Shopsmith Forums

This came with a lightly used and not abused Mark VII from the 60s. I got it at Salvation Army 30 years ago. I haven't done much maintenance nor have I used it much; now I'm going through it and doing an incomplete overhaul. It has the original tires. The are neither hard nor brittle but have bumps on them. I don't like what I've read about urethane tires. Are there any that are quality? SS replacements don't even get a 2 out of 5 in reviews. Do I need to replace these? Pictures could be much better but you probably can get a good idea of their condition. Your opinions ladies and gentlemen.

I would 'attempt' to file down the high spots and continue to use them.

I had the orange Shopsmith tires and had issues with them. I replaced them with the Blue Max urethane tires on ebay. Those have been trouble free. But if the original rubber tires can be salvaged, I would keep tem.

No matter what the tires look like, do you have problems when using the band saw? If yes and the problems can be related to the tires - change them. If No, ...your decision!!. I would leave them alone.

I do clean mine by spinning them (without a blade mounted) using a soft wire (brass) brush.

Other than the stains, those original rubber tires actually look pretty good for 30+ years. Mine were very dry rotted after 20+ years, but then I live in a hot, dry climate here which may explain it. Like others, I made the mistake of replacing them with the urethane tires that look red in the web picture but are orange in reality. Those have bad reviews on Shopsmith's website because they are garbage (tire separated from wheel for me). If you choose to replace them with urethane, I would only buy bluemax tires from eBay (just search for Shopsmith and bluemax) and have worked well for me so far. If the original rubber tires can clean up nicely, then keep them as long as possible.

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I think they are close to 55 years. The Mk VII and everything that came with it was in excellent condition. Even that plastic cam showed no wear. Those stains are actually small bumps, about the thickness of a fingernail. They are very hard. Can they be sanded down? I don't remember any issues with the saw but haven't used it in over two years.

Thank you all for your insight - very insightful and I think I'll keep the tires as they are.

db5 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:33 pm I think they are close to 55 years. The Mk VII and everything that came with it was in excellent condition. Even that plastic cam showed no wear. Those stains are actually small bumps, about the thickness of a fingernail. They are very hard. Can they be sanded down? I don't remember any issues with the saw but haven't used it in over two years.

Thank you all for your insight - very insightful and I think I'll keep the tires as they are.

They are probably just caked on saw dust. A little solvent and gentle scraping with a putty knife or a wire brush should remove it. I am not sure I would try sanding. Maybe as a last resort but don't damage the tires.