Upgrade Laguna 14bx motor?

[Gabby Losch]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for advice on whether to upgrade the motor on my bandsaw, or consider a bigger model.

I have a Laguna 14bx bandsaw that's worked quite well for me since I bought it new around 2016. It's a 220v 2.5HP version. For the most part I've used it for rip cuts, working curves, and small resaw operations (pieces 5" wide or more narrow). I'm planning to start doing more projects that will require resawing, and in some cases fairly dense woods like wenge, maple, purpleheart, indian rosewood, etc. I did a test on a piece of spruce ~9" wide and it was pretty slow going with a 3/4" resaw king (max width this model allows) that's well dialed in. The cut quality was pretty solid with minimal drift, so I'm confident the blade and tension are both good.

So my question is: should I swap the motor for a 5HP model, and is that even possible on this model saw (would it be too powerful on the frame or cause any other issues I'm not aware of)? I reached out to Laguna to see if I could swap the current motor for the one from the 18bx (https://www.shop.lagunatools.com/Motor_3) but they replied that it can't be retrofit. They didn't elaborate why.

Or should I look into a bigger saw? There are a few people selling older Laguna 16" models near me. I'm also open to other suggestions.

Thanks!

[Richard Coers]

I've never had a 5hp motor on a bandsaw in the 50+ years I've been woodworking. But I've never used a carbide blade with very little set in the teeth either. I resaw with a 3/4" pitch bandsaw mill blade and don't expect a shiny clean finish on the wood.

[Andrew Hughes]

I would like to suggest you consider the value of a sharp blade. It’s doesn’t take long to dull short blades even the Carbide tipped blades.
One advantage a larger bandsaw has over smaller ones with resaw height is a longer blade. My saws blade is almost 15 ft long. Even a cheap carbon steel blade performances is very acceptable.
Using more hp to push dull blades through wood isn’t the way of the craftsman.
Good Luck

[Jimmy Harris]

I would say go with a bigger saw. That 2.5HP motor you have is pretty big. Going with a bigger motor won't likey make much of a difference unless the motor was really bogging down. Otherwise, it's the cleaning out the swarf that was probably more of a factor in slowing you down. Once the gullet of the blade gets filled with sawdust, it can't cut anymore.

The advantage of a bigger saw is bigger wheels will not only allow you to use bigger blades, but will move those blades faster. The RPM's might be the same, but the feet per second will be greater with the larger diameter. And that'll allow you to feed faster.

However, I'd take a look at your blade. I just resawed a 9" wide board of hickory last weekend with my 17" Grizzly with only 2HP, and it didn't flinch. So if your 2.5HP bandsaw is bogging down on spruce, that tells me something's wrong. Now, granted, I did have a new 3/4" 2-3TPI Timberwolf blade on it, and it did not leave a very smooth surface. So I had to do a bit of planing and sanding (because hickory loves to tear out when the grain reverses). So the whole process still took some time. But I was probably resawing at a rate of around 4 feet a minute, and was taking it pretty slow to try to keep the blade tracking as smoothly as I could. Carbide teeth tend to be pretty thick and thus create a lot of swarf, so you might be better off with a thinner blade. Especially if you prioritize speed over quality.

Or it could just be something to do with spruce. I've never messed with spruce, but I have noticed that pine sometimes doesn't resaw as easily as something like walnut or oak. Even though they're softer, sometimes softwoods want to clog up the gullets more than denser hardwoods. I don't know why, but I know I've seen blade recommendations where the maximum thickness for softwoods is smaller than hardwoods.

[Tom Trees]

You'd have to check if the wheels might take the same type belt as with the 18bx,
Screenshot-2023-12-10 My New Laguna 18bx Starting To Repair It And Some Concerns - YouTube.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/L5x6znPC/Screen...s-You-Tube.png

and check whether both motors have the same shaft size,
pole number/RPM,
as well as whether the frame size differs on either face mounted motor.

Since you're considering this, I'd have to question have you ever seen anything done with a similar size saw?
I can't say I've ever seen anything close done.
Most HP per inch wheel I've seen might be that super stout 17" Griz which John has, some Hammer saws have had various HP motors through the years IIRC,
and MM16 saws, would likely be amongst the most likely.
I'm not sure what motor a smaller Laguna might have, should they have sold an LT16 made by ACM, and not Meber's antiquated design on that particular saw?

If I was looking into motor HP as a solution, (guessing space constraints here?)
I'd be trying to find a 20"/500mm wheeled ACM, or indeed the x40 series i.e Laguna LT, Felder FB, Bridgewood, Griggio,
or perhaps one of those fully adjustable Centauro or Meber saws.

You might note these saws feature v belts, which you can readily attain, likely locally that is.
Bandsaw-Pic-11-465x308.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/GhpSzHYF/Bandsa...11-465x308.jpg
No bolted on ali hubs here, every part is of excellent quality on the Italian saws by comparison to a lot of the competition.
SAM_4145.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/g2XtFQgr/SAM-4145.jpg

Should you stumble across something older, say an ACM saw, it could well have an undersized motor...by today's standard, that is,
aswell as tires needing fixing, which compared to Centauro's quick change rubber bands, possibly being a huge PITA for some, if the internet is anything to go by...
so worth noting you could find the likes for less than you might expect.
Certainly so, if yer considering taming a 3 phase one with all the niceties which a VFD can provide.


All the best
Tom

[David Walser]

Gabby -- Without being in the shop with you, I cannot know for sure if the 'slow going' you experienced was a result of too little power or too small a blade. However, I suspect it was the blade. Resawing a 9" wide board large gullets to carry away the swarth efficiently. Generally, the blade's ability to remove the swarth is the limiting factor on how quickly you can resaw a particular piece of lumber. If that was your limiting factor, a larger motor will not allow you to cut any faster. So, if resawing with your saw is unbearably slow, your best option is to get a saw that can handle a larger blade (with deeper gullets).

HTH

[Edward Weber]

2.5hp is more than enough to cut 9" of spruce IME.
I would guess the blade is more to blame than the HP.

[Gabby Losch]

Thanks, everyone. I'll take a closer look at my current blade and give it a clean up and try another cut on something. I also have a spare, fresh 3/4" blade – I think a Timberwolf – that I'll try putting on to see if that handles it any better.

Since you're considering this, I'd have to question have you ever seen anything done with a similar size saw?
I can't say I've ever seen anything close done.

I did some searching and didn't see anything along these lines, which is why I doubted whether or not it was feasible.

(guessing space constraints here?)

Yep, got it in one. My shop is already pretty packed. Depending on model, an 18" saw is likely the biggest I could fit with my current layout.

[Alex Zeller]

To answer your question, upgrading the motor will not be cheap. To do it correctly you need to not just swap the motor but all the high voltage wiring and contactor (if it has one) also would need to be upgraded to handle the extra current. My 3hp Grizzly doesn't have any problems with 8" hard maple. I would think that 2.5hp should have enough power. If it's not a blade issue maybe there's something else going on.