Official Luthiers Forum!

A couple of weeks ago, there was discussion about buying a 14 inch Delta
Bandsaw. I have owned one of these for about 35 years (a Rockwell back
then) and run it with a 1 1/2 horsepower motor. It resaws fine if not slow.
Someone mentioned that this type of saw could take up to a 5 hp motor.
Can someone please give me the pluses and minuses of such a motor when
it comes to resawing backs and sides.

thanks
Ken

Hi Ken,

Oh, there are no minuses with a big motor, except that the saw will take a limb off quicker.

When I bought my Laguna LT16HD, I realized just how much more saw it was than my old Rockwell. The ease with which it goes through thick difficult woods is hard to comprehend. More than going from a 1 hp motor to a 4.5 hp motor, the actual saw was superior in every way. It can handle the tension required for larger blades for resawing. Unfortunately, part of the equation for resawing is blade speed, which isn't addressed with simply adding a more powerful motor. You'll want to increase the blade speed as much as you can. The added horsepower will allow a good sharp blade to plow through thicker, tougher wood considerably more easily than with a 1.5 hp motor. The old Rockwell 14's are good little saws, but have some limitations with blade tension capability. Still, with some added speed and horsies under the hood, it should give you better performance than what you are currently getting. But it is what it is.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Hey Ken, gotta say Don is right (as usual!)! I have three bandsaws, one of which is dedicated re-saw. My 14" Jet that is a good 25 years old, has been hot rodded a bit. I didn't increase HP too much but I did put a 3600 rpm motor on it with a 1 to 1 pulley. It kept through the rubber tires off at that speed so I had volcanized ones put on and it has been a joy to use through these many years!

Shane

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Canada

Normally more power is always better. But there are a few times when it might be bad. (and these are "out there" circumstances)
If you hit something hard that would normally bog a motor, a more powerful motor will try to drive on through it. Maybe damaging things like the blade, wheels, your wood, etc.
Also, I might be concerned about the weight of the 5 hp motor hanging off the machine. Could potentially start to bend and flex things that aren't supposed to bend and/or flex.
Last problem that I can think of is $$$$$$$. 5 hp will cost you a good chunk of change. If you have it to spend, hey more power to you (no pun intended).
If it were me doing it, I don't think I'd go up to 5 hp. Maybe 3hp but that should be more than enough power for that size saw.

Paul is right about the money thing. I didn't feel comfortable about bringing that up, but since he did, well, the cost of a big motor is so much that it's almost better to put that money toward a dedicated resaw, but ou have to be planing to do a good bit of resawing to justify it.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."