Bandsaw Motor Speed

[smessick]

I am replacing the motor on my Powermatic 14" bandsaw with a bigger HP motor for resawing. The original motor is 1750 RPM.The bigger motor I have is 3450 RPM. I am using a motor pulley half the size of the original to maintain the same surface speed.

I did the same thing with a combination belt/disk sander a few months ago and it works fine. The above seems logical to me but I'd like to hear what input others might have. Thanks.

Stan Messick

 

[ashley_phil]

that should work out fine w/no worries.

 

[DIYGUY]

Just getting a bigger motor may not obtain the desired results. There are many variables that come into play. One thing you may have considered but not have the option for is the voltage of your motors. If your old and new motors are both 120VAC and you have the option of running either at 240VAC you might want to consider that - especially if your problem was bogging down. When you double the voltage you halve the amperage. The max draw on many a 120 circuit is usually 15 or sometimes 20 amps. That is a fair amount of current to be sure. But at 240VAC you achieve the same results drawing only 7.5 or 10 amps. When the load increases on the motor it needs to pull down only a modest amount of extra current to handle it.

Aniother issue (one for the M.E.'s in the group) is that even though your SPF remains identical by changing your pulleys, I am reasonably confident that the mechanical efficiency has changed - perhaps not for the better. If you have a small drive pulley and a larger driven one or vice versa, the amount of torque available is very different. Usually the mfr's factor those issues into the design/cost points. An apt analogy is "souping up" hot-rods because (can I say this with a straight face?) your mileage may vary ...

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

I replaced the original 1 hp ODP motor on my BS with a 2 hp TFEC motor a few months back. It works great. Both were the same RPM so I didn't need to change pulley sizes. I did need a new motor pulley since the shaft was larger on the new motor. I wired it for 220V.

If your bandsaw has a cabinet base you might have problems fitting in a larger motor- I did, initially. As an update to the original thread I was able to slide the pulley so it almost touches the motor housing and re-position the motor so it fits within the cabinet base with the sides installed.