Replacing Tires and Blade on the Bandsaw

Winginsue

Hi All,

So I got a used bandsaw with no manual. Alas, first time I tried to use it one tire disintegrated completely so I've ordered new tires (I thought they were belts) a new blade and new blocks. My problem? I have no manual. Any assistance would be great.

BuckeyeDennis

Here you go: https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/manuals/845539.pdf

Winginsue

Bless you sir!!!

dannyshamoon

Just an FYI....I used hot water to soften mine up and the install went easy.

RFGuy

Winginsue wroteHi All,

So I got a used bandsaw with no manual. Alas, first time I tried to use it one tire disintegrated completely so I've ordered new tires (I thought they were belts) a new blade and new blocks. My problem? I have no manual. Any assistance would be great.

Sounds like you will be replacing your bandsaw tires. I finally got around to replacing my tires with the urethane ones from Shopsmith recently. I had the replacement sitting there for awhile, but just never got around to it. Anyway, I followed some of the advice from several years ago that I found on the forum here. If I can find the link again, I will post it. Just know that removing the old tire, particularly if the bandsaw has some age on it, is a real pain in the butt. Mine were old and dry rotted and would only come off in pieces bit by bit. I used a screw driver to pry it off section by section. Be careful if you do the same. I also used one of those thick blade paint/putty knives to be handy to kind of start the tire lifting (breaking the glue free), then using the flat blade screwdriver to lift a section of tire. Once this was done around the entire wheel, I used a razor blade to remove some small bits of tire that were still attached. The final round was using a wire wheel to remove the last little bits of tire and glue from the wheel. Acetone should also work for this, but I didn't have any on hand. However you accomplish all of this, you want to get everything removed down to bare metal for attaching the new tires. I believe all the new urethane tires are friction fit, i.e. no glue holding them on, but I can't speak for the rubber replacement tires. If your old tires are anything like mine, expect a few hours to do all of this. Don't rush it and be careful...never safe doing the techniques I describe above. I was fortunate and never had the screwdriver or razor blade slip on me, but also kept them aimed away from my body. Sorry if I sound like a disclaimer at the bottom of a car commercial or something...just had too many accidents of my own in the past so I am trying to urge caution for the techniques that I share for this process.

https://shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maintenance-and-repair-f10/removing-old-bandsaw-tires-t4486.html

https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=52

bainin

I've had good luck using "Goo Gone" on these tenacious adhesive layers under the bandsaw tires as well as under the disc sander sheets.

You have to scrape it down first as mentioned above but once its a thin layer-this stuff is good to clean to the final surfaces.

On the bandsaw- once you get it setup and running, it may be good practice to loosen the tension on the blade when not in use for extended periods so you don't "dent" the tires in 1 place.

b

RFGuy

bainin wroteI've had good luck using "Goo Gone" on these tenacious adhesive layers under the bandsaw tires as well as under the disc sander sheets.

You have to scrape it down first as mentioned above but once its a thin layer-this stuff is good to clean to the final surfaces.

On the bandsaw- once you get it setup and running, it may be good practice to loosen the tension on the blade when not in use for extended periods so you don't "dent" the tires in 1 place.

b

Good tip. Wish I had tried this. Also, for the links to old threads that I posted above, the one thing I didn't follow was baking the wheels in the oven before trying the remove the old tire (as described by a post there). I probably should have done this, but I was a little concerned about cooking the bearings in the wheel too much. My method was definitely brute force and labor intensive...It worked, but feel free to follow any better advice posted here.