Curt Harms
11-04-2004, 9:22 PM
Hi All
This is my first attempt at an illustrated post, so be nice :D . I've owned a G1148 15"bandsaw since about 1996. It was fine til I discovered the internet, woodworking forums and resawing. I read about bandsaw tuneups, checked the wheel coplanarity, called Grizzly about how to adjust it. got some Timberwolf blades. So far, so good. This bandsaw has a max resaw of 7 1/2" and a 3/4 h.p.13 amp.motor. That should resaw 7 1/2", right? WRONG! It'd sorta do OK with softwood, but Oak or Ash gave it fits. The blade would appear to stall even with slow feed rates, back off the stock, the blade would start turning normally and cut another inch.
The question then became new band saw, or try to get this one to work. In favor of the new saw was greater resaw height, more likely parts availability (wouldn't surprise me if Grizzly discontinues this one) and stronger frame. In favor of trying upgrade the existing saw was ~$200 vs $750-$1000, lower table (I'm vertically challenged) the existing saw fits my space well, it'll be easier to get out of a basement shop if I need to, and most importantly SWMBO picked it out at Grizzly; said it was "cute"
I started looking at motors. The compressor duty motors at Harbor Freight were interesting pricewise but turned the wrong way and were not reversible. I looked at motors at Grainger & MSC but they were pricy. I looked on Tractor Supply's site and found a 1 1/2 h.p. GE for $169, web site said it had a 56 frame and the local T.S. had one. Next item-pulleys. I think part of the problem with the old motor may have been a too small motor pulley on low speed and not enough motor on high speed. Grainger had die cast ones for cheap. I used OWWM's calculator to pick sizes that yielded about 3000 fpm. Motor pulley is 3 1/8 with 7/8 bore, driven pulley is 8" with 5/8"bore. I got the motor home and it didn't have a 56 frame but something different (don't remember what) so the new motor didn't fit the existing mount; 2 bolts worked and 2 didn't No problem, add a plywood pad on the base, countersink 2 bolts and life was good. When I checked the lower wheel shaft without pulling the wheel, it looked like 3/4". When I went to mount the driven pulley, it didn't fit. I found out that 20 mm is just SLIGHTLY larger than 3/4". I checked Grainger for metric bore pulleys and couldn't find any prebored. I probably could have gotten a cast iron pulley and separate hub but I'm doing this on the cheap, so some filing, sandpaper wrapped around a dowel and it fit good enough.
I then mounted the motor, mounted the motor pulley, driven pulley, lower wheel and take a deep breath. Powered it up and viola, the lower wheel turned true and the pulley just wobbled a little ;) I then mounted a 1/2" T'wolf blade tightened it up. I cut a piece flat just to see if there were going to be any major problems. Nope. I then mounted the fence, got a scrap piece of 6" wide ash, jointed one face,set the fence for about 1/4" and let 'er rip. OH MY!! Huge difference!! I played around some more, checked some resawed pieces with a dial caliper. The thickness was within .01"-02" the length of the piece.. I can live with this.
Why does a motor that draws 15 amps @ 120 volts (G.E.) rated 1.5 h.p.produce so much more apparent power than one drawing 13 amps@120 volts (Grizzly) rated .75 h.p. I don't know, belt slippage may have entered into it. Would I do it again? Probably. If I had a larger shop or did more projects, the larger saw might have been the way to go. For anyone with a 14" or 15" saw that seems underpowered, a motor upgrade certainly adds new life.
I took some pics (didn't want any late-night visits from the pic patrol) I don't know how to mix pics and narration so I'll do the best I can
Pic 1- The victim
Pic 2- Motor in place. Capacitor start, Capacitor run
Pic 3- Lower wheel & pulleys
Pic 4- Old motor and pulleys
This is my first attempt at an illustrated post, so be nice :D . I've owned a G1148 15"bandsaw since about 1996. It was fine til I discovered the internet, woodworking forums and resawing. I read about bandsaw tuneups, checked the wheel coplanarity, called Grizzly about how to adjust it. got some Timberwolf blades. So far, so good. This bandsaw has a max resaw of 7 1/2" and a 3/4 h.p.13 amp.motor. That should resaw 7 1/2", right? WRONG! It'd sorta do OK with softwood, but Oak or Ash gave it fits. The blade would appear to stall even with slow feed rates, back off the stock, the blade would start turning normally and cut another inch.
The question then became new band saw, or try to get this one to work. In favor of the new saw was greater resaw height, more likely parts availability (wouldn't surprise me if Grizzly discontinues this one) and stronger frame. In favor of trying upgrade the existing saw was ~$200 vs $750-$1000, lower table (I'm vertically challenged) the existing saw fits my space well, it'll be easier to get out of a basement shop if I need to, and most importantly SWMBO picked it out at Grizzly; said it was "cute"
I started looking at motors. The compressor duty motors at Harbor Freight were interesting pricewise but turned the wrong way and were not reversible. I looked at motors at Grainger & MSC but they were pricy. I looked on Tractor Supply's site and found a 1 1/2 h.p. GE for $169, web site said it had a 56 frame and the local T.S. had one. Next item-pulleys. I think part of the problem with the old motor may have been a too small motor pulley on low speed and not enough motor on high speed. Grainger had die cast ones for cheap. I used OWWM's calculator to pick sizes that yielded about 3000 fpm. Motor pulley is 3 1/8 with 7/8 bore, driven pulley is 8" with 5/8"bore. I got the motor home and it didn't have a 56 frame but something different (don't remember what) so the new motor didn't fit the existing mount; 2 bolts worked and 2 didn't No problem, add a plywood pad on the base, countersink 2 bolts and life was good. When I checked the lower wheel shaft without pulling the wheel, it looked like 3/4". When I went to mount the driven pulley, it didn't fit. I found out that 20 mm is just SLIGHTLY larger than 3/4". I checked Grainger for metric bore pulleys and couldn't find any prebored. I probably could have gotten a cast iron pulley and separate hub but I'm doing this on the cheap, so some filing, sandpaper wrapped around a dowel and it fit good enough.
I then mounted the motor, mounted the motor pulley, driven pulley, lower wheel and take a deep breath. Powered it up and viola, the lower wheel turned true and the pulley just wobbled a little ;) I then mounted a 1/2" T'wolf blade tightened it up. I cut a piece flat just to see if there were going to be any major problems. Nope. I then mounted the fence, got a scrap piece of 6" wide ash, jointed one face,set the fence for about 1/4" and let 'er rip. OH MY!! Huge difference!! I played around some more, checked some resawed pieces with a dial caliper. The thickness was within .01"-02" the length of the piece.. I can live with this.
Why does a motor that draws 15 amps @ 120 volts (G.E.) rated 1.5 h.p.produce so much more apparent power than one drawing 13 amps@120 volts (Grizzly) rated .75 h.p. I don't know, belt slippage may have entered into it. Would I do it again? Probably. If I had a larger shop or did more projects, the larger saw might have been the way to go. For anyone with a 14" or 15" saw that seems underpowered, a motor upgrade certainly adds new life.
I took some pics (didn't want any late-night visits from the pic patrol) I don't know how to mix pics and narration so I'll do the best I can
Pic 1- The victim
Pic 2- Motor in place. Capacitor start, Capacitor run
Pic 3- Lower wheel & pulleys
Pic 4- Old motor and pulleys