3hp Tablesaw verses 5hp Tablesaw

[Paul Greathouse]

I don't recall seeing much discussion on this topic and I cannot turn up anything with a search. What I would like to know is, for those of you that have used both 3hp and 5hp 10" tablesaws, how much of an advantage is the 5hp saw? What specifically were you able to do on a 5hp saw that you could not do on a 3hp saw?

There are not any good showrooms close to me so I have been limited to internet shopping and it appears that a 5hp saw can be had for not much more than a 3hp saw. Is there any reason not to go with a 5hp saw? It doesn't seem like power consumption would be that much of a factor.

I started out with a Delta contractor saw many years ago but have been using a tracksaw in the place of a tablesaw for several years now. After using the tracksaw, I find that there are things I miss about the tablesaw so I am presently in the seriously looking stage.

The new, but so far, unavailable Grizzly 1023R's, have my attention due to the fact that they have the riving knife, new dust shroud and available 5hp motor.

If there's a reason why I don't want/need a 5hp I might look more seriously at the 690's and their Leeson motors.

As for what the saw will be used for. My shop is geared mostly toward part-time cabinetmaking right now but I want to get into furniture and individual pieces.

Although I have mentioned Grizzly, lets not turn this into a this brand verses that brand thread. Please look at simply from a power comparison standpoint.

[Jamie Buxton]

5 HP is not necessary for a small shop. The only thing horsepower brings you is higher feed rate. Unless you're doing production ripping with a power feeder, you can't exceed a 3 HP on a 10" saw.

Well, okay, if you use a dull blade (bad idea) and rip reaction wood without a splitter (a really really bad idea), you might be able to bog a 3 HP saw. Of course, if you do those bad things, you also might get a 3 HP kickback, which is not good at all.

[Cody Colston]

I can't see a need for a 5 hp saw in a one-man shop unless you just like power. The 3 hp will do everything you need done and do it a bit more economically.

If you made do with a track saw, a 3 hp cabinet saw will be a dream machine.

[Van Huskey]

Ripping something like 12/4 Ipe you might see a difference, but in 99.9% of situations you will not unless you are tring to drag race with the feedrate. I would rather have a Leeson 3hp than a no name 5hp on a cabinet saw. Just like I bought and prefer my 3hp Baldor over a no name Asian 5hp motor. If we were just comparing 1023 to 1023 I might just consider spending the extra $120 on the 5hp but in the end would probably spend it on a upgraded miter gauge, refacing the fence or a Forrest or Freud Fusion blade.

Since you are considering Grizzly then it seems value is important to you in this senario I would get a lot more value from that $120 in other ways on the TS. I also think the ~1,300 range in Grzzly saws is a hard place to chop the new 1023 and 690/691 each have some strong points but none of their 10" saws have all of them. It seems to me the 1023 should have been kept as the basic 10" cabinet and the 690/1 should have been moved upmarket by say $300 and included all the good points of each.

[Frank Drew]

I've used both and prefer 5 hp; for custom furniture work there will probably be times when you'll want to rip even 16/4 material (larger bed posts, table pedestals, etc.) and the extra power is a plus. I've never heard anyone say they wished their saw had a bit less power.

But I woudn't turn down a 3 hp saw if the deal was good and I liked the machine.

[Mike Archambeau]

3 hp is a lot of power for a table saw. As the wood gets thicker you might be tempted to up the power to 5 hp. But for those really thick boards, would you not be safer moving those cuts to a band saw? Making a 12/4 cut on a band saw is a small cut, but on the table saw you are maxing out. Consider that the resaw of an 8 inch board is an everyday occurrence, and that is 32/4 material!

[Tom Veatch]

In my opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it, in a non-production environment, the price difference between 3 and 5 HP brings more value if it's put into premium quality saw blades. And that price differential is magnified if you have to run a 30amp circuit for the 5HP saw.

3HP will get along just fine on a 20amp 240 feed. But if you expect to use the additional 2HP, the 20amp circuit won't cut it.

