Shopsmith Forums

rv4golf wrote:Thank you for the continued advice, great stuff. It sounds like I had better learn how to lub, replace bearings and figure out how to read a meter. Wow, I thought making a ten foot putt was tough!

Making a 10 foot putt IS tough. All this stuff is easy compared to that...and you probably don't need the meter, that's just to satisfy curiosity.

A buddy of mine was always complaining about his underpowered table saw. I saw him using one day and I saw a lot of smoke and some burned wood. My buddy was very, how do you say, "frugal?" He did not understand the concept of having sharp teeth on the TS. Instead he would force the wood and through some miracle, he never hurt himself- oops, wait a second, I believe he did.

I asked to use his table saw one day & the first thing I did was replace the blade & then let the blade do its thing. That blade is probably still in the TS…from 15 years ago.

Trainguytom- you're absolutely correct. I just copied this a web site regarding a circular saw:
15 Amp motor delivers up to 3.25 HP and 5,800 RPM for the power to cut through tough materials, including headers, microlams and wet lumber

They are referring to peak horsepower as there is no way a 3.25 HP motor would operate on only 15 amps. A marketing trick that fools many people. There might be 3.25 peak horsepower for a fraction of a second.

For all I know the old 3/4 HP Greenie motor might be 1 1/8 Peak HP or even greater. I don't know the specs of the motor.

backhertz wrote:A buddy of mine was always complaining about his underpowered table saw. I saw him using one day and I saw a lot of smoke and some burned wood. My buddy was very, how do you say, "frugal?" He did not understand the concept of having sharp teeth on the TS. Instead he would force the wood and through some miracle, he never hurt himself- oops, wait a second, I believe he did.

I asked to use his table saw one day & the first thing I did was replace the blade & then let the blade do its thing. That blade is probably still in the TS…from 15 years ago.

Trainguytom- you're absolutely correct. I just copied this a web site regarding a circular saw:
15 Amp motor delivers up to 3.25 HP and 5,800 RPM for the power to cut through tough materials, including headers, microlams and wet lumber

They are referring to peak horsepower as there is no way a 3.25 HP motor would operate on only 15 amps. A marketing trick that fools many people. There might be 3.25 peak horsepower for a fraction of a second.

For all I know the old 3/4 HP Greenie motor might be 1 1/8 Peak HP or even greater. I don't know the specs of the motor.

When I've tested amps while running on both the 3/4hp & 1 1/8hp, they are often virtually the same. If you assume the same efficiency for both motors, (I'm only guessing that they're pretty much the same because of similar design) then both motors are about the same hp) Also, if a company simply changed the published efficiency rate, they could add hp to motors. I'm not saying SS did that, I'm just saying that many 3/4hp motors spec'ed the same as the 1 1/8hp ones. That means the only difference is the efficiency, which would probably be difficult for us to measure.

Also, great point on sharp blades. Sharpness & proper setup is key to good operation.

trainguytom wrote:When I've tested amps while running on both the 3/4hp & 1 1/8hp, they are often virtually the same. If you assume the same efficiency for both motors, (I'm only guessing that they're pretty much the same because of similar design) then both motors are about the same hp) Also, if a company simply changed the published efficiency rate, they could add hp to motors. I'm not saying SS did that, I'm just saying that many 3/4hp motors spec'ed the same as the 1 1/8hp ones. That means the only difference is the efficiency, which would probably be difficult for us to measure.

Also, great point on sharp blades. Sharpness & proper setup is key to good operation.

I totally agree. I found the ability of the later 3/4 HP GE & AO Smith motors seems equal to the later 1 1/8 HP motors. I saw very little difference in amp draw under a heavy load. Almost all my personal Shopsmiths have used the 3/4 HP motor without any power problems.

I didn't see anyone suggest that you start the COLD SS at slow speed.

If you shut the SS off at a medium or high speed, it will blow the breaker the the next day. Put something on the left spindle, to turn it, turn it manually and gently reduce the speed ,,, about 20 degrees, for every revolution of the spindle. After you get the indicator to slow, remove the blade from the right side of the spindle, and try to switch on the power. It should power on and run w/o blowing the breaker.

The Sanding disk has a lot of weight to it, and can blow the breaker if you start the SS with it on, cold, and with a speed setting to high. The blade has a lot of inertia and may blow the breaker on a cold start.

If you don't want to test the house/garage/shop 's wiring, use a power strip with a breaker.

You can do this every time that you turn off the SS at a high speed and let it set until it gets cold. The belts get very stiff after setting, and turning the spindle manually will reveal how much the first few turns limber up the belts, encouraging you to give the olde girl some consideration when starting up in below 50 (below 40 last night in Olympia)!. Alternative is to turn the speed down, when you are done with the last task of a session.

That also should encourage you to dress the belts. Pay attention to Bill Mayo, I am surprised he didn't suggest dressing the belts this time, maybe because he is in Florida and doesn't know that Olympia was below 40 last night. I ran my SS today, but took the chuck off, started it at slow, let it run at low speed for a couple of minutes and then shut it down, to let the heat spread through the head stock. After about two small turnings, the headstock was warm, but all of the turning was at SLOW. Maybe, it was OK for working w/SS on below 50 degree days, that or get cabin fever, flu, die of boredom. OK.

Good Luck.http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/images/ ... iggrin.gif