Are you an enthusiastic woodworker? Do you want to be more proficient by using the best professional tools i.e. table saw? If yes, you should have to be knowledgeable before buying your new table saw from the market. Among many factors, we will particularly discuss in this article how many amps does a table saw use.
How Many Amps Does a Table Saw Use?
Multiple factors change the requirements of Amps to operate a Table Saw smoothly.
A professional table saw needs mostly 15 Amps to operate while a household saw needs 8-12 amps. So, you can say that a table saw generally uses 8-15 amps for smooth working.
What factors change the Amps requirements of a Table saw?
Let’s have a look at those factors that will impact the current amount needed to operate a table saw. By the end, you will be able to learn how to estimate how many amps a table saw use.
A table saw is a specific instrument that is used by professionals to cut wood and make different products from it. To operate this tool, multiple devices have been set inside its body.
Those devices impact a lot on the consumption of current or power that the table saw needs to operate. Some of those are discussed here with a brief description of the impacts on power consumption.
First of all, you should get a look at the motor specifications where everything has been labeled properly. Among other details, you will also see the motor capacity in Horsepower (HP). This factor indicates how much power is needed to work with this tool.
So, you should have to have a look at this factor to estimate the consumption of power. Actually, power and amount of current directly relate to each other. That is the reason why motor capacity impacts the number of amperes to operate this tool.
This is a physical factor that will impact the amount of current used in a table saw. The blades with more sharpness and smoothness will consume less current as compared to the saw with poor-quality blades.
If you are dealing with a table saw having breakage in the blades, the number of amps will automatically increase. In this way, you need to provide a heavy and powerful circuit that can carry more current to operate this tool.
Last but not least, the wood material also impacts a little bit on the number of amperes you need to provide. It is because the hardwood needs a tool with sharp blades and heavy power to make cuts on its surface.
So, you should pick a table saw with a heavy motor and sharp blade. In turn, the number of amps consumed will be more as compared to simple and ordinary conditions. In simple words, you can say that softwood needs a table saw which can operate on low power instead of a tool with heavy power capacity.
Also, read about How you can make a table saw table Workstation
How Current (Amps) will affect the working of a saw?
Now, you have learned which factors will impact the process to find how many amps a table saw use. Let’s have a look at how current & power relates and impact the performance of the tool.
For this task, you should understand three basic terminologies of Physics that are related to current and power.
It is the power on which a motor or engine. For the sake of understanding, you can say that it will tell how much work a tool can do without showing any problem.
Ampere (Amp) is a specific unit of Current that is used worldwide to measure this quantity. In simple words, the current is the number of charges that flow between two ends of the battery in a second. So, you can say that ampere is the number of charges that flow per unit of time.
It is the potential difference between both ends of the battery. Actually, a battery has a positive end at the higher potential and a negative end at the lower potential. The difference between both these ends is called a potential difference and is measured in Volts.
Also read Can you cut plexiglass with a table saw?
Relationship between Current and Power
We have described the three basic terminologies because you need to understand them if you want to learn about this relationship. The reason why we need to explore the relationship is that we want to estimate how many amps a table saw will use.
As we know that every machine needs a specific amount of energy in the form of power to start operating. If your circuit is not powerful enough to provide that energy, the machine will never start.
The question comes from where that energy will come to the machine. This is where you find current beneficial for the machine. When you plug the table saw into the switch, the current will be supplied to its motor.
Once the motor is started, it will turn that energy and provide power to the blades. The result of this whole procedure will be shown in the form of woodcutting. In simple words, the more current will be provided, the more power will be generated and the more work will be done.
Another thing that you have to understand in this regard is, “Would you need to supply a consistent amount of power?” The simple answer to this question is No because a machine needs variable power.
The power that needs to start the machine is different from the power that needs to operate it smoothly. In the beginning, you should provide more power to your appliance. Once the table saw will begin to work, it needs less power to work smoothly.
With the above discussion, you must have understood the relationship between current and power. So, you should keep this in mind while looking to understand how a saw will operate and how much current is needed to work with it.
In the above blog, we have discussed briefly how many amps a table saw use and you can say that a table saw generally uses 8-15 Amps for fine working. Also, we have discussed almost every factor that will impact the amount of current such as motor capacity, blade condition, etc. So, you can easily understand the relationship between various quantities and the working of this simple tool.
Kenneth Wafer is an aspiring woodworking expert from Los Angeles. He loves reading and writing about all the best woodworking tools and accessories available in the market.
He is a Finance professional and recently completed his foundation course from CFA Institute, USA.