[Mac Cambra]

I had a 3HP unisaw and upgraded to a 5HP Sawstop, frankly I haven't noticed a difference. In fact I think all 3HP and all 5HP motors may not be created equal, in some case it seems like the 3HP on my Delta may have been more powerful than the 5HP on my Sawstop. I haven't really studied the issue but it seems that I have stalled the blade on the Sawstop where that wouldn't have been a problem on the Delta. Then again the belt may be slipping on the Sawstop.

Disregard my rambling, bottom line for the hobbyist the 3HP is great no real trade-off in my opinion.

[Joe Jensen]

I owned a 3HP PM66 for about 18 years and I only wished for me HP for one project where I did max depth rip cuts back in the day when I only had a combination blade. Had to go slow enough to have the power, but that slow caused some buring. Way back then I wasn't smart enough to own a rip blade for that kind of cut.

When I bought a SawStop I ended up getting a 5HP, mostly because I was spending $4000, and for $200 more I wouldn't have to ever wish I had the 5HP.

I've since sold the Sawstop and I now have a 12" felder with a 5.5HP motor.

[Steve Peterson]

I bought a used 5HP PM66 and do not actually see why I would ever need all 5HP.

I see the following reasons that 3HP would be better in my situation:

1) I have a 50A subpanel that runs a Clearvue cyclone and the PM66, plus lights and a few misc small loads. I had to move the window mounted 110V air conditioner to a separate circuit to avoid overload. A 3HP motor would be less likely to trip the main breaker.

2) The PM66 appears to be designed for the weight and size of a 3HP motor. It takes a lot of effort to lift the blade (and 5HP motor).

3) The 5HP motor hits the top of the dust cover when the blade is all the way up. I keep meaning to modify the dust cover to fix the problem.

Of course, a Leeson 3HP motor is expected to actually be a true 3HP. The unknown 3HP import motors in many saws might not be as powerful as a known brand. An import 5HP motor might not be much stronger than a Leeson 3HP motor. YMMV.

Steve

[Jeff Willard]

... there will probably be times when you'll want to rip even 16/4 material...

Not with a 10" tablesaw, he won't.

[John Coloccia]

LOL...I was thinking that too.

Anyhow, my contractor SS has a 1.75HP motor in it. I routinely cut through hard maple that is 3" thick. 2 1/4" thick plywood and MDF laminations too. I could probably bog down my saw if I really wanted to, but casual, smooth and steady feed gives me a great cut with no problem.

[mreza Salav]

Didn't think this would happen but I managed to stall (or almost stall) my 3HP SS with a think kerf 24t rip blade (Freud, and Sharp) on ripping hard maple.
I think that piece was exceptionally hard (and I mean really HARD). With blade elevated to full height I tried going through and it bugged down, went slower and started burning the wood and smoking! stopped the saw and went 3 passes (raising the blade 1" at a time).

Not that I wished I had a 5HP saw but this was the only time I really saw 3HP wasn't enough.

[Ramsey Ramco]

I have a 3HP PM66 and 2 Saturday's ago my wife let the dog into the shop while I was ripping down plywood for a cabinet shelf. I heard the dog bark and stand up, I lost control for a brief second, the 2' shelf kicked back hit me in my right leg, I couldn't walk for the rest of the day and still have a giant bruise (I have a darker skin complexion and NEVER bruise). Of course its a Baldor motor, but I build cabinets commercially and I can tell you 3HP motor is plenty, spend the extra money on accessories.

[Paul Greathouse]

Thanks for all the responses, I'll more than likely go with the 3hp, now to decide whether it will be a 1023 or a 690. They each have features that I like.

I like Van's idea of making the 690 the top of the line saw and selling it for a higher price. I would gladly pay more for one of their saws if it had all of the best features.

As I understand it, these are the differences. Feel free to add to the lists if you wish.

690:
Leeson motor
riving knife
heavy trunion
nice paint scheme
triple V-belt drive

1023:
riving knife
new better dust shroud
equally heavy trunion
available with built in router table in extension wing (would be great for dado's using the fence)
serpentine belt
a proven history