Folks; I'm new to the site and immediately want to ask for helpful information.
I have recently purchased a Yates-American J-120 nominal 20" band saw. I have torn it down and replaced the bearings, but the wheels yet need new tires. The lower wheel is crowned and I expect to just glue on a new rubber tire from Carter (with a rubber band to fill the center groove).
The upper wheel had what apparently was a vulcanized tire with steel band fitted over the aluminum wheel. All the rubber was missing from the metal band, and there was a poor condition urethane tire glued on. The metal band was without crown, and appeared to not be of any real value to the assembly so I removed it. When removed, the aluminum wheel also is without crown, but with a center groove. I intend to fill the groove with a rubber band and then put on a rubber tire from Carter.
My question is whether I should create a fixture and crown the rubber tire on the flat wheel, or if it is probable that the blade will track OK with one wheel crowned and one flat? I can of course do this trial and error, but since apart would be easier to do any remedial machining up front. The removed urethane tire appears to not have been crowned at any time in the past, and the previous owner claims the band saw worked well for him for a number of years.
My rational for buying the saw was to have larger resaw capacity than my 14" Delta, though I do also want to use narrow blades for scroll work as I do not intend to keep two band saws.
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism/suggestions.
I have recently purchased a Yates-American J-120 nominal 20" band saw. I have torn it down and replaced the bearings, but the wheels yet need new tires. The lower wheel is crowned and I expect to just glue on a new rubber tire from Carter (with a rubber band to fill the center groove).
The upper wheel had what apparently was a vulcanized tire with steel band fitted over the aluminum wheel. All the rubber was missing from the metal band, and there was a poor condition urethane tire glued on. The metal band was without crown, and appeared to not be of any real value to the assembly so I removed it. When removed, the aluminum wheel also is without crown, but with a center groove. I intend to fill the groove with a rubber band and then put on a rubber tire from Carter.
My question is whether I should create a fixture and crown the rubber tire on the flat wheel, or if it is probable that the blade will track OK with one wheel crowned and one flat? I can of course do this trial and error, but since apart would be easier to do any remedial machining up front. The removed urethane tire appears to not have been crowned at any time in the past, and the previous owner claims the band saw worked well for him for a number of years.
My rational for buying the saw was to have larger resaw capacity than my 14" Delta, though I do also want to use narrow blades for scroll work as I do not intend to keep two band saws.
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism/suggestions.