Delta Rockwell TS... good deal?

[andrew whicker]

Wow, you guys are awesome!

I have a 1993 Unisaw, I was actually looking at this for re-sale value. But it's so big that keeping it around for months to wait for it to sell (being that it's 3 phase) doesn't sound appealing to me. Sounds like an awesome saw though.

That wing comparison is wild.

I just installed 100A, single phase in my garage. Someday I'm going to get 3 phase because all the good stuff is 3 phase. And stuff gets a lot cheaper too.

Thanks again,

Andy

[Charles Lent]

A lot of power companies will not run three phase power to a residence, only to commercial buildings. If you want to buy 3 phase equipment, you may be better off adding a phase converter and a three phase breaker panel to your shop for those machines that require it. If only adding a couple of three phase machines, the solid state converters for each machine would be cheaper. A big rotary phase converter is nothing more than a big three phase motor with no output shaft, but it has a special starting circuit to get it turning with only single phase power going to it. I've built some using a standard three phase motor and used a smaller single phase motor and shaft coupling between their shafts. The single phase motor is on a timer so it shuts off in 15 seconds, enough time to get the 3 phase motor spinning at about the right speed. The output will run any three phase motor or combination of three phase motors of lessor total hp than the phase converter motor.

For resale, a large custom cabinet shop or furniture manufacturer would be the likely customers. It's too much saw for most home shops, even if they have three phase power. The one at my workplace is in the exhibits shop of a large museum that builds many of their own exhibits.

Charley

[andrew whicker]

Charley,

My plan is to make enough money making furniture to afford rent on a 3 phase commercial space. I already spent over a $1000 putting way more power into a two car garage than any home buyer is going to pay for. : )

Here's a guy selling a beefy 16" jointer, rotary converter and sliding saw for $2000: http://vintagemachinery.org/classifi....aspx?id=12125

[andrew whicker]

Charley,

How much horsepower gets lost when converting to 3 phase? So if the motor is 10 hp, 220 v 3ph (for example) and you convert electricity to 3ph from 1ph, what is your expected motor hp? Do you draw the motor rating plate amperage at your breaker box or do you draw more when converting 1ph to 3ph?

Cheers,

[andrew whicker]

Ah, I wikipedia'd it.

2/3*Total HP due to losing a 'leg'

[Matt Day]

You loose HP only when using a static phase converter. Rotary phase converters and VFD's don't loose horsepower.