I’ve got a Delta 14″ bandsaw with riser block installed. 3/4hp stock issue motor.
My compressor died recently but the motor is still in fine shape. 3hp/220v single phase. Wiring and power for the motor is not a problem. Installing the motor on the bandsaw would not be a problem.
The question is, am I considering a situation that would “over power” the saw with this motor?
………..
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
Replies
That sounds about right for me. Since you have riser blocks, I would assume that you use the saw for heavy cuts. If so you are going to love that extra power for re-sawing or bowl blanks, or whenever you need to make thick cuts.
I went up from 5 to 7.5 on my 36" which will cut 16" of thickness. I would have thought that 1 hp per 3" of thickhess would have been enough, but there were times when I would overload that motor. Now I think it should be 1 HP per 2" is about right.
In my opinion, 3hp is overkill for a 14" band saw, if it will even fit. The frames are different. My guess is that you will be stretching blades, burning through tires and breaking welds. The Hitachi 75 resaw runs a 3" Stelite blade and only needs 7/8 of a horse. The best upgrade for that saw is a 1hp motor which is why it is standard on the next model up from yours. If anyone thought it would be a good idea, they would be making it standard already but nobody makes a 14" with a 3 hp motor or even a 2 for the consumer market.
Are you sure that your compressor motor is a 3hp or is that the pump rating. Lots of folks mistake the pump rating for the motor horsepower. For instance, Porter Cable makes a 6hp compressor that uses a dual voltage 110/220v motor. Now if you do the math, you know that it is impossible to make a motor develop 6 hp on a 110v, 15 or 20 amp circuit. Soooo, the 6 hp rating is obviously the pump rating and not the electric motor. Unless of course your compressor motor is running on petrol.
Sincerely;
The Tool Guy
I have to disagree with the Tool Guy on this one. While it is theoretically possible to stretch blades, break welds, and tear up the tires, none of this would happen unless you abuse the machine in a major way.
An induction motor only produces the power it needs to maintain a steady RPM, if you feed the stock at a reasonable rate and use sharp clean blades of the proper type, the motor will only be delivering the needed power, and should never go above supplying 1 to 1 1/2 HP to the saw. You would have to jam stock into the blade and heavily bog down the motor to force it into a horse power range that could do damage to the saw. Basically if you use common sense, you can use the compressor motor without risk.
John W.
Won't disagree with your theory at all. In fact I entirely agree. I talked to a couple of reps about what would happen if this modification were to be done and the general concensious was that it would work just fine provided that the motor was of the correct type. However, they all stressed concern that the increased horsepower might lead the operator to feel that the saw is capable of handling larger capacities than it was designed for which might result in pre-mature failure of other components. Sincerely;
The Tool Guy
The high end Delta 14" bandsaws have 1.5(110v)/2.0(220v) hp motors.
I find 1.5hp is large enough for any board I can pick up.
Dennis:
You should also consider that a compressor motor's duty cycle is for a short duration and not continuous duty. You may find that the compressor motor will create an excessive heat build up if left on for long periods of time. Additionally, it is sized for the constant fixed load of the compressor when it's running and not intended to be bogged down which may happen during a resawing operation.
Roger
Dennis:
You have the motor sitting there sooo go for it. What do you have to lose but some of your time. If the motor is not going to be used, install it and if it doesn't workout find a replacement on Ebay.
I have a 3hp on my 20" Cresent a 5hp on my 36" Moak and a 1.5hp on a 14" Jet.
DJK
FYI, Delta makes the 14" (U.S. built) saw in a 2 hp version (28-241F and 28-241G, single- and three-phase respectively). As pointed out already, the motor only outputs what you load it to, except at start-up, where the torque curve is higher for higher hp motors, as a general rule.
If you're concerned about damage, run the belt a little loose. It's not very elegant, and difficult to calibrate, but 3 hp is likely to slip the belt on a small motor sheave, depending on it's size, the type of belt, and belt tension.
As an interesting aside, a 1.5 hp induction motor will usually output in excess of 3 hp at the point where it's bogging noticeably. This is approaching the infamous "max developed" hp. It can't do this for long without either tripping it's own protective device, or popping the breaker, or burning up (assuming in all cases that it isn't protected by a more sophisticated magnetic starter), but it's doing it. So a 3 hp motor will allow you to work at that same power level without bogging, though at the point where it's bogging, it's outputting more than 6 hp. Don't get carried away, and use a magnetic starter with overload protection.
Check the speed of your compressor motor, by the way (it's on the nameplate). Many compressors, even large ones, use 3600 rpm motors, which allows a large fan/flywheel on the compressor driven by a relatively small motor sheave (larger sheaves cost more money, of course). 3600 rpm motors are generally cheaper than 1800 rpm, which is generally cheaper than 1200 rpm, and so on, so that's another reason why 3600 rpm motors are common on compressors. If the motor is 3600 rpm, then you'll need a large sheave on the saw arbor, like this 2 hp upgraded Delta I saw on ebay recently (see attachments).
One other thing, which was already brought up; unless the motor nameplate actually says 3 hp, it's not. The inflated hp numbers on compressors are on the big sticker on the receiver, but the motor nameplate under "hp" is either blank, or says "sp" for special, because the motor manufacturer can't lie on the nameplate (not if it's built to NEMA standards, which the major U.S. manufacturers do).
Be seeing you...
Thanks everyone for the interesting comments.
One thing that I hadn't considered that was mentioned is the duty cycle of the motor. I'll have to check the nameplate to see what it says. None the less, I've all but decided not to bother with using this motor on the saw because ...
1) in doubt about the duty cycle and RPM situation.
2) It's not a TEFC motor - the windings and internals are all quite visible through the motor case. My modified stand for the saw has the motor mounted below in a not-so-dustproof environment.
3) While adapting the motor to the motor mount on the saw wouldn't be that much of a problem I can see that I'll need to modify it more than if I were to simply buy a more appropriate motor.
so-on and so-forth. I have other uses for an otherwise useable 3HP motor around the shop. But I really want to thank everyone for offering their opinions and advice.
...........
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
The Florida Bandsaw Wizard, whose name escapes me at the moment, suggests benefits are derived both from a horsepower boost AND an increase in blade speed. Get his catalog, it's free, and chock full of stuff you want to know about bandsaws. Someone will post his name, Highland sells his springs, and I think his guide rollers as well.
"The Florida Bandsaw Wizard, whose name escapes me..."
Louis Iturra - Iturra Design, Inc. Jacksonville, FLDan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Gees, I resaw 6" stuff all the time on my old 12" Sears band saw and it only has a 1 HP motor. I think the key is to have good, sharp, blades. I use the Timberwolf 3 tpi blades for resawing. With those blades and a 1 hp motor, it never slows down.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Greetings PW -
The 3/4hp motor (stock on my Delta) does an OK job for most of what I do. Don't do a heckuva lot of re-sawing of wide stock, mostly cutting turning blanks from raw green wood which seems to fill the blade gullets moreso than seasoned wood. I doubt that additional motor power would do much to alleviate this...? I do have some rather nicely spalted birch in about 12" long log lengths that I'm thinking would be nice for doing some small box projects, though.
The whole discussion related to using this 3hp motor was the idea of putting it to some use. After reading some of the input from the folks here I realize that this motor isn't suited for use in a saw environment anyway.
You're quite right - a 1hp or even my 3/4hp motor with a good qauality 3tpi blade is quite adequate for my needs. I've been using mostly Lennox blades since that's what my local saw shop carries.
...........
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled