Slowing down the Drill Press

[burnrider]

That's innovative Brian. I can tell you what I've learned so far:

The board

Starting from the control box ($150 on ebay), the board needs to be housed, is easy to wire.
It's a KBCC-R product. Has speed and reverse switch included. The motor for this board is limited to 110volts, 16 amps at 1-1/2 hp. There is a .0006 ohm resistor spot for this, the maximum hp motor. I verified this by talking to tech support in FLA.

Treadmill Motor
Chinese - $49 and up
Pacific Scientific - $150 & up

So, for a 110 system without all the electronic work of figuring out which cheap board works with which motor, you're in it for about $200-$300 for a DC/ 110v system.

I know guys have done it for less. I don't know if it's cheaper with the 220v 2.5 to 3 HP motors and makeshift boards. If you can pick up a complete treadmill, you would have a working system to remove and setup on the bench. Treadmills boards have safties for min/max speed. Those would have to be bypassed.

Not quite sure I'll do it soon, as I don't know if Bill used the 1.5 hp motor, but pure DC power would be awful nice.

 

[bvd1940]

You can not hang your hat on the HP rating on the motor label for treadmill,s
BUT most I have seen will run it just fine, my main drive behind converting this drill press over is for sensitive drilling and tapping.
If you wanted you could use a 3phase motor with VFD for not a bunch more (I am a cheepskate)
I scrounged up a lot of my parts for the conversion.

 

[burnrider]

You can not hang your hat on the HP rating on the motor label for treadmill,s
BUT most I have seen will run it just fine, my main drive behind converting this drill press over is for sensitive drilling and tapping.
If you wanted you could use a 3phase motor with VFD for not a bunch more (I am a cheepskate)
I scrounged up a lot of my parts for the conversion.

There's Bill- So you installed the 1-1/2 hp @ 110v as well? I'd love to build from scratch, if I knew what to scratch first.

 

[burnrider]

Some pictures of the KB VFD installed on the drill press.

Notes:
1) Used 16 ga wire for motor to VFD w/ .093 molex connection.
2) Used 22 ga wire for the pot and switch connections (overkill at that)
3) Fwd / stop / Rev switch is a std SPDT of 125v/ 10amps rating from any auto store - again overkill
4) Potentiometer- Looks like a 5w 1/2 ohm linear pot you get anywhere. (Radio shack knob)
5) Small switch box - Radio shack / Large open VFD enclosure - Home Depot
6) 110v fan of 100 cfm - All electronics (on-line)
7) I bought the VFD through Galco (on-line).

I know there are HM members who have done this project & not submitted pics or info until they saw this post. Thanks for helping out with information. The pictures are a pain to post, and I know everyone is busy making a living.

View attachment 37288View attachment 37289View attachment 37290


1) Control box next to the split rocker switch/ main power. 2) The old Baldor motor installation. I'll save it for the band saw or air compressor, whichever quits first. 3) Fan is suspended with 4- 3/8" AL rods threading on top of the motor case bolts behind the nuts.

Very slick setup. Wish I'd done it 6 yrs ago when buying the Baldor. The motor shop guy was no help at the time. Today, they likely have a 3 phase motor with all the electronics integrated.

 

[bvd1940]

Nice clean job there burnrider, good add-on with the fan

 

[SamIAm]

110v / AC

Currently running drill speed on the slowest belt setting of 260 RPM. Is there an electric speed control I can use to reduce speed for chucking reamer use? I mean w/o smoking the Baldor motor

Tx

Yes you could go with the treadmill motor setup.. I fear you will find that it will lack in low end power. if you use the included electronics.
they are not typically setup to take FULL advantage of the motors potential. if your set on the treadmill setup I would invest in a nee DC controller.
then you will see the real potential of the Dc motor. (dart controller are a good choice they can be found easily and their usually cheap)

An alternate solution would be to go with treadmill setup and included controller. but when doing the adaption change the gearing so your drill press will have much more
torque meaning your speed range will be lower but more reliable. who runs their drill press at full speed anyways!? I don't think I ever have.

