Shopsmith Forums

I just came from a friend's house after checking his SS bandsaw.
He had a complaint that it was throwing the blade and that he had not used it for a long time.
I corrected the tracking but noticed that the lower wheel did not have a tire on it. There were no indications that there had ever been a tire on the wheel.
No old pieces or rubber or anything.
The wheel had two raised areas at the outer edges and resembled a bicycle wheel without a tire on it.
Was this normal construction for bandsaws from this time period or is there really a tire missing.
I don't recall ever seeing a bandsaw af any kind that did not have a rubber tir on both wheels.
Isn't a tire necessary to prevent damage to the sawblade?:
Also this is the drive wheel that receives power from the headstock so it seems to me that the rubber tire is necessary to prevent slippage.
Bill

Not being an expert, I can not say, but this would be the first one that I ever heard of that did not have a tire. I recommend contacting customer service.

Yes, you must have a tire on each wheel. I would believe if there was no tire, you would soon have no set in the teeth on one side of the blade. It might still work for cutting circles in one direction but should never cut a straight line if it will even cut.

I find that the black tires seem to work as well as the Urethane tires for me and a lot cheaper. So far, I am not even glueing the black tires and they are holding up well for me so far with no sign of slippage. I mark the botton tire and wheel so I can check. The top tire should never need glueing. I will glue the bottom tire if I see slippage. I have been cutting 1/4" aluminum along with 3/4" Oak with no problem.

Bill Mayo

Wish I had seen this earlier this weekend BEFORE I glued on the upper tire. The directions I got with the tire looked easy, but, without the proper vise, it wasn't so. I got it done, but was thinking that as tightly as the rubber is stretched around the wheel, how is it ever going to slip. Oh, well, live and learn.

wa2crk wrote:I just came from a friend's house after checking his SS bandsaw.
He had a complaint that it was throwing the blade and that he had not used it for a long time.
I corrected the tracking but noticed that the lower wheel did not have a tire on it. There were no indications that there had ever been a tire on the wheel.
No old pieces or rubber or anything.
The wheel had two raised areas at the outer edges and resembled a bicycle wheel without a tire on it.
Was this normal construction for bandsaws from this time period or is there really a tire missing.
I don't recall ever seeing a bandsaw af any kind that did not have a rubber tir on both wheels.
Isn't a tire necessary to prevent damage to the sawblade?:
Also this is the drive wheel that receives power from the headstock so it seems to me that the rubber tire is necessary to prevent slippage.
Bill

The Magna bandsaw that came with my used SS didn't have a tire on the lower wheel, but it looked like there once was one there (glue residue). The plastic cover shows some evidence of "battle scars" from having thrown a tire or a wheel at some time :-)

I put the urethane tires on the upper and lower wheels, and then aligned all the tracking bearings. The saw runs great, none of the screeching noises that others have complained about.

John, I need to go through my old magna bandsaw that came with my Mark V also. It has the black rubber tires on both wheels but I'm in need of the bearing upgrade kit.

pinkiewerewolf wrote:John, I need to go through my old magna bandsaw that came with my Mark V also. It has the black rubber tires on both wheels but I'm in need of the bearing upgrade kit.

My SS is 1955 vintage. If it were me, I'd clean up the bandsaw, lube the upper wheel bearing (it's a needle roller bearing) with some grease, carefully align the tracking and blade bearings according to the SS manual (there's an earlier post by Nick on this) and see how she goes before going through the bearing upgrade. The tracking bearings need to have the blade centered on them, which the sides of the bearing parallel to the blade; the guide bearing should be just a hair behind the blade over the travel of the cut height adjustment. Mine was way out and it took a bit of fiddling to get it right.

wa2crk wrote:The wheel had two raised areas at the outer edges and resembled a bicycle wheel without a tire on it.
Was this normal construction for bandsaws from this time period or is there really a tire missing.
Bill

I'd sure like to see this wheel. I've never seen a bandsaw wheel with the raised edges that I envision with this description.

Any chance you could post a photo?

This is a Shopsmith bandsaw - right. I don't believe that was ever so stated. I just assumed ( ass u me (d)).

dusty wrote:I'd sure like to see this wheel. I've never seen a bandsaw wheel with the raised edges that I envision with this description.

Any chance you could post a photo?

This is a Shopsmith bandsaw - right. I don't believe that was ever so stated. I just assumed ( ass u me (d)).

My Magna bandsaw has the raised edges on the wheels. The urethane tire thickness is greater than the edge height though.

All the Shopsmith bandsaw wheels have the raised edges.

Bill Mayo

dusty wrote:I'd sure like to see this wheel. I've never seen a bandsaw wheel with the raised edges that I envision with this description.

Any chance you could post a photo?

This is a Shopsmith bandsaw - right. I don't believe that was ever so stated. I just assumed ( ass u me (d)).