A Question or Two on Electric Motors and Band Saws

[Craig Stueve]

I am in the process of doing a very thorough tune up on my new band saw.
See here - http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31934.
The saw ran fine with no obvious problems. The 3/8" blade that was on it was to dull at best but I was able do some play cutting on some 2x pine. But with it being 50+ years old I want to be certain that a bearing wasn't about to seize up and give me a bunch of grief. I plan to start the reassembly later this week once I get the parts I have ordered in. I have taken the saw apart to inspect, clean and repair anything that might need a little TLC. To allow me to press the main drive shaft out of the lower housing and replace the bearings I have disassembled the entire frame. I now have completely disassembled the saw. Just the base and motor are still bolted together.

That is where I made an interesting discovery. I was expecting the base and motor to be fairly light compared to the cast top...I was wrong. The motor on the saw says it is only 3/4 HP but it is incredibly heavy and big. I would have to guess that the motor and base are 70 pounds at least. I have read that if you plan on doing much resawing that you need at least a 1 HP motor. But I don't know enough about electrical motors to decide if I should go ahead and give it a try with the current motor or start shopping for a new motor with more HP. I understand that all motors are not created the same and that the HP rating is somewhat arbitrary. I look at the difference in the power between my old Craftsman TS at 1.5 HP and my current Jet also at 1.5 HP. Same blades, same types of lumber, but not even close in term of the feed rate required to bog the saw down.

Here is the plate on the motor:


So the real question is for a BS is this motor going to be enough for hobby use with some resawing up to about 6 inches? Or will I just be frustrated and feeling like I should be out motor shopping right away?
Is there any info I should know about this motor?
Are there any things I should be looking at maintenance wise on this motor while everything is tore apart?

Thanks,
Craig

[Chris Barton]

A 3/4hp motor will do fine for what you are asking. Resawing will be slow and you will want to use a good blade. Probably more important than your motor hp is the blade tensioning spring which should be replaced. Good luck.

[tod evans]

craig, try the motor you have, if you`re able run it on 220v, according to the plate that`s doable. i think you`ll find that with a sharp blade in a hobbiest enviornment you`ll be fine.....02 tod

[lou sansone]

the saw was probably designed for the motor and so you probably want to try it first.

if you find that you are not happy with it and it does not have enough power, I would think you should move to a 2 hp motor and if you have a bunch of money sitting around, you might want to try a VFD drive / motor combination for fun

lou

[Bill Lewis]

I'd have to be in agreement with everyone else on this one. Use the motor you have. I wouldn't even bother trying to wire it to 240V.

I've got the 1.5 hp Detla 14" (deluxe ed.?) wired for 125V with no problems at all. The starting torque on a BS is so low, there's not any significant voltage drop to make it worth the effort or expense. You can do a search on the debate of 125V vs. 240V, and you'll basically find that the power is the same with either.

I've also got a Baldor motor on my compressor. At first glance you'd think it was at least 3 to 5 hp, but it's only 2 hp. The motor couldn't be any older than late 60's. My only guess is that it could be a 100% duty cycle motor. Your motor was probably built to better standards than the currently available motors so it'll probably perform quite well. If you're real concerned about it, you could take it to an electric motor shop and they can rebuild them for much less than a new one. New brushes, clean/machine the commutater(sp?) plates, replace bearings, etc... better than new.

[Bill Simmeth]

That's not the original motor (at least from Delta at the time), but of a similar vintage. I don't see a start capacitor on it (at least in the other pics), so it's likely a Repulsion-Induction type motor. These are known to have significantly higher torque than a comparable cap-start motor. Plus, motor HP was measured a bit differently in those days. Likely, in terms of torque, which is what you're looking for, this motor is closer to a modern-day 1.5HP motor. If it runs smoothly, stick with it!

[john whittaker]

Craig...for what it's worth, I have an identical band saw, manufactured in 1953 w/ the original 3/4 HP motor. No riser block. I re-sawed 6" hickory (green) and while it was slow I managed to get it done. IMHO, if you add a riser block, you will need to upgrade HP. But I agree with the info others have given. With good blade & proper alignment you should be good to go with the existing motor for hobby use.

[Craig Stueve]

The motor does run nice and quiet. It starts right up when you hit the switch and it really seemed to get the blade up to speed quick.

The saw came with a riser block, but I don't see myself trying to resaw much over 6" since I only have a 6" jointer. If I need to then it's time to go visit someones shop with a BIG BS.

I plan to get some blades this weekend and I have a new spring on the way. I also just picked up the 2 bearings for the main shaft and will have them in tonight. After that it all starts going back together!

If you have any other tips or tricks that I can try with this era BS let me know.

Thnaks Agian,
Craig

[john whittaker]

Craig,
Where did you source/buy the bearings? I will need to replace mine and Delta is asking WAY TOO much for the bearings... but an even larger WAY TOO MUCH for a spacer I will also need. Any help is appreciated.

[Craig Stueve]

Craig,
Where did you source/buy the bearings? I will need to replace mine and Delta is asking WAY TOO much for the bearings... but an even larger WAY TOO MUCH for a spacer I will also need. Any help is appreciated.

I found them at my local Precision Industries
http://www.precisionind.com/home/index1024.cfm

I didn't really shop around since they are such an odd size I wasn't able to cross the numbers myself, so I just figured that they were not going to be cheap. I only need the 2 for the main shaft since the others are all in good condition. I left the invoice at my shop but it was just under $50 for both. They are a unique size that they only had two of in stock and both were different brands.

Just curious what did Delta want for them?

Hope this helps,
Craig

[Bill Simmeth]

Craig,

I noticed your picture post of your new saw at OWWM.com Going by the serial nbr on your saw, it is a 1952, not 1953. You might want to update that.

[Craig Stueve]

Craig,

I noticed your picture post of your new saw at OWWM.com Going by the serial nbr on your saw, it is a 1952, not 1953. You might want to update that.

I thought that at first from looking at the charts there myself. But then I got this message

A short note on the history of your saw/something to tell the grandkids when you get old and are becoming known for telling the same stories over and over again. The serial number tag indicates it was built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The serial number tells us it was made in '53. The Milwaukee plant was closed mid '52. The balance of production for that year was moved either to Bellfountain, Ohio or to the newly built plant in Tupelo, Mississippi. Your saw was not built in Milwaukee.

While it's not a known fact as to why there is a discrepency I like to think that Rockwell was frugal and they used the old Milwaukee tags until the inventory was depleted.

You got it for a very good price.

Unisaw A-100

So with that info from Unisaw A-100 I will go with his date since he is certainly more of an expert than I. That fact certainly give me a nice little bit unique info with my saw.

Now I need to get to the garage and get working on the saw some more.

Craig

[Bill Simmeth]

I thought that at first from looking at the charts there myself. But then I got this message

I think the charts are pretty clear. I think Keith may have spaced a year in his brain when he emailed you.