Shopsmith Forums

If I could get one, does a 3/4HP motor increase the table saw’s cutting power enough to consider replacing the 1/2HP motor that is currently in my 10ER? I expect to be cutting thicker hardwoods, like walnut and cherry, and the blade bogs down completely in 2” Sitka spruce. What do you think, should I do it?

Have you tried slower rpm? Slower feed rate? Blade sharp???

Speed is ~3400rpm; the blade is a new Dewalt 7-1/4”; and feed rate is very slow.

I’ve had to feed nearly everything more than an inch thick really slow. Haven’t been able to find 8” blades locally and the old blades have got with my 10ER were 9” blades that I have to be careful to not set too deeply in the table. I’ll get a couple 8” as soon as I can, but I kind of don’t think they will help this problem. Of course, being new to this I could certainly be wrong about that.

I am assuming the motor is stalling at that high speed. Lowering the speed will increase the torque at the blade.

Try the middle pulley sizes, or 0-1 high with speed changer.

Hi Marc,

A 3/4 HP motor would help some. Changing to a lower speed as JPG suggested can help too. One interesting thing about the Model 10E and 10ER is they were advertised as a 3 speed tool but can run 7 speeds by realigning the pulleys and adding the use of the 2" to 3" and the 3" to 4'" pulleys (see attached PDF chart). This gives your more speeds without a speed changer which can be helpful. In this case you do not have to cut the RPM's in half to reduce them for sawing. Using a single belt from the motor directly to the drive sleeve will provide more torque than using a speed changer. You can vary the RPM's more with a speed changer but you will lose torque with the additional belt and hardware.

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Jpg and Russ, going forward I’ll be keeping those two ideas in mind as I cut wood. I certainly wouldn’t have thought to cut the speed, I was just using a speed chart for the table saw. I need to get a longer belt to bypass the speed changer in the future, but I can’t wait to try it. Thanks.

Marc,

Having the belt for use without the speed changer is a good idea and adds flexibility. This is one of those times it can be better to not use the speed changer. If I recall from the other threads your 10ER has a different motor than the commonly found A. O. Smith motor. No problem and I believe it will use a 38" belt (4L 380) too. I would also suggest getting a 39" belt (4L 390) to use the additional speeds given in the PDF chart I posted in my previous post. Note the opening paragraph below from the Speed Changer Instructions.

The SHOPSMITH Speed Changer is designed to give slow speeds for turning large pieces and for metal drilling; and to give high speeds for operations such as shaping and routing. Use of the Speed Changer introduces an additional belt and additional pulleys and, therefore, it will introduce a slight power loss. This power loss will be minimized if belts ore properly aligned and adjusted as described below. If you have an occasional job that requires considerable power, such as cutting 2 x 4's or a heavy piece of hardwood, feed work slowly and Speed Changer will provide sufficient power. If you have a large job, such as cutting many 2 x 4's for building studs, we recommend that you use the standard SHOPSMITH belt. This you can do, without removing the complete Speed Changer, by taking off the idler pulley, reversing the motor pulley, and installing the standard belt