Rikon 10-325 14" deluxe bandsaw questions

[Curt Harms]

+1, after reading a ton on the subject I have concluded the benefits of running a dual voltage motor on 220V are non-existent.

although the benefits are considerably less than 1/2 the cost. I doubt there's any advantage if the saw is on a dedicated circuit. The kicker is that many machines run on 120 volt circuits aren't on dedicated circuits. If the lights dim when a machine is turned on, it'd benefit from a dedicated circuit IMO. If you're going to install a dedicated circuit, why not go with 240 volts? A 20 amp 120 volt circuit will supply approximately 2400 watts. The same circuit at 240 volts will supply 4800 watts.

[Joe Spear]

You're right about putting in a dedicated 240-volt circuit. It's a good idea because you may very well get a machine in the future that requires it. However, it can be very expensive to add a circuit depending on how far the outlet would be from the main panel, whether you had to add a sub-panel, and what part of the country you live in. It cost me, in eastern Massachusetts, $950 to add a 100-amp sub-panel, with 3 120 boxes and 2 240 boxes. And the electrician is a friend of mine who gave me a break. I traded 4 hours of window trim work on his house for part of the bill. The sub-panel box was a used one he got from a swimming pool job. Most of the cost was 12 hours of labor (2 guys x 6 hours) in getting the cable 50 feet from the opposite side of the basement into the attached garage. So if you're short of cash, try an existing outlet and make sure you're not running your flat-screen tv and toaster oven on the circuit at the same time.