Bandsaw ?'s

Kevin McPeek

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25
Location
Gilbert, AZ
I have a Grizzly G0580, 14" 3/4hp and it's time for a new blade. I am thinking of putting the riser block on so I figure might as well buy the longer bands and do the whole thing at once.
My question is, Do you think the 3/4hp will be enough when I put the 105" x1/2" 3tpi band on? I use it mostly rounding bowl blanks and the "quick cuts". What will be the difference in operation or finish or ? in a 2 tpi or 3 tpi band? I plan on using Timberwolf blades.

Thanks,
Kevin
 
I'm sure there are other experiences but on my 1/3HP C-man 12", I ran a 2-3 TPI 1/2" Timberwolf and got good results considering the saw. Resaw height was 6" and as I approached that the saw would bog down if I tried to go more than about 1/2" per second.
 
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Hi Kevin,

While I'm no bandsaw expert, I believe the HP question has more to do with cut height than blade width or tpi - though perhaps that's what you're asking in a way. You'll have no trouble running a 1/2" - 3tpi blade with 3/4 HP, but you might find that a 6" thick cut makes it grunt a lot. I think most tall saws, both riser and stock, tend to use 1 to 1 1/2 HP minimum and up to 3 HP on the stock 16" saws.
 
Older saws with riser blocks set up for resaw often had 3/4hp or smaller motors on them. You should be fine if you slow your feed rate down as your cuts get taller and in harder wood. It's not a "commercial" setup, but you probably don't need to feed a ton of lineal feet of resawing through the machine each day to make the thing earn its keep. For a hobbyist, 3/4 hp should be fine. Force feeding thick cuts through this machine will lead to other problems as well, not just undo strain on the motor. Take it easy - let the machine do it's work and you should be fine.

I've got an old Crescent 20" saw with a 1" 3tpi blade and a 1hp motor. It will resaw up to just a hair under 12". For most tasks it's fine, but the taller cuts in harder wood do require me to slow down the feed rate a bit - pay more attention to what i'm doing. The cut quality doesn't suffer, i'm just standing at the saw a few seconds longer for each cut - big deal.

Before i got the 20" saw, i was occassionally resawing up to 8" tall with a 1/2" 4tpi blade and a 1/2 hp motor on a smaller, off brand saw. That saw was never meant to resaw, but if i didn't force things, it worked fine. I didn't upgrade my saw because of any dissatisfaction, the Crescent fell in my lap - free for the taking.

This is my hobby, not my job. I enjoy my time in the shop. I try to speed up or avoid tasks i don't like (such as sanding), but sawing isn't one of them.

If it were me (and i know it's not) i'd go with the riser kit if i thought i'd use it. Then, if you really get frustrated with the motor, you can always upgrade that as well at a later date.

I guess the other option would be to spend no effort upgrading your saw and look into bigger, more powerful machines, but that seems like a stretch for someone who just needs a new blade.

If you're wearing out blades, that's good - you're getting your money's worth from your saw.

have fun with it.

Paul Hubbman
 
I have the same or similar saw. Never cared to memorize all these numbers. I have the riser and have cut some big stuff with a Timberwolf blade. Mine is more like 6 teeth I think. But it does fine. Never had a problem. With harder woods it's just going to take some more time but I don't think you will have any problems. Just work smart.
 
Good advice guys, Thanks.
I just didn't want to hear, that it would be a pig and wouldn't even cut the grass. I tend to be pretty easy on equipment so it sounds like I should be fine. I really don't do any resawing mostly just turning stuff but but a lot of my blanks don't quite fit and I want to add a table that will take up a little height also.
 
Kevin, I think the 3/4hp should be fine, especially if you're just rounding out turning blanks. As far as blade selection, I just called the folks at Suffolk Machinery and told them I wanted something for cutting green bowl blanks. They set me up with the right blade -- I don't even remember the details about it.
 
I think if it was me and only using it for turning blanks I would go with a 3/8 3 tpi blade, less blade for the curves = less resistance.

PS. I will add, I keep a 1/2 inch on my Jet 1 hp with riser and there is no way I could cut a 10 inch thick blank following a 12 inch circle, I just cut the corners as needed till it is close to round.
 
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My G0555 has a 1 hp motor. I have cut quite a bit of Osage Orange at the 6" max using a 3/4"X3tpi Timberwolf blade. It cut well but I could have had problems if I forced. Patience was required. Personally, I would not add the riser block. I believe a
14" bandsaw is designed to do what a 14" bandsaw is intended to do and adding the riser will stress beyond that intention. BTW, my next resaw blade will be a 4 tpi as cutting thinner pieces, like 1" caused catches. Not good.
 
Personally, I would not add the riser block. I believe a 14" bandsaw is designed to do what a 14" bandsaw is intended to do and adding the riser will stress beyond that intention...
I'll respectfully disagree on that point, Frank. Considering the thousands and thousands of 14" bandsaws with 6" riser kits running successfully out there for the past few decades, I'd say it's a workable configuration. The forces on the mechanical components are the same. Just because the blade is longer doesn't mean you increase the tension on it. Have you used a bandsaw with a riser block before? I've used them in both configurations. The only difference I can see is that thicker wood needs a bit slower feed rate.
 
I'll respectfully disagree on that point, Frank. Considering the thousands and thousands of 14" bandsaws with 6" riser kits running successfully out there for the past few decades, I'd say it's a workable configuration. The forces on the mechanical components are the same. Just because the blade is longer doesn't mean you increase the tension on it. Have you used a bandsaw with a riser block before? I've used them in both configurations. The only difference I can see is that thicker wood needs a bit slower feed rate.

Never have. It is my opinion. I like my tools to last. I think asking a 14 incher to do the work of a 17 is asking for early retirement. The G0555 does have a two-speed set-up for this type of cutting, though. Maybe one day I'll capitulate, but for now my BS gets pampered.
 
Frank, I believe the two available speeds have more to do the the material you're cutting more than the depth of the cut. (Wood vs. metal.) I agree that pushing a 14 inch saw too hard will shorten its life, but extending the depth of cut, with the proper feed rate, doesn't seem to push it. (At least to me.) If a person is doing serious resawing of long boards, then yes, the 14" models are not really the right beast. But lopping the corners of an 8" thick bowl blank seems to to be right up their alley.
 
I bought a used 14" tiwanese knock off from Menards at a garage sale for $50. Got it home and found out that the owner had destroyed the bearings cutting steel with it. I bought new wheels, tires and bearings as needed from Jet, they fit like a charm. I had an old salvage 2 hp 220 motor laying around with a 4 step pulley on it. I installed it with a reverse 4 step pulley on the drive wheel of the saw, installed the riser block set and bough a 3/4" timberwolf blade and tried my hand at resaw.

That two hp motor made easy work of anything I threw at it includint ripping my own rough lumber out of small logs.

Total price: $225.00 finished

Look around for a used 2 or 3 hp motor, it is worth the money, and they don't normally cost too much...
 
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