How much horsepower is really needed?

[mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.ne]

Okay, a friend of mine has been admonishing me not to buy a 1 1/2 HP tablesaw. He says that a minimum of 3 HP is warranted for any decent tablesaw.

Now, I'm not planning on going into the woodworking business. I just want to outfit my workshop with good equipment so that I can't blame the equipment on the lousy workmanship that comes out of it!

The reviews for various 1 1/2 HP tablesaws seem very good. Whether it's Grizzly, Delta, or another good brand, people seem genuinely happy and satisfied with the abilities of those tablesaws.

So ....

Can anyone tell me why the extra horsepower would be needed? I doubt that I'll ever be cutting through anything thicker than 1 1/2". Heck, I'm not even sure how often I'd be doing that much!

Thx!

Jack

[David]

I had a Sears Contractors saw. I could almost stop it with my hand. I'm exaggerating, but seriously, I had a hell of time cutting 1-1/2" fir, much less anything harder. My 3 HP Unisaw never slows down at all, even when cutting to it's max height. You might try a thin kerf blade on the under powered saw to alleviate some of the bogging down (less wood to remove).

Dave

[arw01]

I've got a Jet contractors upgraded to a grizzly 2hp motor. I've had the motor stall out on 3/4 cherry that pinched the blade a couple of times. It also works really hard on 3" cuts anytime.

When you start to bevel cut the, the extra hp comes in real handy. That 1.5" thick stuff become much thicker in a bevel.

So if you can afford the extra dough, an upgrade would be good.

[xcz]

"> So ....

As stated above, for thicker wood stock, but really, what it comes down to is that if and when you do come across a need to cut thick stock, even if it is only once, its good to have more HP than not enough. And as you progress your woodworking hobby, you will probably start using thicker material on a more regular basis.

[Tim and Steph]

"mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.net" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Well, if you've got the lucre to throw at it, I can't think of any reason not to buy a higher-powered saw. OTOH, if cost is an issue, get the lower powered one, and you can always upgrade the motor down the road if you're so inclined.

[joeD]

I have a 2 HP Grizzly contractor saw wired for 220 and cut 3" sugar maple without any problems.

"mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.net" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

[extiger]

A larger motor will pull: a) a wider blade through stock b) a blade with more teeth -- thus a cleaner cut, depending on other factors c) will cut through stock not completely dry.

I'm moving to a national forest in 3 weeks. When I ordered my General

350 TS 6 weeks ago, the tool dealer tried to talk me out of a bigger motor. He was trying to save me money. When I told him I'd be harvesting timber from time to time, he said, "OK. Get a 5hp. It's only $125 more".

If any of these factors are important to you, get a bigger motor.

GC in L.A.

[Leon]

"mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.net" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

The extra power is nice as you will not find any wood that slows the motor down on a 3 hp model. Also consider that you are going to have to go to a Cabinet saw to get a 3 hp motor that runs on 220 volts. You may find a TS that claims 3hp on 110 volts but the company building that saw also builds Vaccuum cleaners that have 6 hp and also run on 110 volts. Plain and simple for the typical TS you are gong to have to go 220 volt and a cabinet saw to get 3hp.

If you buy a Cabinet saw, you "can" plan on cutting any wood of any thickness and not worry about stalling the motor.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these saws. I used a TS with 1 hp for 17 years.

Even cutting 3/4" Maple you can stall or burn the wood if you have to slow the feed rate because of the smaller hp ratings.

[Morris Dovey]

mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.net"

[George]

For which you will already own a bandsaw.

1.5 is enough. Thousands and thousands of them out there. The number is chosen so they can operate on a "standard" 15A 115 circuit.

Extra is nice, but so rarely necessary that you'll easily find workarounds.

[Rob Mills]

[RonB]

I got by with an old 1 hp Sears Contractor's saw for 25 years. It was woefully underpowered for most anything bigger than 1". Now that I have owned a 3hp cabinet saw for about four years I don't know how I did it.

RonB

[Ba r r y]

I currently have a 3HP General 650.

For six years, I worked with a 1 1/2 HP Jet contractors saw. I never felt the Jet was underpowered. To rip thick hardwoods, simply make sure you've got a sharp 24T _ripping_ blade, and feed accordingly.

Why did I upgrade from the Jet? The cabinet saw has a left tilt, a bigger table, easier tuning adjustments, a 52" fence, lots more vibration damping weight, and better (but still not GREAT) dust collection. The cabinet saw stays put when cutting vary large stock. I found myself chasing the contractor's saw around the shop on a few occasions.

