"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
carl mciver wrote:

I hope to be getting a Grizzly square column mill here before too
long,
and it has a three phase motor, which will necessitate me getting a VFD
for
it since I have 110/220 single phase. I'll be getting a HF 4x6 bandsaw
about the same time, and it dawned on me that having it variable speed
might
be nice, providing the original POS motor gets replaced.
Can someone tell me what frame size I should be keeping an eye out
for
to replace the HF motor with? Is there any value in having variable
speed
on that saw?


I owned a 4x6 for about 10 years and never changed the speed, not once.
I'd go ahead and use that motor until it burns out if it does. The thing
about Chinese motors isn't that they're all bad, they aren't. It's that
the quality control is so bad, so you don't know if you're getting a good
one or not. If you get lucky and get a good one you won't brag about it to
your buddies but it will work for you for many years.

I would further argue against retrofitting a 4x6 with a 3-phase motor. A
4x6 saw is a great tool but it is limited and once you get used to it you
will automatically notice ads for larger nicer horizontal cutoff saws.
Eventually one will come along at an unbeatable price (I got a decent
Wellsaw 58B for $150 at an estate sale) and then you will be looking to
sell your 4x6 and at that point a 3-phase motor would be a huge negative.

GWE

Plus a small bandsaw is not the kind of tool worth setting up with a VFD,
IMHO.