Thread: Bandsaw Power??

Originally Posted by justinrasta

Hi people,
I need some advice when it comes to buying a band saw.

I'm making hollow wooden surf boards out of Paulownia and need to cut a bit of cedar and a few other lighter woods.

The question is, do I need a 2hp machine? I would rather get something to powerful than not powerful enough.

Thanks.
Justin

It would help to know the dimensions of the timber you intend to cut.

John

Hi John,
It's actually your wood.

Need to split the order I picked up the other week.

50mm x 4.5 to 25mm x 4.5mm.

I might need to cut down some Western Red Cedar planks and maybe some other types of wood but nothing really hard.

p.s. you can give JJ a pat from Bonnie.

Justin.

Originally Posted by justinrasta

Need to split the order I picked up the other week.

50mm x 4.5 to 25mm x 4.5mm.

Justin.

That is not possible, you forgot about the kerf.
Cheers

Hi Justin,
I think it would be a wise move to buy either a 16 or 18in.Saw, 410mm / 460mm. of course if you can find the Dollars. Neither are cheap. Carbi-Tec would have a Web site for you to browse through, Total Tools, All Tools, Belics, Hare & Forbes, etc. Do a Review via Google, on it when you find the one you like.
Hope this helps a little.
Regards,
issatree.

Justin

I am not a 'woodworker' and have no real idea of how powerful a motor is needed to drive a bandsaw for different thickness and types of timber. I thought you wanted to strip 50 mm thick paulownia timber. I was hoping that when you provided forum members with the dimensions of the timber you intended to cut up then some one far more knowledgeable than I would give a meaningfull answer. Based on my own experience a 2 HP motor is the minimum necessary to strip 50 mm paulownia effeciently.

I hope you get the advice you need.

John

I have just been reading up on paulownia.
It appears to be a fine grained, soft light timber but I have no idea about the pith of the timber and whether it will bake onto the teeth of your blade.
If you only want to rip 50mm to half size, then you do not ned a huge band saw but, would it not be easier to rip it with a tablesaw?
Depending on the length of the boards of course.
I have just been ripping 3 m long, 240 mm wide pine boards into 55 mm wide boards on the tablesaw.
Seeing the table is rather small on a bandsaw, I would rather not rip it there, unless I had constructed a very long infeed and outfeed table and constructed a special fence to control the long boards.
I have an expandable roller table and although it is height adjustable, it is not high enough for the bandsaw.
Then you have to consider the lead or wandering of the blade and set the fence accordingly.
It has taken me all day today to set the table a perfect 90 degrees to the table so I could rip some short boards. Before I managed that, the edges were not square.
If you decide a bandsaw is what you want, a 14" good quality saw will be sufficient ( but not ideal) for your purpose.
Hope this helps
Cheers

Justin
I use to have a 3/4 hp 14" bandsaw and it did cut hardwood but was not happy about it. Now I have a 2 hp 19" bandsaw and it cuts red gum and spotted gum hardwoods with no trubble at all. The blade will make a big difference in cutting or resawing hardwoods. In my experience if you need more than 2 hp, then I'd like to know what kind of super hardwood you are sawing as mine has power to spare.

SB

I had no difficulty resawing paulownia logs (a tree out of my garden) with a 14" 3/4 hp generic bandsaw. Paulownia is soft like balsa and cuts like pine. For 4.5mm thick strips a basic machine like this with a sharp blade will resaw like a hot knife through butter.

Frankly, I think that you might do better with a small tablesaw, which is a machine designed ripping. You could pick up a second hand contractor-type tablesaw for the same price as a new 3/4 hp bandsaw.

Regards from Perth

Derek

You may be able to split your strips in half with a knife blade, try a short piece scoring with a knife from both sides then snap them in half.
If that works ok make a jig to hold two blades opposed to each other in a slot big enough for your strips to be pulled through.

hey guys thanks for all your inputs. I* think I'm sold on a 14' band saw, 2 speed, 2 hp from Hare and Forbes. I think I need a band saw as a table saw will eat to much wood and it's not easy to get.

Originally Posted by justinrasta

hey guys thanks for all your inputs. I* think I'm sold on a 14' band saw, 2 speed, 2 hp from Hare and Forbes. I think I need a band saw as a table saw will eat to much wood and it's not easy to get.

Make sure you get a good fence and mitre and a quality blade as it will make all the difference with your cuts.

SB

Does anyone know the higher speed of the Harco PB-355?

That saw is similar to the specs of the BAS 350 from Carbatec of which I have and my Manual says 440 and 900 m/min, so I would say it'd be somewhere around there.