Thread: Band saw

Originally Posted by Gasman

Ive understood that a 100 amp curcuit is standard in most shops, unless you plan on going big. But thats not from experiance. I did try a cheap band saw once. It sucked. Couldnt cut straight for anything. So i will say get a good one if you plan on using one. I took mine back. And i believe that if you get a 120v or 240v you will be using about the same amps. Just that with a unit that runs on 240v will have less heat and work easier.
Again, this is not experiance talking. Just a guy that plays with minimal dc voltage.

When electricity comes into your residence, it comes in as 240V with a neutral and +120V and -120V legs. Of course, since this is AC, the + and the - are referring to the phase and not to the voltage. All 120V devices will connect either to the + side or the - phase. A 240V device will connect to both phases.

I have a old Craftsman radial arm saw, that can be wired for either 240V or 120V. I used to have a dedicated 240 V circuit, but currently have it wired for 120 V. This afternoon, I was trying to rip a short length of 2" pressure treated lumber from 6" width to 4" width. At 120V, the motor overloaded and tripped the protector built into the motor. Had I been using 240V, that would never have happened. The motor pulls the same amperage in either case, but the power output is approximately double with a 240V circuit.