Motor upgrade for bandsaw?

[Prashun Patel]

I have a Grizzly G0555 bandsaw with a 1hp motor. At my company we've ended up with a 'spare' Baldor 3hp/220v 1750rpm motor that I think I could make fit my bandsaw. I've never been happy with the power when cutting thicker material.

Here's my question: Is this worth it? Would this motor be better repurposed for some other application? What????

Any help appreciated.

[Van Huskey]

I have a Grizzly G0555 bandsaw with a 1hp motor. At my company we've ended up with a 'spare' Baldor 3hp/220v 1750rpm motor that I think I could make fit my bandsaw. I've never been happy with the power when cutting thicker material.

Here's my question: Is this worth it? Would this motor be better repurposed for some other application? What????

Any help appreciated.


I think it would be worth it if you can get it to fit. I think the more salient question is how much would the pair sold seperately be worth on CL and what bandsaw could you buy with that money including your saved time. You may be able to get a better more capable BS that wouldn't require experimentation with the motor.

[Rod Sheridan]

I'm with Van, you'll change the motor and still have all the performance limitations of that basic machine.

You may be able to sell the 3 HP motor and you band saw separately for more money and buy a larger, more capable machine.

regards, Rod.

[Brian Kent]

A good friend and woodworking mentor upgraded a similar saw with a 3hp blade and a riser. I took some assorted hardwoods over to him for resawing before I had a saw, and the result was quick enough and very smooth.

[Joe Shinall]

Prashun, a while back I was talking about upgrading my 3/4 HP Ridgid 14" bandsaw to a 2 HP motor and was met with a lot of hesitation from a lot of people on here. I did it anyways, and couldn't be happier. Added the Grizzly 6" extension kit and I am all set. I just resawed 10" 150 year old walnut the other day like it was pine.

As Ron said, you will be limited to the machine. I still have some vibrations as it is just a lightweight Ridgid bandsaw, but for a free motor, I got a nice upgrade without shelling the money out for a new bandsaw.

$200 for the bandsaw, $60 for the extension kit, and free 2HP motor. A whole lot better than paying $1000 for a comparable saw.

[Prashun Patel]

Yeah, getting a larger bandsaw is definitely in my future. But so is getting some better lathe tools, a chainsaw, better sharpening equipment, and a butt load of planes. Oh yeah, and shoes for my kids...

Also, the 3hp motor is not really mine. It's the company's and is a backup for the HVAC system. So, I can't just sell it. But I CAN repurpose it and give it back if it's ever called back into service. That will be a good time to upgrade the saw.

I'm gonna try this. The bandsaw motor housing is is totally exposed, so fitting the new one won't be an issue...

Man, I need a new project like a hole in the head...

[Peter Aeschliman]

A 3hp Baldor motor could get $300 or so.

Your Grizzly could probably get $250 on CL.

The $550 proceeds would get you to within about $250 of the grizzly G0513P...

In order to get the same resaw capacity with your current machine, you'd need to buy the riser kit and a new blade... meaning that it's getting pretty close to a break-even proposition.

The G0513P looks like a ton of saw for the money. The fence would need to be upgraded for resawing, and it has aluminum wheels. It would be a 2HP motor rather than a 3HP. But I think the performance would be dramatically better than than upgrading your 14" BS.

All that is to say that I agree with the others. Once you consider the time investment of upgrading your bandsaw, it becomes clear that it's probably better to sell what you have and buy a new saw that does what you want out of the gate.

[Neil Brooks]

I'm gonna try this. The bandsaw motor housing is is totally exposed, so fitting the new one won't be an issue...


I figure ... if you can TRY it without doing damage to either motor OR saw, then ... why not try it ?

As long as there's a path back to where you started ... just in case.

[Jim Rimmer]

I figure ... if you can TRY it without doing damage to either motor OR saw, then ... why not try it ?

As long as there's a path back to where you started ... just in case.
+1 As long as you can reverse with no ill effects, you've got nothing to lose but time.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Is this a TEFC motor? If not, make sure the company doesn't mind you filling the innards of the motor with fine dust. That may make it not meet the duty cycle rating of the HVAC system if it doesn't get cleaned out.

That being said, I have a humongous 3hp R/I motor on my Walker Turner 16" saw. It makes resawing a breeze, the teeth clog with sawdust before the motor even thinks about slowing down.

[ian maybury]

Just thinking a little about the engineering guys it may be that the usefulness of a bigger motor depends on what you have/what you want to get from the saw.

A given blade, run at a given speed, sawing a particular thickness of wood and fed at a given rate will require X hp to run it - with the requirement increasing as the blade blunts, sawdust builds up or whatever.

Fitting a bigger motor isn't necessarily going to add much unless the existing one has been bogging badly enough (exhibits enough 'slip' or speed reduction under load) to significantly reduce the blade speed, and hence the cutting speed.

A bigger motor will still tend to run at the same (nominal) RPM when unloaded - e.g. 3450 for a 2 pole motor, so it's not going to help much unless the motor you have is subject to significant slip/slowing under load.

