Glue for rubber to Al?

It will probably peel off. Thermal cycling is a difficult problem to get by with rubber glued to metal. But hey, it costs little to try. Contact cement and getting the metal very, very clean.

I'd suggest finding a section of hose at the hardware store or auto parts which has an outer diameter you like, and then turn your pulley to have an inner diameter that just lets you jam the hose on there, so you have a no-seam ring of rubber, mostly held on by friction. Remember to put a bit of crown on the pulley, too - you can probably just crown the rubber once the rubber is on there.

3M 1300 rubber adhesive is used to glue bandsaw tires to the wheels. It's a contact adhesive available in quarts and 5oz tubes. A tube goes a long way.

Ned Simmons

There are many specialty shops that will vulcanize rubber onto the wheels to any hardness and thickness you want. I worked for a company that did production belt grinding of welded seams. Normally the idler was crowned, bare metal, and held the belt on track. The other wheel was machined square with sometimes a little break on each edge to prevent cutting the belt. I have made school project wheels using inner tube material to cover the aluminum wheel. I would use common contact cement and roll on the section of tube like a sock. When I didn't have the correct diameter tubing I tried just rolling on a section of tube. I was amazed that it held and the seam line did not peel off. Make sure that you use the contact cement properly. That means the coating on both the wheel and rubber must be tack free before assembly. Randy

Thanks for the ideas, guys. I like the "press a section of hose over it" idea. I may even have some suitable stuff under one of the benches at work. Have to check that tomorrow. If not, contact adhesive sounds like the next good choice.

Thanks again!

AL A.

And just to repeat a suggestion at the beinning of this thread - if you are contemplating glue - GET THE METAL CLEAN!

Ken.

Go find some synthetic rubber cement. Most of its synthetic now, anyway. Get some MEK or Touluene solvent while you're there. Cut some of the cement until it runs like water. Brush it on both sides of the joint and come back half an hour later or until it is tack free. Put them together and press them in place for awhile, like a day or so in a reasonably warm place. The remaining traces of solvent will stick the glued parts together, and after awhile should be as tight as you can ever get rubber cement. The reason for the solvent is to get it thin enough to be a very smooth surface, free from as many bumps and whatnot as you can get, unlike the uncut stuff which is darn near impossible to do.

"Al A." wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com... | | Thanks for the ideas, guys. I like the "press a section of hose over | it" idea. I may even have some suitable stuff under one of the benches | at work. Have to check that tomorrow. If not, contact adhesive sounds | like the next good choice. | | Thanks again! | | AL A.

I'd also suggest the last cut on the OD of the wheel be with a sharp-pointed bit so it tears the metal. Excellent grip for an adhesive.

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If you can't find a suitable hose (think about the possible internal braids) You might be able to get a chunk of rubber in the kind you need. It comes in different thickness and hardness and formulations.

I would think you also might be able to find a bushing that was close and glue it over your roller and then with the whole assembly mounted on your lathe grind the od to what you need.

If you have a tool post grinder this is no problem, if not you might be able to jury rig a small hand grinder to the tool post and take light cuts off the rubber.

Again, All excellent suggestions. I am still looking around for some hose in a good size. If not, I will go the glue route, following all of the advice here. I have not gotten back to this part of the project yet, but will let you know how it goes when I do. Thanks again!

-AL