Putting a bigger motor on contractor's saw

Re: Putting a bigger motor on contractor's saw

Barry Irby

>Can't answer aobut a 3, but I have had a 2hp on mine for many years. Does well.

I think there are Issues with a heavier, more powerful motors. Will the mounting brackets support the weight? How about the trunions and the mechinisma that swing the saw to an angle. Another question would be whether a single belt can transmit the power of a 3hp to the blade?

Re: Putting a bigger motor on contractor's saw

Gene Gauss

>I replaced the original 1HP motor on my oldie but goodie Craftsman contractor saw with a 3HP motor, purchased from Grainger. I left the single belt, since the arbor extension beyond the bearing was too short for a double pulley. I'm using one of those segmented belts, and all seems to work well. I don't think I've pushed the load on the motor to anything like 3HP to see if the belt would slip, or something else would go wrong. Gene Gauss

Sure, do it but a couple of caveats

Forrest Addy

>Sure, do it but a couple of caveats.

THe motor will be bulkier and heavier and these will interfere with tilts.

The motor's weight will make it hard to crank over towards max tilt. A simple spring-loaded crutch leading from a brace attached across the legs up to the motor bracket will relieve the motor's weight on the trunnion. This will require some long fairly stout springs or bungee cord. Be clever and work out all the details before you proceed.

The motor's bulk may cause it to extend into the material passage at full 45 degree tilt. Adjust the motor on its bracket to suit.

Before doing that...

Hoa Dinh in Alameda

>What blade are you using?

If you are not using a rip blade with 24T or less, try one of those.

I know Leitz makes 10T rip blades. You may want to try that too and slow the feed rate.

-- Hoa

Also possible frying the bearings....

HC Sakman

>...depending on how hard you're going to use it. Such as ripping 8/4 purpleheart or even white oak or hard maple. Bearings in cont. saws are underbuilt for 3+hp motors. Don't ask me how I know this so well! ;-)

Also, difficult tilting is nothing! Heavy motor will twist the trunnion and every bevel cut will also be fried, not to mention unparrarel rips (..due to the twist!)

I used mine without tilting more than 10~15 degrees, after that, it's a bbq time!

Lastly, if your saw has a single bar trunnion, I'd not even attempt to put bigger motor even blade kept @90.

Cont. saws can handle max. 2hp motors and that's the limit!

Chico...

Re: Before doing that...

Jerry Nicholson

>When I tried to rip 2 inch red oak with my 1hp saw and a combination blade, I let so much smoke out of the wood that I couldn't see what I was doing. Changed to a thin kerf 24T Freud blade and solved the problem. I haven't tried it on thick hard maple though. When the magazines do glowing test reports on combination blades, they are always using 3hp cabinet saws that could bull their way through anything.

JErry

Re: Putting a bigger motor on contractor's saw

Robby W. in San Marcos, CA

>I upgraded my Rockwell Contractor's Saw (predecessor to the Delta) with a 2 HP motor, with very good results. I used a Dayton motor from Graingers. While researching this, I found that there isn't much difference between a 1 1/2 HP motor and a 2 HP motor, but there is a pretty big jump in size and weight when going from a 2 HP to a 3 HP motor - at least in the good quality class. I have a 3 HP motor sitting on my shop floor and I don't think I want to try it. The motor is way to heavy and bulky.

I haven't had problems with bearings or trunnion flex with the 2 HP motor. The saw holds its settings well. I do use a 24 tooth rip blade when ripping anything thicker than 4/4. I have ripped the oaks, cherry and hard maple without problems. Wet 2x4's straight from the home center are a bit of a problem though.

Hope this helps.

Robby Wright

Re: Before doing that...

Charles Self

>In my salad days, fast feeding 2" maple into a 3 HP saw as hard as I could go would stall the saw. They cannot "bull through anything" or even close to anything. A judicious feed rate gets much finer results, aided by a top quality blade and a good tune-up.

Two Things

Mike Circo

>If this is an original US made Delta Contractors saw with the ODP (Open Drip Proof) motor (Known by its exposed windings). That motor can be reconfigured to run on 220v power and will give a TRUE 2hp. Something to do with extra windings or the way it is internally wired. Most contractors saws can convert to 220 but don't gain the extra HP like the older Delta motors do.

Second. Use a thin kerf blade for really thick rips. Specialized rip blades (fewer teeth) AND thin kerf can really cut surprisingly well in thick stock.

Oh, as a bonus... TUNE UP THE SAW. Even a tiny misalignment will really drag the blade in tough cuts.

Quoting for Emphysis...

Mike Circo

>Chico is right on all counts. The huge difference in weight with a 3hp motor is too much for a contractor saw.

Re: Before doing that...

Glenn Madsen near San Francisco

>I agree with Charlie. A 50T combo blade on 6/4 hard maple is stalling (well, slowing, burning) on figure when rip cutting on my Unisaw. I know I ought to change out the blade for ripping, but its a back & forth type of project, and it's cold in the shop. (Yes, it's California, but the shop's in the high 40's. ;-))

3 hp doesn't solve all stubbornness.

Has the contractor saw the OP talked about been changed out to 240V? Because somewhere, someone, is going to say that real 3 hp saws need 240V. Not me. I took economics at the University.

Something wrong with this picture...

Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.

>I replaced my bandsaw motor with a A.O. Smith 3 HP unit, and this motor weighs 32 lbs. If my memory serves me right, that's quite less than the 1 1/2 HP motor I had on my (since sold) contractors saw. So I don't see the problem...

Granted, my A.O. Smith is an ODP, not a TEFC motor (so was the original BS 3/4 HP motor), still with dilligent cleaning it should work fine in a contractors saw.

My $0.02,

DC

I am no motor expert, though...

HC Sakman

>I've seen 1hp Baldor which was looking like an oil drum. (OK, I exaggerated a bit, nevertheless, it had a huge oversize housing.) So, I can only assume that it was a high torque model or something like that. Whatever the sizes and hp's are, there're many different configurations for different purposes.

Chico...

PS: Bandsaw is a totally different animal. You can put a 3hp on a 14" Delta. If the bearings are decent and not resawing 10"+ wide boards frequently, you'll be fine.

Got one on mine. 20 years and counting

Forrest Addy

>Got one on mine. 20 years and counting. But I might get a hundred hours per year on it.

For the record, bearing failure mode for table saw bearings is lubricant starvation. The fine dust sucks to oil out of the grease. Better saws have the bearings inclosed behind dust slingers. They never fail from actual load bearing.

Actual bearing loads seen in a table saw bearing are but a fraction of the statistical rating, even with a 3 HP motor. Do the math.

There are of course many anecdotal accounts that differ but few that are supported by failure analysis.

Re: Putting a bigger motor on contractor's saw

knotscott

>With good alignment and a good 18T-24T thin kerf blade, you should be able to rip anything at a reasonable pace.

Re: Also possible frying the bearings....

Bruce Wrenn

>The arbor bearings in my UNI and my Delta contractor's saw are the same. How can one bearing be rated for more HP than the other? A 1 1/2 hp motor and a 2 hp motor will weigh almost the same, but a three hp is much heavier. This will stress trunnion rods.