Id be glad to send you some pics of my drill press mod. its a cheap drill press (it was given to me free!!!!) I nursed it back to health with some mods.
its no Rockwell or BP but it gets my jobs done!

My basic Dp setup is added a treadmill motor setup with its included controller. modified the the circuitry to allow me to start up at the last or any speed other than
off or low. and I have a fan on my treadmill motor since they will get hot if you run it for extended periods. (I'm talking about hours with lots of loads.)


Sam

 

[SamIAm]

Some pictures of the KB VFD installed on the drill press.

Notes:
1) Used 16 ga wire for motor to VFD w/ .093 molex connection.
2) Used 22 ga wire for the pot and switch connections (overkill at that)
3) Fwd / stop / Rev switch is a std SPDT of 125v/ 10amps rating from any auto store - again overkill
4) Potentiometer- Looks like a 5w 1/2 ohm linear pot you get anywhere. (Radio shack knob)
5) Small switch box - Radio shack / Large open VFD enclosure - Home Depot
6) 110v fan of 100 cfm - All electronics (on-line)
7) I bought the VFD through Galco (on-line).

I know there are HM members who have done this project & not submitted pics or info until they saw this post. Thanks for helping out with information. The pictures are a pain to post, and I know everyone is busy making a living.

View attachment 37288View attachment 37289View attachment 37290


1) Control box next to the split rocker switch/ main power. 2) The old Baldor motor installation. I'll save it for the band saw or air compressor, whichever quits first. 3) Fan is suspended with 4- 3/8" AL rods threading on top of the motor case bolts behind the nuts.

Very slick setup. Wish I'd done it 6 yrs ago when buying the Baldor. The motor shop guy was no help at the time. Today, they likely have a 3 phase motor with all the electronics integrated.

I missed this post! looks like you got it all setup "Very nice indeed." I'll bet your happy with that setup.
Sam

 

[burnrider]

Yes, a shop mod I wanted for a long time. The next skill is learning to select the pulley speed and use the 'sweet spot' of the VFD for motor speed. No readout to display hertz on the KB unit. Should not be tough to figure out. Load, material type, thickness, and feed rates to consider.

 

[Charley Davidson]

I know it's kinda late to respond to this but there is a how to article in Home Shop Machinist on making a multi speed attachment for a South Bend drill press, don't know if it's adaptable to others or not.

Your VFD install is impeccable

 

[Inflight]

If others are looking to accomplish the same thing, I agree in recommending the use of a treadmill motor.

About 2 years ago I found a treadmill motor for $10 at a junk dealer and I decided to replace the original AC induction motor on my Canedy-Otto Royal 16" bench drill press with the intention of adding infinitely variable speed and instant reversing (for tapping). I made a base adapter plate that adapted the new motor to the original mount without the need for modification. After a little research and a couple failed attempts at creating my own pulse width modulation motor controller and power supply, I found an MC-60 treadmill speed controller on ebay. All I needed was a couple switches ( On / Off, Fwd / Rev), a 5K ohms potentiometer and a box.

Input power is 110V AC​

Full speed voltage 120V DC​

Speed range currently 0 - 1400 RPM (using slowest driven pulley)​

HP is unknown​

Instant reversing seems to be working under load at all speeds. As mentioned, you can modify the circuitry, usually by removing one little resistor, to get the motor to start at any speed.

I got lucky with the motor i found. It's a Pacific Scientific brand and some have said that it is much more powerful than the typical treadmill motor.

Here is a video from a couple years back. Since then, I upgraded the v-belt to a linked style and it's worked out great. I have plenty of low end torque and I have been able to drill 1" holes through .500" mild steel plate about as quickly as on my knee mill.

[video=youtube;ff7A18sNMtw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff7A18sNMtw[/video]