Bandsaw woes

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

About 19 years ago I bought a small bandsaw for woodworking. I was living in Sweden at the time and the saw was a Chinese saw badged "Bruksbo" for one of the retail chains. The saw has been used for cutting wood and plastic materials. It has not been used much but it is very good for cutting out intricate shapes. I am sure the same saw must have been sold here in the UK badged for retailers here.

The saw is shown above.

I was using it yesterday and it suddenly started making a grating noise. On opening the cover it was apparent that the plastic tyre on the upper wheel had disintegrated into three pieces. It had become brittle with age. The tyre was about 3 mm thick, 12 mm wide and the upper wheel has a diameter of 237 mm. The photo below shows the saw with the door open.

I have made a temporary repair by sticking the three pieces of broken belt back onto the wheel using double sided carpet tape. This seems to be working OK but I would like to buy two new tyres in order to replace the two original tyres

Does anyone know of a UK supplier of bandsaw tyres for these small hobby bandsaws?

I am sorry the photos are on the side rather than upright. I have spent a long time trying to get them into the correct orientation but without success.

Mike

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Mike,

Despite what some think, the easiest way is to take pics, both in landscape and portrait, load them to your album and then delete the ones not wanted . So simple. In other words, turn the camera round!

[VicParticipant @vic]

Do a search for Bandsaw tyres on eBay, lots on there, hopefully they’ll have your size.

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

This looks similar to a Clarke CBS190. 190 refers to the throat size in mm. You can see a manual here **LINK**

If it looks like yours then you can try clarkeservice (or may be clarke-service) .co.uk for spares.

Otherwise just search for "bandsaw wheel tyre"

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I've now made replacement tyres on all 3 of my bandsaws, two x 3 wheel, and one 2 wheel hand held.

I used automotive gasket material, the stuff often used for old style sump gaskets, made from a granulated cork rubber mix.

Made with a long thin strip, glued on with "UHU" glue and finished with a scarf joint, such that the direction of rotation keeps it closed.

Some have been in use for several years, and seem to work every bit as well as the originals.

Try searching on ebay for "cork rubber gasket sheet" and you will see the sort of stuff I mean; in my case I picked up some thin stuff from a steam rally, and some thick sheet from the manufacturer near Sheffield.

Bill

[larry PhelanParticipant @larryphelan54019]

Thanks very much for that tip Not Done It Yet ! I never thought about turning the camera around !

As I say,you learn something new every day.

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Michael,

Try using many turns of insulation tape would round the wheel instead, a similar repair [not on this model] worked very well for me years ago and is still doing good service.

Do ensure that you wind the tape in the correct direction so that the saw teeth tend to lay the tape down rather than trying to pluck it off. Do be sure to make a good 'bed' for the blade to find it's own level in; add more tape to it if the packing effect begins to work thin

Regards

Brian

[Robin KingParticipant @robinking15611]

I'd recommend 'bandsaw-tire-warehouse'; they're based in the USA and regularly advertise on Ebay; search for 'bandsaw tires'.

I ordered a set of urethane tyres for my elderly Naerok three wheel bandsaw last year having been unable to obtain any in UK, and they proved to be a good investment and have transformed my machine so that it now cuts accurately and with no blade slip. The old rubber tyres had hardened and started to break up. Service from that company is first class and with prompt helpful replies to my email enquiries. Fitting is straightforward but you need to clean the wheels thoroughly to remove all traces of the old adhesive, and soak the new tyres in hot water to soften them a little to allow them to stretch over the wheels.

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

Thanks for all the ideas. There are certainly a few to follow up.

Robin/Vic – ebay was the first place I looked but there are none specific to my machine.

Robbo – the Clarke CBS 190 seems to be a different machine because the specified blade length is not the same. The machines are indeed very similar though and I shall download the manual since it is more understandable than the Swedish version.

Peak4 – I like this idea but to wrap around a 237 mm wheel I will need a strip 750 mm long. I cannot find the cork gasket material in a sufficiently long length. However, I have found solid neoprene rubber strip that is self adhesive and available 12 mm wide and 3 mm thick in 5 metre lengths at a sensible price so I am going to order some and give it a try.

Brian – I shall wrap some insulation tape around the existing temporary solution to try to improve matters pending the arrival of the neoprene strip.

Mike

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Mike, you have a PM.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Could you not buy a pre made flat belt of the correct length & width & slip it over the wheel & glue it in place

[Robin KingParticipant @robinking15611]

Michael

Bandsaw Tire Warehouse will make them up for you if you can't find ready made elsewhere – might be worth an email to them via Ebay.

[mark smith 20Participant @marksmith20]

The old walker turner 10" bandsaw i had came with disintegrating tyres. I just used the neoprene strip off ebay made into the correct diameter and just carefully butt jointed using super glue (the ethyl type ) . I then stretched the tyres over the wheel rims and used dunlop alpha thixofix contact adhesive to glue them to the wheels.

It has held fine for over 4 years and i use the saw almost daily.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 19/02/2018 19:22:25

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

I used 2 layers of cycle inner tube to get my old saw running.
I put a slight crown on the wheel first to keep the blade running true.

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

Many thanks to everyone who made suggestions for overcoming my bandsaw woes.

I have made a new tyre out of solid neoprene rubber strip 3 x 12 mm. This was spliced with a scarf joint and bonded using cyanoacrylate adhesive. This photo below shows the join. Double sided carpet tape was then used to bond the tyre to the wheel.

The new tyre seems to be working well and the bandsaw is now back in use.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Looks like a great repair, glad you got it sorted out Mike. JD

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