Delta 28-276 Band saw motor replacement option

[Bill in Buena Park]

When I added the riser to my 14 inch bandsaw a couple years ago, I swapped out the 3/4 horse stock motor for a HF 1 horse 1750rpm motor, with added link belt, and it worked ok but not great. I do a fair amount of log cutting into bowl blanks on my bandsaw, often standing a 12" segment on end and cutting across the diameter to remove the pith, which is the max cutting height of the saw. I finally bogged down the old motor for the last time, it quit about a week ago half way into converting a new batch of logs into blanks.

I decided to try the HF 1-1/2 horse 3600 rpm motor as a replacement. I knew I needed to get new pulleys, since the stock pulleys (2.25in OD on motor, and 4.5in OD on band wheel) were the wrong ratio for the new motor with twice the RPM. The max size I can fit under the belt cover is 6inches, so I bought one from Ace (this one has the 3/4inch bore), and I picked up their smallest 5/8 inch bore for the motor, which was 2inches OD. I ran the FPM calculation (found at this OWWM website), and figured a little extra FPM on the blade would be no big deal, so got it all back together and got back to business. Worked great for a few minutes, then all kinds of noise and smell. Shut it down, and opened the lower door to find part of the tire had somehow slipped off the track in the wheel.

So I remounted the tire, and fired it up with the door open to watch (from a safe distance) - and within a few seconds, I can see that the higher centripetal force of the lower wheel is causing the tire to stretch up off the wheel just enough (about a 1/4inch gap between tire and wheel), so I shut it down and decided to see if I could locate the RIGHT pulley for the motor - which according to the OWWM site turns out to be 1.5in OD (to match the FPM of a 1750rpm motor). Found it at Grainger.com, and even though I ordered with standard ground shipping, it arrived the next day!

I got that one installed, fired it up - no tire stretch, smooth as the old motor, but stronger. Don't get me wrong - I can still bog it down cutting the 12" thick wet log segments if I push too fast, but it did cut notably faster than the old motor with less noticeable loss of FPM under load.

So to recap - Delta 28-276 can take the HF 1-1/2 horse 3600 rpm motor if you switch out the stock pulleys as I did - 5/8 bore, 1.5in OD for motor, 3/4 bore 6in OD for wheel pulley.

[LCHIEN]

wow, good upgrade!

[LCHIEN]

By what percentage faster than the final speed was the intermediate solution that threatened to rip off the tires?
How much did you upgrade cost - motor and pulleys.

I think I need to do a Tim Allen Tool Man and put a 3 HP on my 12" delta BS.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Loring,
I believe that running with the 2in OD pulley on the motor put me around 4400 FPM, so about 37% higher than the 3200 FPM of the former motor. The 1.5in OD pulley dropped the FPM to 3300 FPM, so a 3% increase in the end.

As for cost, the HF motor was $145 "on sale", with 20% off and tax, brought it to under $120. The two pulleys cost about $25, so just under $150 total.

BTW - not sure if you're considering an HF 3hp motor, but they have one, 3600rpm, that appears to be 230v with no 110 option. I don't think the stock switch on my bandsaw is configurable for 230, and not knowing if one was available, i opted for the 1.5hp. I think it was only a $20 price difference now while they are on "sale".

[LCHIEN]

I was just kidding. Too many things too small on a 12" BS, didn't know any better when I got it. All in all, its relatively well balanced between cutting height, cutting width (C post clearance) and power. Not going to put a 3 HP motor on it!

Maybe someday I'll get a 14" or bigger Euro-style BS.