If you can get a used Jet or Delta 1 1/2 HP contractor's saw for about 1/2 of the new price, with a good fence, you'd be fine for a long time. The perfect score would be the same saw with all cast wings, no stamped sheet metal wings. For about $300, you'd be able to use the saw for years, and probably sell it for near what you paid for it, _IF_ you want to upgrade.

Your buddy is snobbing you.

Barry

[chuck]

I went from an old Craftsman 8" TS with a 3/4 hp motor to a new 3 hp Unisaw. Never tried to cut 2" hardwood on the Craftsman, but I never felt it was inadequately powered. For really tough tasks with the 1 1/2 hp motor, you might consider using an 8" blade which does not require as much torque (depth of cut permitting). Usually, feeding slower is a satisfactory solution. A first-rate blade always makes a big difference on more challenging cuts. Also, hardwood cutting is somewhat less tolerant of misaligned miter gauges and fences.

BTW, that Craftsman was such a convenient tool that I kept it when I bought the Unisaw. Sadly had to sell both.

Chuck

Ba r r y wrote:

[Andy Dingley]

Reasonable enough.

It's a question of torque as well. A brush (universal) motor has higher starting torque than an induction motor. So a satisfactory experience with a cheap 1 1/2 hp tablesaw does _not_ mean that a better cabinet saw with an induction motor would be equally "capable" with the same power.

I wouldn't walk away from a good 2hp saw to a bad 3hp saw. But if I were buying, I'd specify the biggest motor that my wiring could easily cope with. My own saw is an ancient 3 phase brute, converted by the previous owner to an undersized (1hp ?) single phase motor. I upgraded it to a

3hp motor myself and regarded this as money _very_ well spent. It's much safer to use now - I feed it aq deep rip in sticky resinous timber and it just gets on with it, no argument. That's a lot better than a saw that sticks and bogs down, then works free and speeds up again.

[C & S]

Short answer, No.

As others have said there are some scenarios where it can be very handy. To mitigate the problems associated with a marginally underpowered saw: you can do the following:

1. Tune your saw well
2. Use a sharp blade
3. Use a thin kerf blade
4. Use the right blade type: e.g., rip blade, with a lower tooth count
5. For a really big cut, take multiple passes.

Just about every here has owned/used a 1.5 HP contractors saw at some point and we all know they can produce fine work.

-Steve

[bluemax1811-newsgroups]

There's a lot more to the power capability than simply upgrading the motor. For one, I doubt the single belt drive on a contractors saw would be up to transmitting the power from a 3 hp motor. That's why most cabinet saws have 2 and 3 belt drive systems. I think your comment was ill advised. If you want to upgrade, sell the current saw and buy a new one.

Bob

[bluemax1811-newsgroups]

Andy, what relevance is starting torque on a table saw (or any woodcutting saw for that matter)? It can't think that it would matter at all.

Bob

[amazed]

Jack, I faced the same choice and ended up with a Jet 3hp cabinet. I had been using an ancient craftsman contractor saw. I loved that saw, even if it did bog down cutting 1"pine if the stars weren't in line. It cost me a little more in the long run but I have no fear of Hardwoods, Dados, Bevels or astrology. To get into a solid 2hp saw your'r close to some of 3hp cabinets. Having used both 11/2 and 2hp, I would recommend the 2 hp and would not consider a 11/2 unless I had no choice. My needs do include lots of hardwood and your needs now may change over time to include hardwoods and 2hp would allow room to grow. Besides HP you do need to consider other qualities; Fence,Wings, Table, Arbor. All the HP in the world won't get rid of the headache of a bad fence or warped table followed up with no support from the manufacture. My vote would be for a 2hp contractor/ although they are 115/230 you could get on by on 115 until you could wire 230. But I point out again that the price would put you close to a grizzly cabinet. Many like the grizzlys. As pointed out by others a good quality thin blade can help. Half the fun is shopping. YMMV ED

[Andy Dingley]

It's not the "starting" torque on a saw, although it's hard to give a simple phrase for it. A universal motor compared to an induction motor has a torque curve that gives maximum torque at minimum speed, hence the high starting torque for applications that need it.

In a sawbench, then the time you need torque is to avoid the blade slowing in a heavy rip. Although you're not down to zero speed, you're certainly into the range where a universal motor may well have more torque than an induction motor that's nominally quite a bit more powerful.