and after that, could likely do with a dress as I'm not impressed with the undulations.
Much thinner than the vilcanised tire also, so there's your answer.

Just spent a wee while moving the machine into it's spot in the workshop, as I want to do some experimentation on my query.
for the three plumb bobs on the machine now.
Might see if I can get some fishing line and PU adhesive, perhaps this stuff, probably the only stuff around I would be able to get.
gorila PU.jpg

Might be worth seeing if it could even add some meat to the edge, aswell as the void or two on the tires.
On a seperate note
As someone else was wondering, yes I attempted tracking the 3/4" blade much further off the wheels in a preferable manner for the flat tire brigade,
and the machine wasn't happy.

Thanks for reading
Tom

[Tom Trees]

Hello again folks, hoping you don't mind me pasting my progress from the bandsaw place, as I don't want to write it all again.
Might explain with pics should some not see what I'm talking about.
I had a wee mess around with tracking the blade in various locations on the wheels,
I would have liked to track the blade with the teeth off the wheels a bit more than in my video,
but the machine wasn't happy, no surprise there.
Didn't bother assembling and giving it a go, just for fun to see how well it cut, maybe if it were a wee bit nicer
I might try, but that table is heavy and I don't want to take it off again.

Haven't got much done since, but did get some supplies from town.
I've since stumbled across a thread at the Canadian woodworking forum and also on the creek, titled...
A repair to vulcanized band saw tires, where Jack Forsberg used some PL construction adhesive to fill some voids on his machine.

Seems worth a go, so I bought the closest thing, some gorilla glue.
Jack mentioned the stuff he used was the same hardness as the rubber.
Should it not be any good, but workable, I can stretch the new tire over it.

I might get away with doing the bottom wheel to see first, since it got the worst of the abuse.
Also got some woven string for my plumbobs, which made things a lot less effort to use.
I wanted to move the machine into its spot in the shed, and thought I'd try and see how well it worked.
Still not easy, pretty much a two lamp job and a pain with one.

I wanted to have it levelled again so I can mess about with wheel protrusion.
Spent quite a bit on this cord for what it is, came with two pins for walls, it's much too delicate for that I woulda thought.
Decided it was worth making a bob for, so found an old eye for towing a car as it seemed to be quite heavy.

Just to give you a side by side look at why two lamps would be better than one
This is for anyone who's got a rocking machine
Much easier to see
SAM_4959.jpgSAM_4960.jpg

My wee 4 blocks and nice cord with rubber bands to grip

SAM_4964.jpg

As you can see I can line up the wheels, the top wheels being adjustable in depth from the cabinet, should I get away with only doing the bottom wheel, I can line up the edges.
Still likely to need some dressing there.
It's also adjustable left/right to account for tire thickness, so I can trust my table to be at 90 degrees.
SAM_4977.jpgSAM_4997.jpg
SAM_4995.jpg


Will be giving the machine a good rub down, and then dampening the surface (seemingly)
and applying the gorilla original in thin amounts, letting cure for two days before doing anything further.
Not done any testing of temperature of the cast wheels, but have some suitable fan heaters, oil rads, heat guns,hairdryers, and a
infrared thermometer gun, from the writing on the box, this stuff seems fairly forgiving in regards to temperature.
best results warmer, I'll likely be using some heat.

From the epoxy pour videos which are everywhere, heat can have detrimental effect if too hot, and too thick, so will be cautious.

Not sure if masking tape will be enough of a barrier to cover the wheel(s)
Might do the rims with some insulation tape.

Hoping to have a crack at this tomorrow, but it will likely take a week to get to a stage where I can test it.

Love to know more about this glue, couldn't find much on youtube regarding anything close to using the stuff for filling.
Cheers
Tom