direct drive bandsaw speed

[John Bailey]

Does anyone know how to calculate the speed of a bandsaw blade that is run by a direct drive motor. My wheels are 18 inches and the motors I'm looking at are 900, 1200 and 1750 rpms.

John

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

John,
Each time the 18" wheel turns once the blade will move about 56". (C = Py*Diameter). Merely multiply each motor speed by 56" or 4.6' to determine the inches or feet per minute the blade will travel given each different motor speed. I'm afraid I don't know the optimum speed for a band saw blade but I'm sure someone does.

Faust Ruggiero

[Duncan Horner]

Circumference is 3.14 x diameter of the wheel.

Speed will be circumference x RPM :)

If I'm wrong, I'll go cook dinner lol

[Tom Veatch]

Does anyone know how to calculate the speed of a bandsaw blade that is run by a direct drive motor. My wheels are 18 inches and the motors I'm looking at are 900, 1200 and 1750 rpms.

John

Linear speed = Pi * Diameter * RPM

Pi = 3.14159.....
Diameter in feet yields linear speed in feet per minute
Diameter in inches yields speed in inches per minute

18 inch wheels yield:

900 RPM => 4241 feet/minute
1200 RPM => 5655 feet/minute
1750 RPM => 8246 feet/minute

divide results by 60 to get speed in "per second" units.
multiply results by 12 to get speed in inches units

[John Bailey]

Thanks guys,

I guess I could' figured that out, but it's been a long day.

Hope someone chimes in with the optimum blades speed. I'm hoping a 1200 rpm motor will do because they seem to be about half the price.

Thanks, John

[Tom Veatch]

A very quick survey of some woodworking bandsaws indicates they are setup to run in the neighborhood of 3000 fpm band speed. I also saw indications that the optimum speed could depend on the blade specifications. It might be worthwhile to check some blade manufacturer's websites to get their recommendations for the type of blades you are most likely to be using.

A quick glance at Suffolk Machinery's website (Timberwolf blades) found some recommendations in Paragraph E of this link (http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/did_you_know.asp).

[Wilbur Pan]

What Tom said.

The other thing to remember is that the range of useable bandsaw blade speeds is pretty wide, so don't sweat it too much.

Reprints on the owwm.com website suggest that in the 1940's the 192 came equipped with a 1200 RPM motor, with the 900 RPM motor being an available option. Interestingly, in the 1960's, it seemed that it came with the 900 RPM motor as standard, with the 1200 RPM motor being optional.

[John Bailey]

What Tom said.

The other thing to remember is that the range of useable bandsaw blade speeds is pretty wide, so don't sweat it too much.

Reprints on the owwm.com website suggest that in the 1940's the 192 came equipped with a 1200 RPM motor, with the 900 RPM motor being an available option. Interestingly, in the 1960's, it seemed that it came with the 900 RPM motor as standard, with the 1200 RPM motor being optional.

I've seen the brochures on the OWWM site, which is one of the reasons I'm a bit confused. The Oliver 192 is the saw I'm picking up this weekend and I've not been able to get the specs on the motor - just that it is set up for metal cutting. Another interesting thing about the Oliver 192 brochure is that the two "metal cutting" motor options are a 56 rpm and a 1800 rpm. Those spf's would be way slower and way faster than the two woodworking motors.

I guess I'll have to bide my time and be patient till I get a look at the motor Saturday.

John

[Wilbur Pan]

Hi John,

Having played around with bandsaw blade speeds on my old Walker-Turner, my feeling is that blade speeds are basically dependent on two things: the blade (of course), and the bandsaw. My guess is that the bandsaw is usually the limiting factor. Issues like frame stability and how tight a turn the bandsaw blade makes around the wheels come into play, which is probably why smaller bandsaws run at a slower SFPM than larger bandsaws. It seems like most 14" bandsaws have a SFPM in the 3000 range or so, whereas giants like the Northfield 36" (http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/Brochures-PDF/36inchBandsaws.pdf) run at a SFPM in the 8000-11000 range, and those are with a 900 or 1200 RPM motor. So if your 18" bandsaw winds up in the 4000-5000 SFPM range, that's seems reasonable to me.

Again, the range of useable blade speeds for wood cutting is really pretty wide. I've never heard anyone complain that their big bandsaw didn't cut well because the blade was moving too dang fast.

Judging from the brochures, my vote would be to pick up a 1200 RPM motor for your new toy.

By the way, I'm quite jealous. I've been consoling myself by reminding myself that the low ceilings in my basement don't give me enough headroom for your Oliver. ;)

[John Bailey]

By the way, I'm quite jealous. I've been consoling myself by reminding myself that the low ceilings in my basement don't give me enough headroom for your Oliver. ;)

The brochure puts the bandsaw at 68" high with the stand. You must have a very low ceiling in your basement.:eek: Do we live in the Shire!!

John

[Wilbur Pan]

Only 68" high? Then it does fit in my basement.

Now I'm jealous and depressed. ;)