A method of cutting a sipe pattern into a tire tread includes feeding the tire tread through a leading roller assembly and toward a plunge cutting assembly along a tread plane, actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut a first sipe at a first angle and a first depth using a blade, the blade operably coupled to the plunge cutting assembly, and actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut a second sipe at a second angle and a second depth using the blade.

A method is provided for manufacturing tread for a tire without necessarily extruding the tread profile. The tread is created from multiple discrete parts that are cut from a sheet of uncured rubber material. The parts are joined together to create the tread, which can be applied to a tire immediate and cured to form a tire. Different treads formed from different rubber compositions may be created. The treads may also be created in varying shape and lengths with different rubber compositions used in different parts of the tread. One or more tread pieces can be applied to the same or different tire intermediates, which may be advantageous for simultaneous testing of different tread designs.

A tire tread with certain features and a method for manufacturing such a tire tread are provided. More particularly, a tire tread is provided that has layers of apertures where some layers remain covered until after a certain amount of tread wear has occurred. Such apertures can comprise, for example, sipes, grooves, or other apertured features in the tread. A method of making such tire tread is also provided.