How much bandsaw is needed? 1 hp?

[Blue42]

I don't think that bandsaw will be for me, but for anyone looking at it, I called the guy on the Craigslist ad. I asked if that link Coralillo sent was the part that was broken. He said as far as he knew, it was. Said the inside diameter was 7/8.
He also recommended against trying to take the saw apart to load it for transport.

Yesterday I spent six hours making a router sled. And this was just cutting three acrylic pieces and drilling holes on the right spots, to mount the router and to mount the cross rails to the lengthwise rails. And several holes also still need hogging out because a few are off and make the bearings tight, which makes them slide badly.
"This shouldn't take long".

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Something I hadn't heard of before, but I just saw someone has locally brand new at half the Amazon price. Still probably too much for what it is, but got me realizing I could likely build my own pretty easily that slides in the bandsaw miter slot and holds the log tight and guarantees a straighter cut. Or if you were trying to cut longer logs than this allows, you could take a cupped sled like mine, put a miter slot runner on it, and rig up a hold down clamp pushed into a slot in the miter sled to hold the log from moving on the sled. The miter slot runner is the big "duh" I wasn't thinking of for the sled, which all sleds traditionally have. https://www.amazon.com/Carter-AccuRight-Log-Mill/dp/B004PG6XTM#customerReviews
As singinwoodwackr suggested, any upgraded 14" saw with a riser will do the job. No need to spend a lot on something doing pretty crude and simple work. I think as soon as I put a carbide blade on mine, I'll be blown away by its capabilities. Has all the power in the world with the 3hp Grizzly motor on it, I've just been limited by my blades and not taking the time to build decent sled/fence setups for it so I've not come close to maximizing its usefulness to me. If singin was doing 11" veneers just fine with his 1.75hp motor, no reason I shouldn't be doing them nicely with my upgraded 3hp on my 14" Delta with riser.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Something I hadn't heard of before, but I just saw someone has locally brand new at half the Amazon price. Still probably too much for what it is, but got me realizing I could likely build my own pretty easily that slides in the bandsaw miter slot and holds the log tight and guarantees a straighter cut. Or if you were trying to cut longer logs than this allows, you could take a cupped sled like mine, put a miter slot runner on it, and rig up a hold down clamp pushed into a slot in the miter sled to hold the log from moving on the sled. The miter slot runner is the big "duh" I wasn't thinking of for the sled, which all sleds traditionally have. https://www.amazon.com/Carter-AccuRight-Log-Mill/dp/B004PG6XTM#customerReviews
As singinwoodwackr suggested, any upgraded 14" saw with a riser will do the job. No need to spend a lot on something doing pretty crude and simple work. I think as soon as I put a carbide blade on mine, I'll be blown away by its capabilities. Has all the power in the world with the 3hp Grizzly motor on it, I've just been limited by my blades and not taking the time to build decent sled/fence setups for it so I've not come close to maximizing its usefulness to me. If singin was doing 11" veneers just fine with his 1.75hp motor, no reason I shouldn't be doing them nicely with my upgraded 3hp on my 14" Delta with riser.

Miter slots on small, 14” saws aren’t designed to handle much weight or side forces…well, the entire table isn’t. For longer pieces you need an in-feed and an out-feed table or mechanism to support what is going across the BS table. 2x4 and plywood scrap construction woks fine. A smoother surface, however, makes a huge difference. 3/4” Melamine works great. HD, Lowe’s, etc all sell small pieces.
3hp is serious overkill for a 14”, lol. I have a 1.75h on my 18” Jet

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Miter slots on small, 14” saws aren’t designed to handle much weight or side forces…well, the entire table isn’t. For longer pieces you need an in-feed and an out-feed table or mechanism to support what is going across the BS table. 2x4 and plywood scrap construction woks fine. A smoother surface, however, makes a huge difference. 3/4” Melamine works great. HD, Lowe’s, etc all sell small pieces.
3hp is serious overkill for a 14”, lol. I have a 1.75h on my 18” Jet

I have a long infeed setup of a 5' long conveyor roller which I used to support some giant cookies I was clumsily trimming with it. Could set one up for outfeed as well. Have a small extension outfeed table on it already. I just use my small log mill with a 20" lo pro bar to mill two sides flat of any small logs/limbs, never bother with the bandsaw for that. Suppose I'd use the bandsaw and the roller in/out feeds for cutting 1 or 2x6s/2x8's out of cants but I never have call to do that. The 3hp is overkill, no doubt, it's just what the guy had put on it who I bought it from.