I am in the market for a variable speed control for my Drill Press and figured I'd ask here if anyone has experience with them and which models and brands are worth looking into. Since the motor is a 3/4 HP induction type this may or may not be possible and I may just have to switch the belts.

My drill press speeds can be varied from 200 - 3600 rpm's but that requires moving the V-Belts of course. Not a real big deal, but since I use the press so often and on so many different materials I though a nice speed control would be nice.

Thanks in advance for your responses and Happy New Year!

Regards,
Chief38

The BEST way is to add a 3 phase motor, then a variable frequency inverter.

These can operate off of 220 single phase. I have two.

Infinite speed control with what appears to be full torque.

Hmmmm,
that's what i was afraid of. No way to do it of a single phase 120v ac?

I have mine set at the slowest speed and call it good. Use it for a quick drilling job, anything more I head to the mill!

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How does the variable speed on a VSR drill work? Can I cheaply add this feature to my drill press? - Yahoo Answers

Depends on how much effort and money you want to invest. Some have been using the small 2-2&1/2 HP DC motors and 110 volt controls from scrapped tread mills to add variable speed control to small machine tools. Several ways to do it....check google and youtube.

Yea, I had to have one, I used to design them.

We designed one that we tested on a 26,000 HP motor.

Would that run your drill dress?

You would need the power company to bring 6KV into your shop.

I have a drill press that I wanted to make variable speed. I looked around, and decided that a simple way to do it was buy an additional drill press that was variable speed.

I have more than one shop area, so the second one is used quite a bit too. In fact, much more so than the original. I bought a Ryobi large bench top model, and like it a lot. I have never had any trouble with the variable speed on it.

Best Wishes,
Tom

Hopefully I don't get in trouble for linking this, since it isn't forum related and I'm not linking something that any of the forum sponsors sell. Would one of these work for you?
http://www.harborfreight.com/router-...rol-43060.html
or on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...sl_18oh9l9ax_b

That will work only with a different type motor.

Usually any single phase speed control REALLY looses torque.

You are better adding auxiliary pulleys if low cost is the main concern.

The pulleys will increase torque, and give you the speed control, at low cost.

I did this for a specialized sewing machine my wife purchased. It was designed for commercial super speed.

Now the variable speed is half, and the torque is double.

When multiple pulleys are used, REALLY small (narrow) belts can be used.

Sears used to sell a drill press that only needed 1/8" wide belts.

The inverter method is the best, just expensive.

Some guys were buying used DC motors from treadmills and wheelchairs. Then add a standard DC control they seemed to work well. You might find more info on that stuff in HSM, Chaski (sp) or Practical Machinist forums.

Either go to a DC motor and drive controller or a 3 phase motor and drive.
Anything else is money down the drain!

Well thanks guys, but it kind of sounds like I'll be switching the belts around for a while. Before I start changing motors I would consider upgrading to a good used Clausing or similar if I found the right deal.

Thanks for the info though!

Chief38