Hello, I have a Craftsman 10" table saw with a 2hp 3450 rpm motor. I'
using a Delta 10" rip/crosscut blade. Right now I have a 2 1/2" pulle on the motor and a 2 1/2" pulley on the blade arbor. Is the blade rp is to slow? What size pulleys should I be using and what is a goo blade speed? Also, where can I get double sheave Link Belt pulleys Any input will be great appreciated. Thanks, Ji
-- silver_18038
Grizzly, Grainger, Google, etc...
Maximum rotational speed for virtually all 10" blades is 3600 rpm so a
1:1 pulley ratio is near ideal. Some manufacturers may come a little closer than that, but I'd not sweat the difference. A set of larger diameter pulleys will provide additional surface bearing, so you could go up a little on both, depending on clearances available for the particular saw.I've never seen any particular reason to go to the link-belt although others seeme to swear by them. OTOH, I have machined pulleys on everything, none of the stamped "pot metal" type that are sometimes poorly balanced or untrue, so vibration from that source hasn't ever been a problem here. I don't have any feel for how well matched two would be--would seem less so than matched pairs/triples of regular belts given the way they're made, but that's just hypothesis.
Here's a link on blade safety from the Oldham site that's worthwhile for reference--
Just a minor correction. The _max_ rotational speed for most 10" blades (Forrest, Oldham) is right around 7000 RPM. (Dimar/Amana blades max out at 7600rpm, Dewalt at 6000.)
The _ideal_ speed is closer to 3000-3600rpm in most cases, or right around the standard motor speed.
Chris
Which winds up meaning that the OP should leave the pulleys alone. Jim
Yes, I was intending to imply a practical uper limit so the use of "maximum" w/o a modifier was a poor choice...
Most 10" saws with induction motors are set up for about 4500 RPM,
+/- a couple grand. At any rate, it's safe to say that 3450 is too slow. If you change pulley sizes to get close to 4500 you'll be in good company.The link belts don't require any special type of pulley. You can get pullies from the usual suspects. Grainger, MSC, McMaster-Carr, as well as several mail-order places. There is some argument over whether the link belts should be used in a multiple belt setup. My contractor's saw has only the usual single belt sheaves so I haven't had to form an opinion on that yet.
Looking at the 2004 Delta catalog, I see that the 5hp Unisaw has a blade speed of 4000 rpm. The direct drive things have blade speeds of 5000 rpm. The rest have blade speeds of 3000 rpm. So, I surmise that 3450 rpm is not too slow. However, if you see a cut quality problem that can definitely be attributed to a slow blade speed, then you should see if 4000 rpm would work better. Jim
General 650/350 saws turn ~ 4000 rpm.
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