How powerful a bandsaw motor is powerful enough?

I had my eye on the 21" 3hp Grizzly. I just didn't want to be "penny-wise, pound-foolish" by not spending another $500 and getting either something better or more powerful.

You know, that a darn good idea. I would have to leave the space behind the BS empty anyhow; I can just stick the TS there as an outfeed table! I already, due to lack of space for anything else, use it as an assembly table and router table.

Reply to
Toller
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Not unless it is 3600w.

Reply to
Toller

Like Peter, I don't own a table saw. I just have a 14" bandsaw.

My question is this: How significantly does the motor size impact cutting speed? My saw is 1 HP and I don't feel like I am bogging it down, especially with 4/4 material. I have certainly never even come close to stalling it, even when resawing.

The blade seems to be a much bigger factor. Carbon steel blades dull very quickly and dull blades cut slowly. I noticed a huge improvement when I moved to bi-metal blades.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Wells

I have a friend with a big ass bandsaw... Very expensive and highly tuned.

He calls it the world's largest pocket knife when the conversation comes up about accuracy.

sweet sawdust wrote:

Reply to
Pat Barber

Horsepower per se shouldn't make a difference in cutting speed--it's the blade speed and the blade design that decide that. As long as there's enough power to keep the blade going at full speed at the feed rate that you're using there's no advantage to be gained by more power.

How fast is it cutting, i.e. how many seconds does it take you to go through a foot of 4/4 oak?

First thing to check--is your saw a single-speed saw or does it have more than one speed? If it's not single-speed then make sure it's on its highest blade speed--if it's not that would cause it to cut slowly. Next thing, what kind of blade do you have in it? A blade designed for resawing thick lumber will cut more slowly on thin lumber than one that was designed for that purpose. The blades that come in bandsaws are usually pieces of crap. Every once in a while you may find a good one but don't count on it.

Reply to
J. Clarke

I am taking a turning course at a local HS. They have a 24" Powermatic. With a worn out blade it cuts 12/4 oak like butter. My 14" 1hp would cut it, but much slower and less precisely.

Reply to
Toller

Have you ever seen the pictures/video of Sam Maloof freehand "carving" chair arms on his bigass bandsaw? Crazy. The only bit touching the table is one corner.

Of course, he freely advises that it is a very dangerous technique...

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

I'm glad you decided that. It seems like it's a crapshoot about how much value you get for a used tool anyhow. You're better off just keeping the tablesaw. Get a mobile base. Push it into a corner or something when not in use. You're already using it as a router table.

Reply to
bf

"Toller" wrote in news:NLDbh.6500$ snipped-for-privacy@news01.roc.ny:

Well, yeah, but have you _priced_ a 24" Powermatic? ;-) That's one serious wooddorking tool.

The choice of tools in your shop is up to you, and your checkbook, and those who also have some claim on your checkbook. I've come to the conclusion that, for now, I'll find a way to do without a big bandsaw. I miss it, though.

Good luck on the gloat finding.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Thu, Nov 30, 2006, 12:46am (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@Yahoo.com (Toller) did post another question, that I snipped.

Well, if you're doing it for a living, I can see where it would matter. Somehow I don't think you're doing it for a living.

Me, my bandsaw is, I think, 1/3 hp. And it does evrything I need, or want, it to do. So, I guess that means 1/3 hp is powerfule enough - for me.

For you, why don't you just buy a small bandsaw mill and get it over with?

JOAT Democratic justice. One man, one rock.

Reply to
J T

Cross cutting, roughing out lap joints, making tenons. Very very rarely I might rip a weathergroove or do something like that. Mitres are a little tricky cause the forces on the blade tends to deflect the angle on the arm, but then I expect something similar to happen on tablesaws.

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

You don't learn well, do you?

Reply to
CW

What kind of blade does the HS have and what kind do you have (material, width, tooth pattern and tpi)? I still think that the blade may be the main difference. If the blades wanders back and forth as you cut, then it is dull. You can watch that happen as you push the wood through the blade.

Also, I have found that if you have some kind of misalignment in the board, fence, or table that will cause the board to bind the blade, that it will be significantly harder to push. I have definitely experienced that when resawing, but I don't think I have ever experienced that with 4/4 stock.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Wells

Well, guides are more important than teeth in controlling wander, unless someone's dinged the right-set side. It's overall stiffness that counts here, as elsewhere. The tension, thickness of the blade, the width and the guides all go toward making it a saw rather than a floppy piece of metal being dragged through the board.

Within limits, as we know, slowing the feed will allow rotational inertia from a 1/2 horse to cut 6" deep. Did it for years on the old Sears saw. Took a while, though. Wet wood for turning stock could be a real nightmare, but it's no pleasure on the current Delta and one horse, either.

Reply to
George

I cut those with my phone.

My plywood storage racks aren't in my own workshop and they don't have my business name over the door. OTOH I don't need to pay rent on the space, I don't have capital tied up in the vast range of stock, and best of all there's a a guy there with a lovely plywood panel saw who can cut anything I want to any size I want.

If it's a cut simple enough that I can describe it over the phone, I just have them do it before I pick it up. Tomorrow morning I need to pick up a sheet ripped into 16" strips. I could have ripped this down myself, but I'd need to tidy the workshop first to fit an 8x4 through the cabinet saw, and borrow a friend to help carry it. Having the supplier (Avon Plywood) do it for me instead saves me a _lot_ of time and trouble, and the extra cost of cutting charges would barely pay the extra tea bill of having assistants over to help out.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

The only place near me that sells furniture grade plywood charges $3/cut. I have to get at least one to get it home, but hurts to pay for something I could do myself. I really have to get over that, don't I?

Reply to
Toller

Well, I think part of it is that the big bandsaws move 50% faster than the small ones; that has to help.

Reply to
Toller

Especially when it's that cheap.

How long does it take you to make the cut(s) yourself? How much is your time worth? When you look at it that way, I'll bet that three bucks starts to sound like a bargain.

Reply to
Doug Miller

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