Built a rotary phase converter

[Ultradog MN]

I have this spare Enco drill press that I bought cheap because the base is cracked.
My old pal Kenny kinda hinted that he could use it at home.
So over the past month I have been collecting the things to rig it up for him.
Being a bottom feeder I hafta spend more time looking than I do buying.
The first thing I needed was to make a phase converter to run it.
I found a used 5 hp motor, a surplus enclosure box, ordered a kit with the gizmos for inside the box and made a frame yesterday to mount everything on.
He's a little tight on real estate in his garage so I made it so everything will sit on the base of the drill press.
Once I get it powered up I will use a grinder/cutting wheel and cut the end of the shaft off.
Yeah I know, I could have bought a VFD to power the drill but what is the fun in having a shop if you don't make stuff in it?
Besides, those VFDs are all made in China and I just don't do China stuff.
The next step will be to pull the column off the base and weld it.
Shouldn't be hard to do.
Maybe I will make a post about that one of these days.
Ken is 87 and this will just be on loan - till whenever.

 

[piper184]

Why cut off the shaft of the motor?
You could just make a cover for it so the value of the motor will be preserved for some possible other use in the future.

 

[cross thread]

Nice job . Ah yes , phase converter . Back in the 90's there was no such thing as a VFD . There were these little packs but I was told they were a waste of money , so I bought a phase converter . It was a big one , It powered all my machines . It was very noisy and after it started and was running for a bit , it would try to start again . Sounded just like if you tried to start your car motor after it was running . I had to wire in a shut off switch for the starter .