OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little by
little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed and
resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much HP
would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What would I
be looking for - TEFC, etc 3.) Is there a good source for these?
Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. I know the
answer to that. OK, ready for your answers - without the "bad idea" cracks.
I know that much. ;-D
"C & E" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
> BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
> traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little
> by little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed and
> resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much HP
> would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What would
> I be looking for - TEFC, etc 3.) Is there a good source for these?
>
> Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. I know the
> answer to that. OK, ready for your answers - without the "bad idea"
> cracks. I know that much. ;-D
I have a cheapy 12" Craftsman band saw, the aluminum frame model.. It came
with a 1/3 HP motor and I needed to rip some 3" oak with it. I bought a
better ~4 TPI blade and it still was slow as the motor would stall easily. I
dug through my odds and ends and found a 1-1/2 HP motor that pulls the blade
along fine.
I am not sure I would recommend this to just anyone, but it seems to work
for me, and my rare band saw use.
The 1-1/2 HP motor is surely over kill for the light weight frame of the
saw, if fact I was surprised it worked at all!
Greg
"John Grossbohlin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "C & E" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
>> BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
>> traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little
>> by little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed
>> and resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much
>> HP would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What
>> would I be looking for - TEFC, etc 3.) Is there a good source for these?
>>
>> Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. I know the
>> answer to that. OK, ready for your answers - without the "bad idea"
>> cracks. I know that much. ;-D
>
> First, I'd be inclined to try better blades with fewer teeth per inch (as
> few as 2 or 3), with big gullets, and no wider than 1/2" if you are
> resawing wide boards... Any finer than that and the gullets fill up with
> saw dust and impede cutting. Any wider than that and you cannot get
> sufficient tension on the blade which decreases beam strength and also
> impedes cutting. After that, if you are still bent on upping the HP I'd
> think no more than 1.5 HP on that machine.
>
> BTW, I understand your pain... I'm still in the process of setting up my
> new-to-me 36" 5 HP saw as I'm inpatient too... ;~)
>
> John
Yes, Roy, it is a 3/4 HP. I currently am running a 3/8", 3 tpi blade from
Iturra (he Rx'ed it). I don't know how truely good his blades are. I've
heard that he sells Lennox. I really don't know. Maybe it's the chice of
woods that I'm resawing - cherry, red oak, poplar, walnut (?).
>
"Greg O" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:%[email protected]...
>
> I have a cheapy 12" Craftsman band saw, the aluminum frame model.. It came
> with a 1/3 HP motor and I needed to rip some 3" oak with it. I bought a
> better ~4 TPI blade and it still was slow as the motor would stall easily.
> I dug through my odds and ends and found a 1-1/2 HP motor that pulls the
> blade along fine.
Still too many TPI. Look for 2 or less for resawing. For fast resawing I
use a 1.2 TPI blade.
"C & E" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
> BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
> traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little
> by little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed and
> resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much HP
> would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What would
> I be looking for - TEFC, etc 3.) Is there a good source for these?
>
> Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. I know the
> answer to that. OK, ready for your answers - without the "bad idea"
> cracks. I know that much. ;-D
First, I'd be inclined to try better blades with fewer teeth per inch (as
few as 2 or 3), with big gullets, and no wider than 1/2" if you are resawing
wide boards... Any finer than that and the gullets fill up with saw dust
and impede cutting. Any wider than that and you cannot get sufficient
tension on the blade which decreases beam strength and also impedes cutting.
After that, if you are still bent on upping the HP I'd think no more than
1.5 HP on that machine.
BTW, I understand your pain... I'm still in the process of setting up my
new-to-me 36" 5 HP saw as I'm inpatient too... ;~)
John
Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. =A0
Frankly, I'm not sure upping the HP is not a good idea - regardless
the blade(s) used. Of course no one would disagree with the premise
that the right blade makes the job it's designed for easier on the
tool and requires less HP to do it's job.
But folks I've known who have upped the HP of their BS all describe a
significant difference and none have expressed regrets.
Unfortunately for me, by the time I got my (underpowered) 14" Delta
BS, I had lost contact with those folks and found myself asking (on
this list and others) for folks who had made the switch up to help me
source a replacement.
I'm not sure why folks presume one asking for such information does
not understand the "right blade for the job" rule, but I get a lot of
that as well.
I did switch to a LINK BELT and noticed marginal improvement and less
stalling. But have yet to take the motor off the saw and bring it into
GRAINGER or equivalent to find a replacement built on the same frame,
with the same RPM, that provides a rated 1.5HP and is designed for the
intended use. I only hope the fellows at Grainger know more about AC
motors than do I.
I went into Woodcraft here in Florida the other day and noticed the
14" BS they had for sale carried a 1 HP motor and asked for help. Off
the top, they had no answers, but did try and find a motor supplier
online and gave me a couple of sites and numbers to call.
