Urethane bandsaw tires

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rutpoule
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Location: Rochester, MN

Urethane bandsaw tires

Post by rutpoule »

Question about urethane vs. rubber bandsaw tires. Looking at the Shopsmith site: http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... etires.htm the urethane tires have gotten mostly bad reviews. Wondering how many have had success with urethane tires and whether you got them from Shopsmith or got the Blue Max ones I see on eBay. I've looked at some of the threads stressing the importance of getting the wheels fully clean before installing them, but am still a little leery of switching to urethane with the number of bad experiences others have had. I have rubber tires now which seem to be a bit loose and have had to re-glue them in a couple places to keep them from flapping. They came with the saw, so don't know how old they are or whether they were the right size to begin with.
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beeg
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Re: Urethane bandsaw tires

Post by beeg »

IF and when I replace mine. It will be with the rubber tires. BUT I may consider the Blue-Max one that Bill Mayo recommended.
SS 500(09/1980), DC3300, jointer, bandsaw, belt sander, Strip Sander, drum sanders,molder, dado, biscuit joiner, universal lathe tool rest, Oneway talon chuck, router bits & chucks and a De Walt 735 planer,a #5,#6, block planes. ALL in a 100 square foot shop.
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Bob
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algale
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Re: Urethane bandsaw tires

Post by algale »

I replaced my rubber tires with the Orange urethane ones sold by Shopsmith. I have no complaints about the tires.
Gale's Law: The bigger the woodworking project, the less the mistakes show in any photo taken far enough away to show the entire project!

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debrown
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Re: Urethane bandsaw tires

Post by debrown »

I have replaced all of my bandsaws with urethane. Delta 10", Shopsmith 11" and Jet 18". They were all bought off the internet from two different vendors none were from Shopsmith. Being in the south, the high ozone levels cause the rubber ones to fail very quickly. Less than two and a half years on the Delta. The urethane has lasted ten years on the Delta and 5 on the Jet, neither show any signs of failing. I have had the Shopsmith 4 years and replaced the rubber before I ever used it. Hope this helps.
Don
In the Florida Panhandle

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'83 500 and '03 520 Anniversary Edition
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rutpoule
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Re: Urethane bandsaw tires

Post by rutpoule »

I did finally decided to get a set of urethane tires. So far, so good. I found them "easier" to install than the rubber ones. I put that in quotes because while it required more physical strength and agility than the rubber tires, there was no huge mess of adhesive. The new urethane tires seem to run smoother, but that's kind of subjective as I can't do a side-by-side comparison with brand new rubber tires (my old rubber tires were stretched out and lumpy).
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