What was a tyre dresser?

[Claire64]

No amount of Googling will tell me this.  Was a tyre dresser like a tyre smith, one who made the iron bands (tyres) around wooden cart wheels?  I can't believe I can't find the answer to this one!

[oldohiohome]

searched for this, exactly as typed below:
old occupation "tyre dresser" -tire

found at this site:
http://doot.spub.co.uk/code.php?value=279

dresser (metal trades)
    (i) see frazer;
    (ii) removes roughness from castings, rolled rails, steel plates, etc., by chipping with hammer and chisel (see chipper) or by holding against emery wheel or by grinding with portable wheel; sometimes specifically designated, e.g., centre dresser, rail dresser, tyre dresser, wheel centre dresser, wheel dresser.

[Rena]

Anything that is cast in a mould, such as rubber tyres, or even pottery is usually "rough" around the edges and bits that should not be there needs toi be buffed off in a manner and with a tool that will do the job in hand.

[Claire64]

Thank you 😊

[Ray T]

I suppose it depends upon what date you’re looking at.

Twenty or so years ago, I had dealings with a firm that was entirely based upon the trimmings from tyre moulding. They ground the stuff up into small particles which were used for producing safety surfaces - e.g. playgrounds and tennis courts.

[stanmapstone]

No amount of Googling will tell me this.  Was a tyre dresser like a tyre smith, one who made the iron bands (tyres) around wooden cart wheels?  I can't believe I can't find the answer to this one!

Is this from the census? The 6 tyre dressers in 1911 were employed by steel works, and could have been dressing tyres for train wheels. A train wheel typically consists of two main parts: the wheel itself, and the  tyre  around the outside.

Stan

[Skoosh]

Stan is correct, I've had a shot at the fitting of these. The dressing/turning was not a trade in my time but probably was then! The forged steel tyres are turned/dressed in pairs to fit the wheel centres, a groove is cut on the inside, the newly cut tyre goes into a ring of gas jets & when expanded enough the up-ended & dressed wheel centre is lowered into the tyre. When cooled a bit the "Gibson Ring! is hammered into the groove cut in the tyre along with a small spacer. This then gets compressed on a roller until the ring & wheel are held tight. The wear on the tyres in traffic necessitates re-profiling back in the workshop at some point to remove "flats!" This process can be repeated several times until there is not enough "meat" left on the tyre & they are then cut off & scrapped. The centres are then cleaned up for fitting new tyres!
 Modern trains tend to have mono-bloc wheels with no tyres & the whole wheel is scrapped when worn down!

 Happy Days!
 Skoosh.

[Guy Etchells]

No amount of Googling will tell me this.  Was a tyre dresser like a tyre smith, one who made the iron bands (tyres) around wooden cart wheels?  I can't believe I can't find the answer to this one!

It all depends when you are referring for instance-
The Dictionary of Occupational Terms (published by the UK Ministry of Labour in 1927) states:-

608 Tyre Finisher; motor tread fitter, rubber tread maker, tyre tread fitter; affixes tread to tyre cover by hand, with solution, before vulcanisation; sometimes presses small pieces of rubber into required shape to form external surface of tread; usually does not re-tread, cf. Tyre maker (602), Tyre Retreader.

Cheers
Guy

[Skoosh]

A photo of the steel tyre being rivetted on the rolling machine, tapping with a hammer tells the operator that the tyre is tight on the centre. A bit like the wheel-tappers do out on the track with their long hammer, walking the length of the train testing for cracked wheels & loose tyres.

https://grouprhodes.co.uk/solutions-by-industry/railway/axle-wheel-assembly-machinery

Skoosh.