Band Saw Tires

[RobLund]

I am refurbishing my band saw after not using it for maybe 15 years. It was never used heavily before that. The 1/8 inch blade insists on tracking at the very back edge of the upper wheel, and falls off the back when I try to saw. The lower wheel tire has come loose from the wheel and I need adhesive to reattach it I know, but the lower tire also has a small tear on one edge. How can I fix the upper wheel tracking? Should both tires be replaced?

[JPG]

All sized blades should track the same. The back of them should track about 1/4" from the back of the tire(IIRC). If the blade is tracking further 'back', the upper wheel cant is 'insufficient'. That assumes the rear upper guide bearing(s) is correct.

Which 'edge' is torn on the lower tire?

Also has the blade been tensioned for 15 years?

More than likely the tires should be replaced.

[RobLund]

JPG:
If I replace the tires, will this correct the cant "Insufficiency"? The Blade is in the center of the rear guide bearing and rides firmly in the groove. Directions say the front/back adjustment of that bearing is fixed and can not be adjusted.
I have ordered new tires and will not do anything until I get thoses on. JPG, you mentioned an "upper Shaft Pitch". I have an older band saw (20-25 years old)with the solid table (no holes in the surface) and I can not see any sort of adjustment for the idler wheel except the tension device. How does upper shaft pitch play into this?

[dusty]

I can not relate to the tire coming off. The tires are so firmly attached to my two old bandsaws that I am concerned about how much work it is going to take to get them off when I do need to replace them. But those are my problems.

Since yours are already loose, I would probably replace them. It sounds like you are going to 'need to' anyhow.

As for the blade "tracking off the back" - this should not happen and I would not suspect wheel cant as the primary cause until after I was certain that the tracking bearings were all properly adjusted.

Unlike most other bandsaws, the Shopsmith blade does not track in the center of the wheels. The upper wheel is suppose to be canted so as to cause the blade to move back on the wheels. The bearings are to be adjusted so as to limit that rearward travel.

The procedure for adjusting these bearings begins on about page 13 in the manual (re this link):

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/manuals/845539.pdf

[billmayo]

If you are replacing the bandsaw tires, I would like to recommend buying the "Blue Max" bandsaw tires listed on Ebay. They have a life time warranty and are easy to install using a tool that comes with them. I have installed a few sets of these tires without any problems and have them on my bandsaw.

[JPG]

Neither the upper rear guide bearing nor the lower guide bearing are adjustable to position the blade in/out on the wheel. They are only adjustable to align with the blade motion or 'angle of attack'.

That leaves the upper shaft pitch as the determining locator of the top of the wheel relative to the upper rear guide bearing(i.e. positioned by way of the upper wheel canting).

I agree with Dusty that replacing the tires is most likely a given at this point.

BTW are yours the 'slip-on'(stretched) type or the glued on(rubber) type?

[RobLund]

Okay, I have replaced my band saw tires with new Blue Max tires. My blade still tracks at the very back edge of the upper wheel and I can not figure what is wrong. It seems as though moving the back guide wheel forward would do the trick but that guide wheel is not forward adjustable. Any suggestions?

[dusty]

There is a problem with communication here. We are not all on the same track when using the term cant. By my way of thinking, too much cant will cause the blade to track too far back at the top of the upper wheel. Insufficient cant, can and sometimes does, run the blade off the front of the upper wheel. I could have it all backwards but what I do know for certain is that the top of the upper wheel should be further back than is the bottom on the upper wheel. When this is the case, the blade moves away from you at the top and brings the guide bearing into play. The function of the guide bearing is to limit that backward movement of the blade.

You do not want to be running the band saw with the cover off when this happens. There is a potential for spilled blood.

If you can not correct the cant, consider talking with Bill Mayo. He has a number of tricks none of which I will attempt to communicate to you.

[beeg]

I found this on a different site. The tool is "sent a small tools (large dowel with a nail covered with plastic)".

[JPG]

Okay, I have replaced my band saw tires with new Blue Max tires. My blade still tracks at the very back edge of the upper wheel and I can not figure what is wrong. It seems as though moving the back guide wheel forward would do the trick but that guide wheel is not forward adjustable. Any suggestions?

Here is where a pix would be helpful. Keep in mind the SS bandsaw is different and the blade is supposed to track towards the back edge.

If the cant is correct(as described by Dusty) the back of the blade will be about 1/4" in from the 'edge' of the tire. If everything else is normal, do not get stressed about it being 'too far back' unless it is slipping off the wheel.

'Correcting' the cant involves twisting the upper arm that the upper wheel shaft is on. A pipe slipped over the shaft and pushed up will 'form' the arm and increase the cant.

We have historically measured cant as the space between a straight edge laid against the upper wheel and the top of the lower wheel. A thread a while back quoted CS as saying the blade should track 1/4" in from the back of the wheel. That makes more sense since the rear guide bearing is positioning the back of the blade.