This so far as I seem to remember depends a lot on the type of motor - some reduce speed very considerably before stalling, but are easy to slow. Others have high initial torque and strongly resist slowing, but only tolerate a small drop in RPM before stalling.

I don't know enough to say which type is likely on a band saw, but I guess makers will want to avoid stalling at all costs because of the risk of motor burn out.

If it turns out that the motors are prone to a lot of slip, then a larger motor could help a lot. If yours is not, then a bigger motor might not make that much difference.

The other means by which you could take advantage of a bigger motor would be to make deeper cuts (add a packing block), or gear the drive up to run the blade faster (most DIY models run low blade speeds), or use a more aggressive blade with a deeper 'bite' that moves more wood.

It'd be interesting to check blade RPM on your saw loaded and unloaded with a tacho before plumping for a bigger motor - if the speed drop is large then it could pep things up a lot.

One possible problem of course is that deeper/faster cutting that genuinely uses the torque available from a bigger motor will also put proportionally more tension into the blade and hence load into the frame - so if the frame is a bit flexy the alignment may change enough with feed rates and so on so that it becomes hard to get consistent tracking, blade drift etc. Upping the blade speed would reduce that issue mind you.

What the reality in the case of a given saw might be I don't know..

[Prashun Patel]

Lately I've been sawing a lot of log halves into turning blanks. I'm experiencing a lot of slip and twist.

Aw, who am I kidding. I NEED ME A NEW SAW! HONEY?! ARE YOU READING ALL THIS? THE GUYS ARE MAKING ME GET A NEW SAW. HONEY?!

[Neil Brooks]

Prashun:

Concerning your signature ... it's a pretty safe bet that Lincoln wasn't sitting on a 3hp Baldor motor :p

[Greg Portland]

I upgraded my Laguna from 3HP to 5HP and there was a -slight- improvement in available feed rate. Blade quality, guides and setup play a much larger factor IMO. Upgrading from 1HP will probably be more noticeable but only on thicker woods. How often do you resaw a bunch of thick wood (i.e. is the time savings going to matter)? I would take that 3HP motor and make a sanding station out of it (12"+ disc / spindle sander, etc.).

[John McClanahan]

If you try the bigger motor, don't forget heavier wiring and switch.

John

[Gary Radice]

I assume the motor frames are the same? You might need to drill some new mounting holes either in your saw or your motor to get the sheaves to line up.
And are the arbor diameters are the same so you can just switch the sheaves?
With the different sized motors the geometry might change so you might need a different length belt, too.

None of these might be an issue and you might not know until you try it. Which is what I would do!

[Dan Karachio]

Guys, is this really wise? Seems like putting a v8 in a Festiva.

[Mike Harrison]

A few years ago I installed a 3 horse motor and riser kit on my 14" saw and it made a world of difference. The addition of some roller guides also helped. I've made a load of 1/4" Oak panels for doors and various cabinets since the modifications. The results have been great, well worth the time, and Dan there's nothing wrong with having the fastest festiva in town.

[Dan Karachio]

I stand corrected! Of course the speed is the same, just more power.

Check out this Festiva beating a GTO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzd5MXt0ZVA&feature=related

[Chip Lindley]

I say GO FOR IT Prashun! Borrow the 3hp motor from work and mount it on your 14" BS. You will need a new motor pulley of the correct bore and diameter. You will need a heavy-duty switch for the 3hp motor (about 15A on 230v) You will need a 20A 230v circuit to plug the saw into. Then ENJOY! Let us all know how you like it!

[Van Huskey]

You will need a heavy-duty switch for the 3hp motor (about 15A on 230v) !

That is an important point!

[Alan Schaffter]

I upgraded my 14" Delta- it works much better.

Don't be put off if the motor is not a TFEC. The only TFEC motor among my Delta machines is on the tablesaw- my bandsaw, drill press, and jointer came with ODP motors!! The only motor exposed to high dust concentrations is the tablesaw anyway!

Here is a previous thread on the same topic: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=131522&highlight=bandsaw+motor

The new/old (new bearings and paint) Dayton 2 hp TFEC on the left and the original wimpy Emerson 1 hp ODP on the right- big difference!!!

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Bandsaw-3.JPG

[Rod Sheridan]

I say GO FOR IT Prashun! Borrow the 3hp motor from work and mount it on your 14" BS. You will need a new motor pulley of the correct bore and diameter. You will need a heavy-duty switch for the 3hp motor (about 15A on 230v) You will need a 20A 230v circuit to plug the saw into. Then ENJOY! Let us all know how you like it!

Chip, he may need overload protection for the motor depending upon whether it has built in thermal protection or not.

If not, a magnetic starter would be ideal, or a manual starter, both of which would require the correct overload setting.

Regards, Rod.

[james bell]

I had a 1/3HP on my 12" Sears and upgraded with a Grizzly 1.5HP. Prior to the upgrade it would not resaw 3 1/2" pine, now it cuts 5.5" hardwood like warm butter.

Since I had already put on Carter stabilizers, new tires, and link-belt, this was an inexpensive solution to get more power rather than upgrading. I also have a MM16 for resawing, but the 12" is great for narrow blades and doing bandsaw boxes.

Go for it - you will not be disappointed.