American Crescent Bandsaw

I will try in this section. I have a Crescent Bandsaw 34" wheels. At the moment partially dismantled for transport. The thing is too heavy to be moved in one piece. Had it running in the workshop and it was a beauty. No vibration, cutting dead straight. There are a few things you can check a bandsaw with quickly. 3 phase crompton motor but that is not a problem as I have an old single phase 4 brush ac motor. The saw has only a resellers label on it. I like to resurrect this one just because it is such a nice machine and can do some nice work. When I look in my workshop it seems something from the dark ages all the old crap. Wonder sometimes where it all ends up when I kick the bucket. Have given a lot away over the years. Cheers Gerrit.

Gerrit, I too have a Crescent 36" Bandsaw. It's the one in the middle (There is a also a McPherson on the left and an L.S. Barker on the right). I intend to restore these as soon as I have some time (I am unfortunately very time poor in studying currently and have a 2yr old son). They all came with 3 phase motors which I've come to the conclusion that I'll swap out for 3HP 240v single phase motors - would love to get my hands on some old Crompton Parkinson 2-3HP single phase motors but that would just be pot luck I think and may need to settle for new ones, the only issues (not a big issue) is I'll need to buy new pulley's for a couple of them as they have a 30mm (or 29mm?) shaft. The other option is to buy VFDs and keep the old motors which would be great but know nothing about VFDs and they cost more than a new motor. A VFD is major eye sore but wouldn't mind the slow start feature!

Have you started restoring yours?

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You have no doubt see the below link of ol'mate who restored one back in 2004?

Crescent 36" Band Saw Restoration - VintageMachinery.org Knowledge Base (Wiki)

Of the 3 saws the Crescent seems to be the heaviest (about 650kg from my research). I would say the McPherson is the next heaviest and the L.S. Barker is the lightest. The L.S. Barker seems to have much more lightened table top, perhaps it's the younger of all of them?

Check out Jack English's treatment of making VFD's look the part... he mainly hangs out on instagram now days. He is a guru and making modern features look vintage. If you go VFD make sure the motors are suitable.. There are some quite knowledgeable people on here that can give you guidance. I would go VFD if I could.

Thanks Gaza - I flip between a new single phase motor or VFD. The original motors just look the part - everything is big and heavy! So far most people have advised to go down the VFD path. They are just so damn ugly BUT will look at making them look 'vintage'. I can't see that I would have difficulty in using one for the run of the mill motors I have.

For the price of a motor (about $200) you can get a cheap VFD for about ~$215 + add in cabling, switch gear (may have the option for re-using some gear I got with the bandsaws).

2.2kw/3HP 240V Single to Three Phase Variable Frequency Drive Inverter VSD VFD | eBay
Conon Motor's comments as below - not sure if this is relevant with current cheap Chinese VFDs they all seem to state 220v and the PDF instructions for the Conon ones mention the same 220v.

"Please note, This product is designed for the Australian market,
which is 240V, unlike some VFDs in the market which is 220V"

I went with Conon for the one I have.. Yet to get it up and going though. I found they are very helpful. They can be set up to have the controls remote from the unit itself, which will help with trying to hide all the workings. With my Jointer I am going to hide the VFD in the base and then set the remote buttons in a vintage switch box so it looks more original.. Just got to get creative.... The biggest issue is the Star/ Delta setup of the motors... some motors will require an electrician to get the wires pulled out in the right format. Most modern motors its just a matter of changing a few straps. Or you can get totally caught out like I did with my metal lathe it was dual wound for two speed which just doesn't work with VFD's ... Still bought a three Phase motor and VFD from Conon to sort it out though.... A lot of buggering around but will be awesome once it's up and going.

I was hoping to do everything myself. I've wired up a fair amount of single phase 240v motors and done wall plugs etc - it's not rocket science for my simplistic needs to date. BUT these old switches (with isolators etc) and the introduction of a VFD is out of my league. Don't even know what a Star/Delta is?

I have a sparky mate but he's usually a bit cagey when I have dropped hints about helping me out. The annoying thing is I know he works with industrial heavy duty stuff in he's job all the time! I think I'll setup a Facetime session with someone on here who may be able to help me out, that way they can talk me through it and can show them what I am doing. Otherwise I'll have to just get a sparky to help me out and pay the sparky prices :C

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Originally Posted by Charlie_6ft

I was hoping to do everything myself. I've wired up a fair amount of single phase 240v motors and done wall plugs etc - it's not rocket science for my simplistic needs to date. BUT these old switches (with isolators etc) and the introduction of a VFD is out of my league. Don't even know what a Star/Delta is?

I have a sparky mate but he's usually a bit cagey when I have dropped hints about helping me out. The annoying thing is I know he works with industrial heavy duty stuff in he's job all the time! I think I'll setup a Facetime session with someone on here who may be able to help me out, that way they can talk me through it and can show them what I am doing. Otherwise I'll have to just get a sparky to help me out and pay the sparky prices :C

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Some things are doable but I wouldn't recommend stuffing around with the High voltage stuff... and I doubt that anyone will help you do it yourself in this day and age of being sued. If you google it there is plenty of stuff on how it should be hooked up and you will find that you could prepare lots of it and just get the sparky to check it and do the final hook ups. The Remote switches are all low volt stuff so no issues there.

I am a bit old school (at the ripe age of 40). I'll reach out the the guy who sold me hes Woodfast lathe with a 3 phase motor and VFD. He's sparky did a stella job.

Hi Charlie, apologies for not replying promptly.
A lot has happened in our little valley, First the fire came through at New Years Eve which flattened half of the properties and did a lot of other damage to livestock
and infrastructure.
So now a breather and start rebuilding. I will have to build a shed to house all my gear before anything else.
As far as motor is concerned check with people who have used VDF's. I used inverters in commercial equipment from the 1992 onwards but they were far too pricey for our purposes. I was lucky to find a Repulsion Motor Deri style. It has a commutator and 4 brushes, one set is fixed the other one you can move to change direction of rotation and torque profile. Sometimes you can find them on old equipment mine was fitted on an old McPherson lathe. Happy hunting.

Thanks Gerrit, sorry to hear about the damage! The aftermath of the fires has left significant impacts everywhere - I feel for your community!

None of my motors for the saws I have unfortunately are suitable for a VFD. So have explored a couple of options:

1) Replace them with 240v single phase motors. The problem I know have is finding pulley's to match (dimensions, number of grooves etc) and working with a short motor shaft length.

2) Keeping an eye out for old motors like Crompton Parkinson that are compatible with VFDs. I've found one but transport would make it cost prohibitive. The funny thing is I am sure there is probably 100s of motors suitable within a 150klm radius that are probably in the back of sheds just collecting dust going unused not to mention good old motors that have been scrapped.

Like this one: A.C single phase cap start motor | Other Home & Garden | Gumtree Australia Mitchell Area - Seymour | 1241173157 which would have been perfect!

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