Making bandsaw wheels

[CharlesWaugh]

Way cool play-toy!

I'm a mixed-materials guy myslef, so I need high-speed for wood, mid-speed for plastics, and low-speed for metals.
The high-speed is the problem - balance! They all Talk about balance in life!
:-)

I wonder: can a motorcycle wheel be balanced? Like a car's wheel?

Charles

[tonyfoale]

Way cool play-toy!

I wonder: can a motorcycle wheel be balanced? Like a car's wheel?

Charles

Yes, of course. With older style wire spoked wheels it was usual to wrap lead wire (solder was often used) around a spoke at the light side of the wheel. You could also buy cast lead weights which you could clamp to a spoke.
With cast wheels such as I used on the bandsaw, it is usual to use adhesive backed weight strips to stick on to the inside edge of the rim. Up until lead became poisonous these strips were lead now they are a substitute material with lower density and so you need more for the same effect.
I checked the balance of the bandsaw wheels and they were both close enough not to be a concern at the metal cutting speeds that I use. I would have balanced them if I was running at wood cutting speed.
Because these wheels are narrow you can use a simple static balance device to check the balance, no need for dynamic balance. Here is a picture which shows a typical balance device being used for racing wheels.

[tonyfoale]

Here are some pix of my wheel balancer. The wheel axle sits on the two bearings each side, The bearings need to spin very freely so that means that they must have no seals, be very clean and lubricated with nothing or very thin oil if any. Dry ceramic bearings are the best for low friction.



Some balancers have larger diameter "wheels" on the bearings, usually knife edged. These increase sensitivity, but you ought to use hardened axles if you use knife edges. Plain bearings as illustrated here are amply sensitive for wheel balancing.

This photo shows the weights on the wheel rim.

[Kwick Aronson]

I picked this up at the Long Beach Swap Meet a decade or two ago. The guy was selling them for $63.00 with good bearings ($3.00 cheaper with standard bearings)

It came with a rod to true wheels & magnets to hold it. Also hose clamps to hold the rim for truing.
And it is adjustable for different diameter axle ends.

[Kwick Aronson]

Second picture

[tonyfoale]

I picked this up at the Long Beach Swap Meet a decade or two ago. The guy was selling them for $63.00 with good bearings ($3.00 cheaper with standard bearings)

It came with a rod to true wheels & magnets to hold it. Also hose clamps to hold the rim for truing.
And it is adjustable for different diameter axle ends.

The adjustable width between bearings is nice. I didn't do that, I made it wide enough to handle the widest tyres that I'd use. I am only interested in 3 axle sizes (15, 17 and 20mm) and I have dedicated axles of those sizes, so a fixed width is OK for me. I wanted to keep it as small as I could because I often take it to races.

[DIYer]

Thanks tonyfoale! We've added your Wheel Balancer to our Motorcycle Wheel and Tire category,
as well as to your builder page: tonyfoale's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Wheel Balancer by tonyfoale

tags: motorcycle, wheel, balancing

[charles scozzari]

Very nice work. Please keep us up to date with your project.

[tonyfoale]

Very nice work. Please keep us up to date with your project.

If by project you mean the complete bandsaw then that was finished some years ago and there is a full description in this forum at Homemade vertical bandsaw.

and 5 youtube videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...LsTGSRpc2C6QOG

I have used bandsaws for well over 60 years and I have built two, one when I was a kid and this one as a geriatric. Now that that I have used it almost daily for the past few years I must say that is by far the nicest bandsaw that I have ever used. The care that I put into wheel alignment and squareness of other stuff has paid off handsomely.

[mpweir]

Thanks for your many posts, Tony. I have your book from 1984 and reread it every decade or so.
I made a 3-wheel bandsaw maybe 40 years ago, wanting a deep throat without huge wheels. The wheels are at the vertex and capitals of a big V made of large square section tubing. I never thought of using available wheels, but made mine from 3/4 inch plywood, about 12" diameter, with bearing housings machined from cast iron pipe floor flanges. The wheels were brush coated with thinned polyester resin after truing and crowning on their own bearings I glued bona fide saw wheel tires onto them using various adhesives, but the tires always came off. I think the high local loading and "squirm" of the tire material gradually ruptures the bond. I've never seen commercial bandsaw wheels without a recess for the tire, and suspect that may be necessary. Mine works fairly well running on the "hardened" wood, riding up the crown and only coming off when the blade jams or cuts too heavily. You could probably machine a groove in your body filler if needed.
Mike