[OP]
Member
I'm planning to upgrade my 14" Delta bandsaw to 1.5 HP (from 3/4 HP) and I've been pricing motors - yikes. Lots of $$$.
Grizzly has two different motor lines listed (both TEFC) - one is $180 and the higher grade is $220. Both are imports, of course. I'm wondering if anyone has used either of these motors and if they are decent units for the price. Any experience or info would be appreciated. Thanks.
The problem with education in the School of Hard Knocks is that by the time you're educated, you're too old to do anything.
Member
surpluscenter.com has some deals on motors.
Member
Ben,
check out ebay,I just bought a $500+ Leeson 1.5hp 3 ph motor for repowering my lathe and got it for $65.It was a local pickup and that helped but still there was a ton of motors for 75 to a 100 bucks.
Greg
Contributor
You'll often find good prices on eBay for small single phase electric motors. If you're not in a hurry you should be able to get a 1.5HP for about (or under) $100.
Mike
[PS I have a 1HP I'll sell cheap. I only used it a short while before I upgraded to a 2HP. As I recall, it's a good brand but I'd have to go look.]
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Member
Interesting, i've thought about doing the same with my Grizzly (1 hp motor). let us know how it turns out.
Member
I second watching eBay. You need to learn the Lingo, but once you do, you can get motors much cheaper on eBay than you can anyplace else.
-Dan
Member
Picked up a new motor from a guy on Woodnet for $65 plus shipping. 1.5 HP at 220V. Runs good and am using it to power my planer. Might want to consider something like that instead. He had more than one of them when I bought mine a few weeks ago. I got the datasheet on it from the manufacturer.
Member
I recently bought a 1HP grizzly TFEC motor from the less expensive series for use on an old craftsman shaper. I had trouble with the emerson POS (made in USA by the way) 1/2HP that came stock, I was given the shaper and wanted to use it for coping with 3/4" bore door sets, but it didn't have enough umph and kept bogging down.
The Grizzly motor does a fine job, was easy to wire, and has plenty of smooth power for my application. It is not a machine I use a lot, can't say I have battle tested this motor so to speak, but my initial impressions are favorable. The motors on half the small shop tools these days are Taiwanese imports anyway. I wouldn't compare this thing to the 5HP baldor on my PM66, but I really didn't need that kind of performance in this case anyway. I'd file the Grizzly motor under "good value suitable for my needs" in this case.
If you need a continuous duty motor to do hard labor on a daily basis in a challenging environment, by all means open the check book real wide and get a baldor or a leeson, or roll the dice on an import. For a small shop with lighter demands, a Grizzly may be just the thing.
[OP]
Member
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've checked out Ebay already and there are a lot of 3 phase motors but not many single phase that meet my requirements (TEFC mainly).
Mike - thanks for the offer but 1 HP isn't much of an upgrade over 3/4 HP original.
Peter - I was glad to hear from someone who had bought a Grizzly motor. If I decide to go that way I'll post results and pix.
The problem with education in the School of Hard Knocks is that by the time you're educated, you're too old to do anything.
Contributor
IMO 1.5 HP on a 14" bandsaw is a bit of overkill! 1 HP is Plenty, and should be a bit more affordable also. For my Delta 14" BS, I found a GLOAT 1 HP Baldor motor for $15 from a salvage yard!!! A new external cooling fan, a sandblasting and coat of paint, and its a *Keeper*!!
[/SIGPIC]Necessisity is the Mother of Invention, But If it Ain't Broke don't Fix It !!
[OP]
Member
The problem with education in the School of Hard Knocks is that by the time you're educated, you're too old to do anything.
Member
I do a fail amount of resawing on my 14" Jet with a riser block, and for 8-12" wide (tall) pieces, I wish I had more than the 1HP that is on there. I don't think 1.5 HP is overkill at all, but keep in mind that the bearings and the rest of the machine may not be designed for > 1HP. Personally I would not be afraid of even 2 HP on my saw.
Mike
Guest
Contributor
Well...then, I suppose I am not a true BINFORDite! I chuckle at TIM and his *overkill* in the name of heavy-handed Machismo! I had rather rely on a goodly ration of finesse' and common sense! For many years I have been on a very infintesimalwoodworking budget, and had rather Gloat over a solid bargain that gets the job done very well, than *name-drop* on *Mo'BIGGER,Mo'BETTER,Mo'HiTECH* ...a syndrome which seems to have No End! Clint Eastwood impressed me more than TIM when he said, "A man's gotta know his limitations!"
[/SIGPIC]Necessisity is the Mother of Invention, But If it Ain't Broke don't Fix It !!
Member
I have a powermatic 14" with a 1.5HP (so says the PM web site though i swear they used to call it a 1 3/4HP motor?) and I'd say it is just enough. Never strains, never stalls, plenty of overhead in most cases. Remember that story of the little engine that could? I hated that story. Why torture that little engine, why not just give it a bigger motor and let it do its job comfortably instead of giving it the shear minimum power and making it struggle all the way up that big hill?
Most guys I've had in the shop that are used to 14" band saws have been a bit surprised at how much power my little saw seems to have. I gave my father a new Baldor 2HP motor I got for free (long story), should have put it in my BS and given him that smaller one. Silly me, the 2HP was 220 and I didn't want to rewire the built in light or be stuck buying 220V light bulbs. But that silly little light is the only thing that reminds me to release the tension on the quick release before I shut down the shop at night. And what good is a quick tension release that doesn't get released?
What I really need is a 3HP motor and an AUTOMATIC quick tension release triggered to the shop lights!
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