Gatorgrizz27
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Member Number
- 756
- Messages
- 874
I own a small finish carpentry company, we don’t use a planer that much and I was space limited at my old shop, so I ended up buying a Dewalt DW735 to replace the Ridgid one I burnt up after ~ 5 years of use. More than a few people have claimed it is a badass machine for a bench top unit, I am not impressed. I spent $600 on the first one plus another $500 for the Shelix spiral cutter head everyone raved about.
I burnt up the first one within 2 projects, figured I got a bad unit, so I bought another one, and haven’t had time to swap the head over yet. It still sucks and was tripping the overload breaker on the machine taking 1/64” pass off of 11” wide white pine
It is on a dedicated 20A circuit with a 10’ 10 gauge cord.
Now that I have more space I’ll eventually be buying a “proper” machine, but I just bought a CNC and need to upgrade my jointer to a $3,500 unit next. The plan is to ditch the crappy 15A universal motor and replace it with a 3-5hp induction motor mounted on top of the unit.
The cutter head is driven by a belt and the feed rollers are driven by a gearbox, so the feed/cutting ratio should remain the same regardless of the cutter head RPM. I had two different 2hp motors sitting around, but they are 1750 RPM so I’d have to find a larger pulley which has been challenging, and I’m not sure 2hp is quite enough to be substantially better.
Looking on eBay, you can get a 3 or 5hp “air compressor motor” for about $150, rotation should be the right way.
The factory pulley in the cutter head is a 5/8” shaft (same as the motor) and has a 9 rib belt that is what I believe to be called a poly-v. I found a Continental belt that should be long enough and claims to be rated for 25 hp
and my thought is to buy another OEM drive pulley so if there is any slight pitch difference hopefully the belt will “wear in” to the pulleys.
At a 1:1 ratio with a 3450 rpm motor, the speed would be a little bit slower than stock, but that’s not a huge deal if I don’t have to make 50 passes.
The factory switch is rated for 250v and is a double disconnect, the motors I’m looking at have a thermal overload switch built into them, so I could just bypass the factory circuit breaker.
So far I have not been able to find anyone who has done something similar, but it seems easy enough. Obviously I need to fab a motor mounting bracket, but the factory handle locations should be plenty solid to attach it to, and the motors have slotted bases for belt tensioning.
One of my employees pointed out we may overload the cutter head bearings, but I think the crappy OEM motor is so much of a limiting factor that it’s not a big issue. The feed rollers can slip on the stock, so I don’t think I’ll break the gearbox either.
What am I missing?
I burnt up the first one within 2 projects, figured I got a bad unit, so I bought another one, and haven’t had time to swap the head over yet. It still sucks and was tripping the overload breaker on the machine taking 1/64” pass off of 11” wide white pine
It is on a dedicated 20A circuit with a 10’ 10 gauge cord.Now that I have more space I’ll eventually be buying a “proper” machine, but I just bought a CNC and need to upgrade my jointer to a $3,500 unit next. The plan is to ditch the crappy 15A universal motor and replace it with a 3-5hp induction motor mounted on top of the unit.
The cutter head is driven by a belt and the feed rollers are driven by a gearbox, so the feed/cutting ratio should remain the same regardless of the cutter head RPM. I had two different 2hp motors sitting around, but they are 1750 RPM so I’d have to find a larger pulley which has been challenging, and I’m not sure 2hp is quite enough to be substantially better.
Looking on eBay, you can get a 3 or 5hp “air compressor motor” for about $150, rotation should be the right way.
5 HP SPL 3450 RPM Air Compressor Electric Motor 208-230V 60Hz 56Frame 5/8" Shaft 786674021762 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 5 HP SPL 3450 RPM Air Compressor Electric Motor 208-230V 60Hz 56Frame 5/8" Shaft at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
The factory pulley in the cutter head is a 5/8” shaft (same as the motor) and has a 9 rib belt that is what I believe to be called a poly-v. I found a Continental belt that should be long enough and claims to be rated for 25 hp
and my thought is to buy another OEM drive pulley so if there is any slight pitch difference hopefully the belt will “wear in” to the pulleys.At a 1:1 ratio with a 3450 rpm motor, the speed would be a little bit slower than stock, but that’s not a huge deal if I don’t have to make 50 passes.
The factory switch is rated for 250v and is a double disconnect, the motors I’m looking at have a thermal overload switch built into them, so I could just bypass the factory circuit breaker.
So far I have not been able to find anyone who has done something similar, but it seems easy enough. Obviously I need to fab a motor mounting bracket, but the factory handle locations should be plenty solid to attach it to, and the motors have slotted bases for belt tensioning.
One of my employees pointed out we may overload the cutter head bearings, but I think the crappy OEM motor is so much of a limiting factor that it’s not a big issue. The feed rollers can slip on the stock, so I don’t think I’ll break the gearbox either.
What am I missing?
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