12-7-2020 We are back at the band saw again because we lost an 8" piece out of the lower tire. The tires were redone in 2009, and other than the ejected piece they are in great shape. Bummer!
Since we had the wheel off 11 years ago and reinstalled it with never seize, it came off first try, without any heat. Those of you who have tried this before know that those Oliver tapered shafts can really swap molecules with the wheels and don't like to come off.
Now getting the rest of the old tire off, wire brushing the wheel and cleaning with lacquer thinner. Ordered the new tires From Bobby @ Woodworkers Tool Works and got enough tires for our buddy Jason's saw, while we were at it.
Next for the tire stretching operation, like putting a girdle on an elephant. Our stretching jig has been hanging on the wall for a long time. Here's how we do it; we put the tire on inside out (rougher side facing out) and pull the dowels, then we cup wire brush on angle grinder the tire on the surface that will be inside next to the wheel. Next we put the dowels back in and equalize the stretch as much as possible. Then we coat the inside of the tire ( now facing out) and the rim of the wheel with glue. We have to hurry through this step because this stuff starts to dry fast. Next we roll the tire down, rolling the glue side of the tire onto the glue on the rim, and then with our coat hanger tool 1 guy pulls the tire out and the other removes a dowel and spreads more glue on that spot, going quickly around the wheel to opposing dowels. That's confusing to try and put into language, and sorry there are no photos of that part because we didn't have time to take pictures.
Now we let her dry overnight.
Next will be trimming around the rim, remounting on the saw and drum roll.... crowning the tire! We have done this so many ways over the years including on a gigantic Oliver #102 Pattern Miller to our Oliver 30" double disk sander. This time I am going to try a new technic I saw on OWWM using a large die grinder and crowning while the wheel is on the saw. I tried something like this a long time ago with a router bit and decided it was way too dangerous, but we still have the die grinder. The new technic uses a grinding stone shaped to the crown. The plan is to rig this thing and clamp to the saw casting. I am going to tap the ash 2x4 with a hammer to advance the stone into the work.
Oliver Tire Crowning Jig Video
So in conclusion here is my report; this method is now my very favorite method for crowing band saw tires of all the ways we have tried over many years! It did such a great job that our saw is running smoother than ever! Big shout out to OWWM for this great idea! The stone we used is a 60 grit (left a great finish on the rubber) and I would like to try a little coarser next time. This technic takes a little time but don't they all. This old die grinder is a 1/4" shank and I think a 1/2" shank might be an improvement and possibly easier to find these big stones to fit. These would be the only two improvements that I can see for now.
Thanks for watching!
Chuck, just another sponge in the sea of knowledge.
Thanks Chuck! This is very interesting and helpful!