Grizzly Electric Motors

[Ben Franz]

I'm planning to upgrade my 14" Delta bandsaw to 1.5 HP (from 3/4 HP) and I've been pricing motors - yikes:eek::eek:. Lots of $$$.

Grizzly has two different motor lines listed (both TEFC) - one is $180 and the higher grade is $220. Both are imports, of course. I'm wondering if anyone has used either of these motors and if they are decent units for the price. Any experience or info would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Andrew Joiner]

surpluscenter.com has some deals on motors.

[Greg Bender]

Ben,
check out ebay,I just bought a $500+ Leeson 1.5hp 3 ph motor for repowering my lathe and got it for $65.It was a local pickup and that helped but still there was a ton of motors for 75 to a 100 bucks.
Greg

[Mike Henderson]

You'll often find good prices on eBay for small single phase electric motors. If you're not in a hurry you should be able to get a 1.5HP for about (or under) $100.

Mike

[PS I have a 1HP I'll sell cheap. I only used it a short while before I upgraded to a 2HP. As I recall, it's a good brand but I'd have to go look.]

[Scott Mann]

Interesting, i've thought about doing the same with my Grizzly (1 hp motor). let us know how it turns out.

[dan sherman]

I second watching eBay. You need to learn the Lingo, but once you do, you can get motors much cheaper on eBay than you can anyplace else.

[Thad McCulloch]

Picked up a new motor from a guy on Woodnet for $65 plus shipping. 1.5 HP at 220V. Runs good and am using it to power my planer. Might want to consider something like that instead. He had more than one of them when I bought mine a few weeks ago. I got the datasheet on it from the manufacturer.

[Peter Quinn]

I recently bought a 1HP grizzly TFEC motor from the less expensive series for use on an old craftsman shaper. I had trouble with the emerson POS (made in USA by the way) 1/2HP that came stock, I was given the shaper and wanted to use it for coping with 3/4" bore door sets, but it didn't have enough umph and kept bogging down.

The Grizzly motor does a fine job, was easy to wire, and has plenty of smooth power for my application. It is not a machine I use a lot, can't say I have battle tested this motor so to speak, but my initial impressions are favorable. The motors on half the small shop tools these days are Taiwanese imports anyway. I wouldn't compare this thing to the 5HP baldor on my PM66, but I really didn't need that kind of performance in this case anyway. I'd file the Grizzly motor under "good value suitable for my needs" in this case.

If you need a continuous duty motor to do hard labor on a daily basis in a challenging environment, by all means open the check book real wide and get a baldor or a leeson, or roll the dice on an import. For a small shop with lighter demands, a Grizzly may be just the thing.

[Ben Franz]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've checked out Ebay already and there are a lot of 3 phase motors but not many single phase that meet my requirements (TEFC mainly).

Mike - thanks for the offer but 1 HP isn't much of an upgrade over 3/4 HP original.

Peter - I was glad to hear from someone who had bought a Grizzly motor. If I decide to go that way I'll post results and pix.

[Chip Lindley]

IMO 1.5 HP on a 14" bandsaw is a bit of overkill! 1 HP is Plenty, and should be a bit more affordable also. For my Delta 14" BS, I found a GLOAT 1 HP Baldor motor for $15 from a salvage yard!!! A new external cooling fan, a sandblasting and coat of paint, and its a *Keeper*!!

[Ben Franz]

:eek::eek::eek: I dunno, Chip - I think they may confiscate your Binford logo for that statement! Yes, 1.5 HP might be overkill but when has that ever stopped any true tool junkie? :D

[Mike Zipparo]

I do a fail amount of resawing on my 14" Jet with a riser block, and for 8-12" wide (tall) pieces, I wish I had more than the 1HP that is on there. I don't think 1.5 HP is overkill at all, but keep in mind that the bearings and the rest of the machine may not be designed for > 1HP. Personally I would not be afraid of even 2 HP on my saw.

Mike

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=93997&highlight=Baldor

[Chip Lindley]

Well...then, I suppose I am not a true BINFORDite! I chuckle at TIM and his *overkill* in the name of heavy-handed Machismo! I had rather rely on a goodly ration of finesse' and common sense! For many years I have been on a very infintesimalwoodworking budget, and had rather Gloat over a solid bargain that gets the job done very well, than *name-drop* on *Mo'BIGGER,Mo'BETTER,Mo'HiTECH* ...a syndrome which seems to have No End! Clint Eastwood impressed me more than TIM when he said, "A man's gotta know his limitations!"

[Peter Quinn]

I have a powermatic 14" with a 1.5HP (so says the PM web site though i swear they used to call it a 1 3/4HP motor?) and I'd say it is just enough. Never strains, never stalls, plenty of overhead in most cases. Remember that story of the little engine that could? I hated that story. Why torture that little engine, why not just give it a bigger motor and let it do its job comfortably instead of giving it the shear minimum power and making it struggle all the way up that big hill?:rolleyes:

Most guys I've had in the shop that are used to 14" band saws have been a bit surprised at how much power my little saw seems to have. I gave my father a new Baldor 2HP motor I got for free (long story), should have put it in my BS and given him that smaller one. Silly me, the 2HP was 220 and I didn't want to rewire the built in light or be stuck buying 220V light bulbs. But that silly little light is the only thing that reminds me to release the tension on the quick release before I shut down the shop at night. And what good is a quick tension release that doesn't get released?

What I really need is a 3HP motor and an AUTOMATIC quick tension release triggered to the shop lights!:D

[Fred Hargis]

I had upgraded my Delta BS to 1 HP a few years back and bought a Griz motor for it. The dang thing had a metric keyway and key (apparently) when it showed up, some kind of manufacturing snafu. I wanted to get on with it, so was able to open up the pulley keyslot enough to work. I'm not anti-Griz (actually, I love them) but I'm probably going to try other sources for motors for the next one.

[Stephen Edwards]

Thanks for the motor tips in this post folks! I HOPE to complete my restoration of a 60s era 12" craftsman Band Saw this Summer. I think that the motor it now has on it probably came from a.......I dunno, but it ain't a woodworking machine motor! I'll remember the CL and ebay tip when looking for the motor. There's also a place near here (an hours drive or so) that has literally hundreds of old motors. Maybe I can find something there.

Thus far the BS has been completely taken apart, all of the parts cleaned except for the table (I've had it soaking in kerosene for months), new bearings for the wheels already done. I'm really looking forward to having this old jewel up and running. It'll be dedicated for curved cuts.

Any recommendations for HP size for this particular saw??

Thanks,

[Curt Harms]

I had a late '90s Griz bandsaw with a 3/4 h.p. Griz motor. It worked but was pretty wimpy when resawing 5"+. Put a G.E. 1.5 h.p motor on there, BIG difference. I would recommend this upgrade. Watch the frame type, shaft diameter etc. If you get a different configuration the upgrade can turn into more work than necessary.

HTH

Curt

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Hey Ben, what model Delta 14" BS do you have?

[Ben Franz]

Paul-

It's model 28-283 - 14" with riser block and older enclosed base (no doors - just 2 screw on panels for access). I bought it in 1988 or 1989 but haven't used it much the last few years. Decided to upgrade guides, dust collection and motor along with some "deferred maintenance". I think I'm going to get the motor on Amazon (thru SMC link, of course) since I have several reward certificates piled up. There is a Leeson farm duty motor for a decent price - none of the Ebay stuff available are any great deals. I'll start a new thread when the upgrade is done.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Don't forget that you will need to get a TEFC motor, as it lives in the saw dust pit on that saw.