My table saw is 68 years old. It has what I assume is the original motor and the more I use it the more I realise it is just too underpowered. I was cutting down some nice oak the other day (there will be a post on that project at some stage) and I took about 4 passes to get through a one inch block without it stalling out and still got a few too many burns than I would like. Of course, I neglected to write down the motor specs when I last had it out, and don't want to have to pull the stand to bits and retension the belt right now, but I seem to recall it's only a 1/2 hp motor. If I am remembering right, google suggests that is woefully underpowered.
I've done some preliminary investigations, but was finding very little searching for "induction motor". It turns out there are way more hits for "electric motor" - see these ones for example. This time yesterday I knew very little about motors beyond induction vs universal/DC. From 24 hours of reasonably intensive going-down-a-rabbit-hole-ing, it _seems_ likely that these are induction / asynchronous AC motors, but can anyone that knows what they are doing confirm?
Would also be keen on people's thoughts regarding required horsepower/KW, and whether 4 pole vs 2 pole is worth the additional investment? The current motor seems to be geared at around 2:1, so would hazard a guess that it is 4 poles to get an approx 3000 RPM at the blade.
Any suggestions on where to buy also welcome. I'm in Wellington and was hoping to get something local, by the ones linked to above seem to have non-ridiculous shipping even though (I guess) they will weigh a tonne.