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Band Saw Blues

Rennie Heuer

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
Or, in my case, green (I have one of the original series Rikon 18" saws, before they moved to blue.

I have a lot of veneers to slice for the bent laminations on my chess table chairs. So, this morning I took off my 1/2" blade, took off all my guide bearings and cleaned and lubed them and installed my slicer 3/4" 3 TPI blade. Got it tensioned and noticed an unusual sound coming from the saw. sounded kind of 'rough running'. I started a test cut and the breaker popped. Never happened before. Reset, try again, same thing. At each reset the time it took to pop the breaker became shorter. Lowered the blade tension - same thing. Check the motor, its hot. Not near the capacitor (that would be too easy) but around the front bearing.

So, after a trip to Menards to buy a gear puller (couldn't find the one I thought I had but haven't used in over 20 years) I got the motor out and its still warm, after an hour to cool down. Spin the shaft by hand and it definitely has a rough, not quite grinding, sound.

Off to the motor repair shop first thing Monday morning! Happy happy joy joy. :bang:
 
sounds like a bad capacitor. that is what happened to my band saw. instead of enough power to spin the motor at first, before full speed, it was dumping full current, and burned up the motor.
 
"Off to the motor repair shop"

Glad you have one. The one we had was run by a fellow in his 90's. Did great work and very reasonably. One day it was closed and never reopened. Presume he died. Now, we don't have a motor repair shop, would be a good business for someone to start.
 
Frank - similar situation. One man shop, very reasonable and reliable.

HOWEVER

The motor's fried (Thanks Dan for jinxing me :rofl: ) RIKON has discontinued the 2.5 HP that came with my saw and now recommends a 3 HP replacement which is a bolt on, so no alterations. Price with tax and shipping just over $350. Ouch, but Grizzly gets $650 for the comparable motor so that's a plus. Should have it by Friday.

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When I was restoring my barn find Craftsman table saw I had planned on buying a 2 hp motor from Harbor Freight. So happened, the day I went their 3 hp motors were on sale for less money than the 2'er. Got it and a link belt. Wow! Never would have believed the difference those two made. Quieter and cuts smooth as can be. I love the extra power.
 
Frank Fusco said:
When I was restoring my barn find Craftsman table saw I had planned on buying a 2 hp motor from Harbor Freight. So happened, the day I went their 3 hp motors were on sale for less money than the 2'er. Got it and a link belt. Wow! Never would have believed the difference those two made. Quieter and cuts smooth as can be. I love the extra power.
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The replacement should arrive tomorrow. I hope my experience follows yours!
 
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