Hi All,
After I had reviewed the Jet SuperSaw, Nick Brown, one of the main men at Jet informed me that the actual motor rating on all Jet products is the output, not the input that most manufacturers give.
I was told by him that while an input rating gives you exactly the size of motor used, the output varies dramatically.
IIRC he told me that Jet products are rated at 100%, that is, it will always maintain its stated power at whatever loading it is under. Some manufacturers quote output as well as input ratings as it is a good indication of the motor quality, but these are very rarely measured at 100% loadings, some are 50% for instance, and can therefore only maintain a constantly rated power feed to the tooling 50% of the time. His words, not mine.
He said Jet have a policy of not divulging motor input power, preferring to quote the 100% output as a premium selling point. Valid, but a bit confusing if firstly you don't understand the difference between input and output, and secondly when manufacturers don't give you an output rated at xx% or whatever to compare like for like.
I noted at the time of doing the spindle moulders that the Jet was lower rated on the motor power but the performance was as good as the other two, which I suppose is good back up to the statement made by Nick.
Andy