To buy or not to buy...

bradleyheathhays

New User
bradleyheathhays
Looking for my first band saw on the cheap and I found a 14" Reliant on sale for $50 but the seller says it needs a 1 HP motor. If I can find a used motor for around $50 then I'd go for it but I have no idea what size/type pulley the motor would need, and I'm guessing the seller doesn't either. I know the Reliant brand is akin to something like Harbor Freight so I know it's not worth much trouble, but the wallet is a bit slim at the moment.

I suppose I could find the right HP motor at the local electric repair shop but does anyone have advice on what size/type pulley I should look for to go with this saw?

PS. I know the general advice is gonna be to skip this one altogether and look for something better, but there's just no other way I'm gonna find this cutting height (which I need) at the ~$100 price range.

band saw 1.jpg


band saw 2.jpg
 

pcooper

Phillip Cooper
Corporate Member
I think it all depends on what you're looking to do with it, but if re-sawing is in your mind, I'd advise to get better than this one and more than 1 hp. There are deals out there if you're willing to wait for them to come to you, if you try to force a deal to be good, you're more than likely going to be disappointed, that's the way my experience has been.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Every time I went cheap, I had to do it again which costs more than doing it right.
Yes, it wil look like many other old saws as it is. Few actual factories, many brand name resellers.

1 HP motor runs around $150 or so unless you can find a good used one.
New belt. $8,
New tires $30 or so,
Guides of some sort. If it can take Cool Blocks, only about $30.
On the pulley, look up the parts diagrams for similar saws and get a hint. Then you can buy a generic sheave. ( or do the calculations)
It has no fence so you have to make one.
If you need that cutting height, I would wonder if 1 HP is enough.
A few bands, but that is required for any saw. I am giving Sawblades.com a try.
In other words, you are not going to get a $800 saw for $150. If you are lucky, you will be all in under $300 with some effort. IF the bearings are good.

Could be just parallax , but the table looks crooked. Is the trunnion in good shape?
Looks like a "riser block" saw. Does the upper guide come down far enough for safe cutting thinner stock?
Similar saws have a track record of broken bits in the wheel tilt/tension mec.

In band saws, the bigger and heavier the wheels the better. I will never touch an aluminum wheel saw again. I sucked it up and bought a Harvey C14. ( 3 HP) 10 times what you want to spend, but no regrets and I won't need to buy a third one.
 

marinosr

Richard
Corporate Member
If you need the tool now, for fifty bucks, I view it as zero risk if you have the time to spare to go pick it up. You can always sell a delta clone for $50. Heck those riser blocks alone are $100 new. I'd give it a 30 pct chance of doing what you want well but why not roll the dice?

Sawing 12" with 1HP is sloooooow. But it can be done. I have considered upgrading the 1.5 HP on my Delta but then I realized that the amount of time I spend resawing large hardwood is vanishingly small
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I guess no reason not to put a 2 or 3 HP motor on it. But I would want to be sure everything else was good or available first.
 

Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
Hey Bradley - you location is not shared so I don't know where you are. I'm in Raleigh.
I have a motor kicking around that may or may not suffice - can't recall the specs but it looks to be about the right size for a BS motor. I will send you a message about this
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
Bradley,
I agree with Richard. That machine will work fine. At some point in time you will likely upgrade.
heck, the base is worth $15-$20...
I have a 80's or 90's Delta and would guess that machine is as good or possibly better since Delta was going the way of the Dodo at that time!
As for a motor, I found mine on Craigslist. HVAC guys (more likely commercial HVAC) sometimes have 1 HP or 1.5 HP motors from squirrel cage fans that you can pick up a little cheaper...
 

bradleyheathhays

New User
bradleyheathhays
I'll learned enough about replacement parts now that I'll probably go ahead and buy the saw. I've gotten advice to make sure the wheels turn freely and that the bearings sound ok. Any other advice on what to check out on the saw when I do the inspection?
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Bradley, you could go online and find out what feet per minute the blade should be set for. Then you could figure the motor pulley size to give you that blade speed. Also depends on the rpm of the motor.

Roy G
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
I'll learned enough about replacement parts now that I'll probably go ahead and buy the saw. I've gotten advice to make sure the wheels turn freely and that the bearings sound ok. Any other advice on what to check out on the saw when I do the inspection?
Download any 14" manuel and look for any missing parts.
With the riser block, there should be a piece of sheet metal on the blade guides when you lower them, NBD if it isn't there, but something to note...
Bering guides, see that they turn freely ( not like you are going to haggle any more off the price, but at if they are bad, you will need to replace them.

The blade should be 105" ask if the owner knows, and if not ask for any blades ( even if they are dull, you can 1. verify they fit the machine and 2. use for comparison when you purchase new blades.

Plan to buy tires, (Klingspore ~buy two$16.95 each/IIRC - I would replace them regardless ( one less thing to worry about as you determine how well this saw is going to work for you)
 

bradleyheathhays

New User
bradleyheathhays
Unfortunately someone else got to this 14" right before I committed. I ended up with a decent 12" Craftsman instead. Sturdy factory base with some kind of original built-in digital readout although I'm not sure if it works. Saw runs fairly well with 6" cut height, 2 speeds, 1.25 hp, and a huge table that tilts 45 deg.. Any suggestion for good performing but economical belts or tires? I'm finding sets of tires on Amazon for around $18 but I'm wondering if that's too cheap to be any good.
 
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