The folks at Tractor Supply have motors on the shelf, but the help
doesn't have a clue what they are selling and cannot offer reliable
(IMHO) advice. Such may be the case at Grainger - we'll see.
If you send me an e-mail and ask, I will share my success / failure in
a month or so when I get back to my BS.
Good luck.
Grizzly handles TEFC motors, they say that a Nema 56 frame, 5/8" shaft fits
90% of the woodworking machines out there. I looked into upping the HP on my
bandsaw once, never did get around to it. Maybe one day.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/searchresults.aspx?q=tefc
"Hoosierpopi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:91b6121e-8c95-46fe-986d-74a3e4f4ad39@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com...
Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea.
Frankly, I'm not sure upping the HP is not a good idea - regardless
the blade(s) used. Of course no one would disagree with the premise
that the right blade makes the job it's designed for easier on the
tool and requires less HP to do it's job.
But folks I've known who have upped the HP of their BS all describe a
significant difference and none have expressed regrets.
Unfortunately for me, by the time I got my (underpowered) 14" Delta
BS, I had lost contact with those folks and found myself asking (on
this list and others) for folks who had made the switch up to help me
source a replacement.
I'm not sure why folks presume one asking for such information does
not understand the "right blade for the job" rule, but I get a lot of
that as well.
I did switch to a LINK BELT and noticed marginal improvement and less
stalling. But have yet to take the motor off the saw and bring it into
GRAINGER or equivalent to find a replacement built on the same frame,
with the same RPM, that provides a rated 1.5HP and is designed for the
intended use. I only hope the fellows at Grainger know more about AC
motors than do I.
I went into Woodcraft here in Florida the other day and noticed the
14" BS they had for sale carried a 1 HP motor and asked for help. Off
the top, they had no answers, but did try and find a motor supplier
online and gave me a couple of sites and numbers to call.
The folks at Tractor Supply have motors on the shelf, but the help
doesn't have a clue what they are selling and cannot offer reliable
(IMHO) advice. Such may be the case at Grainger - we'll see.
If you send me an e-mail and ask, I will share my success / failure in
a month or so when I get back to my BS.
Good luck.
"C & E" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
> BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
> traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little
> by little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed and
> resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much HP
> would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What would
> I be looking for - TEFC, etc 3.) Is there a good source for these?
>
> Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. I know the
> answer to that. OK, ready for your answers - without the "bad idea"
> cracks. I know that much. ;-D
Long ago I had a 1/2 hp 12" Craftsman and resawed 6" maple. Each 18" long
pieces took a few minutes to cut.
Now I use a Laguna with 4.5hp and a 1.25" blade, that combination will resaw
the 6" x 18" maple in about 10 seconds.
BUT, cheaper than replacing the motor is using the correct blade for
resawing. One of my resaw blades has 1.2 TPI. The type of wood and width
you plan on resawing will greatly affect speed.
2 hp is plenty of hp to resaw on a large bandsaw, up to a point. Thicker
cuts would require more hp.
In article <[email protected]>,
"C & E" <[email protected]> wrote:
> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
> BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
> traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little by
> little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed and
> resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much HP
> would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4")
I assume you meant to write, "3/4 HP"? I suppose "painfully slow" is all a
matter of degree. I've got a 1960's vintage 12" Craftsman bandsaw with the
original 1/3 HP motor. I describe resawing as "painfully slow". I guess I
have a higher threshold of pain than you do :-)
I picked up the saw a bunch of years back for $100 and fixed it up. The
biggest improvement came when I put a crowbar in my wallet and bought some
quality blades (Timberwolf). Amazing how much difference that made
compared to the crap blades I bought at Sears.
I replaced my 3/4 horse with a 1.5 horse. I love it.
"C & E" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt Ridgid
> BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the Cummins
> traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it out little
> by little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6" riser installed and
> resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part question; 1.) How much HP
> would be req'd to perform resawing? (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What would
> I be looking for - TEFC, etc 3.) Is there a good source for these?
>
> Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea. I know the
> answer to that. OK, ready for your answers - without the "bad idea"
> cracks. I know that much. ;-D
C & E wrote:
> OK, I'll answer your question first. "Because the factory rebuilt
> Ridgid BS1401 was all that I could afford". I picked it up from the
> Cummins traveling tool show a few years ago and have been tricking it
> out little by little (kinda like souping up a Vega). I have a 6"
> riser installed and resawing is painfully slow. So, a three part
> question; 1.) How much HP would be req'd to perform resawing?
> (current motor is 3/4") 2.) What would I be looking for - TEFC, etc
> 3.) Is there a good source for these?
> Notice that I didn't ask whether or not this is a good idea.
OK. So let me ask *why* resawing is so deadly slow...does the motor
stall?...blade stop?...what size blade are you using (width, TPI and tooth
type)?
IOW, a new super motor may not help.
--
dadiOH
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