Thread: 14" Bandsaw - $1k budget

I made up a comparison of the various options and the winner seems to be the Woodfast. I have as a minimum 8" resaw, 1.5 HP with CI wheels. The Woodfast has 12" resaw, 2 HP motor bearing guides and seems to be a sturdy machine and best value for money at $1,575

OK. Picked this up today for $350.
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20" and has a 1" blade installed, rather blunt and has about 10" resaw capacity. I will buy a smaller more modest unit for smaller work. It runs well and seems to cut really nicely and appears to be old but well maintained. Apparently it came from a cooper in the Barossa. It took an hour for 2 of us to get it onto the trailer and it is waiting for my sons tomorrow to get it off again at this end.

I can't wait untill tomorrow to try it out on some wood I have here. I plan to make a small L shaped jig about 8" high to hold smaller logs for sawing using a clamp.

A friend of a friend have me a pile of seasoned wood, a mixture of cedar and olive, some of which are good for turning blanks and others will saw into boards.

Correction, 24"
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The motor us supposed to be 2.5 HP but either it has a fault or it is not 2.5 HP since it barely has enough power to drive the CI wheels. It is about the size of a washing machine motor so I suspect it is more like a 1 or 1.5 HP. It continuously cuts out when it is running. Fortunately I have a 3 HP motor that I *think* was used on an old home built band saw that I inherited with the property. It should mount up with little difficulty. I need to get the pulley size sorted though. I think that the old motor has too small a pulley and the saw is too slow. I did a calculation and with the pulley on the motor it will run at 3,500 sfpm. I may go to a smaller motor pulley though.
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I do have a cover for the drive pulleys but not fitted.

The lower cover has a broken stud that I will have to replace but apart from that it appears to be in perfect condition. The wheels run true, there is no play in any of the bearings but there is slight drift which I can live with. It took 2 of us an hour to get it onto the trailer and it took me about 2 hours to get it off and into place. I used a lot of physics .
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It has an 11" resaw capacity and when I get a sharp blade and the new motor on there I am hoping that it will live up to expectations.

Originally Posted by Yanis

Correction, 24"
The motor us supposed to be 2.5 HP but either it has a fault or it is not 2.5 HP since it barely has enough power to drive the CI wheels. It is about the size of a washing machine motor so I suspect it is more like a 1 or 1.5 HP. It continuously cuts out when it is running.

That type of motor probably has a large Capacitor mounted on the side of it. The capacitor is part of the starting circuit. If the capacitor is faulty (which is quite likely on an old motor), then the motor can draw lots of current and be low on power output.

Maybe have an Electrician take a look - if you're lucky, all the new motor needs will be a new start capacitor.

Good find by the way ....

Regards,

RoyG

Originally Posted by RoyG

... if the capacitor is faulty (which is quite likely on an old motor), then the motor can draw lots of current and be low on power output.
...

Good find by the way ....

Regards,

RoyG

Thanks Roy. Good thinking. I am an electronics tech so I have all of the test tools so will check it out. I was going to mount the 3HP anyway since I think it needs it and it is a much beefier motor. I was going to use the 3 HP on a home made dust collector but if the old motor checks out then I will probably use that since it will be easier to mount than the 3HP.

So many plans, so little time!

Originally Posted by RoyG

That type of motor probably has a large Capacitor mounted on the side of it. The capacitor is part of the starting circuit. If the capacitor is faulty (which is quite likely on an old motor), then the motor can draw lots of current and be low on power output.

Maybe have an Electrician take a look - if you're lucky, all the new motor needs will be a new start capacitor.

Good find by the way ....

Regards,

RoyG

The start cap is fine but the run cap is OC, in other words as if it was not there. The run capacitor phase shifts the voltage to supply the out of phase coils to make the motor more efficient which explains why I am not getting 2.5 HP from it, probably more like 1.5HP at a guess which is way to little to drive 2 24" CI wheels. I got to L&H too late today to get a replacement. I'll get the little woman to drop in during the week.

On a related subject, has anybody used any of those 5HP single phase motors being sold on eBay for about $300? I was thinking of getting one of those. I will have to run a 20A circuit to it but that is not an issue.

Looking at 24" band saws it seems that the motor of choice is 5HP but I don't have 3 phase.

You were right on the money RoyG. I replaced the run cap and it is so much better. All I need now is a sharp blade and we are set.

There was a broken stud that holds on the lower cover which I drilled and tapped and replaced with a short length of 1/2" W threaded rod.

There are just steel blocks as guides so I might replace them with bearings. I might buy a pre-made guide or just buy the bearings and make one, not decided yet. The guide assembly fits to the riser using a 5/8" round rod.

On my old saw I replaced the steel guide blocks with hardwood blocks. Ran very quiet and worked really well. Had to square up the block faces on a regular basis but easy to do on the disc sander.
Regards
John

I think you will be happy with your selection. Much easier to grow into these machines.
I agree on the use of bearings. I have them on my 14" and they never seem quite right. Cool blocks or any decent hardwood will do just a well. On my 36" the lower guide is a V made from very old plywood. I am going to try making replacements from osage orange or ebony.
If you can locate a Fine Wood Working article by Michael Fortune "5 Tips for Better Bandsawing", you will get more enjoyment from the machine.
Don

Originally Posted by Don Burch

I think you will be happy with your selection. Much easier to grow into these machines.
I agree on the use of bearings. I have them on my 14" and they never seem quite right. Cool blocks or any decent hardwood will do just a well. On my 36" the lower guide is a V made from very old plywood. I am going to try making replacements from osage orange or ebony.
If you can locate a Fine Wood Working article by Michael Fortune "5 Tips for Better Bandsawing", you will get more enjoyment from the machine.
Don

Thanks Don. Great article. I will read it when I get home form work. It came set up reasonably well. It belonged to a retired woodwork teacher but it had been left in a rudimentary shed for some time before he sold it but he did keep it in good nick. It has some slight drift, probably more due to a blunt blade. But everything seems well oiled and in working condition.