My ongoing effort to upgrade some of my woodworking machines recently focused on my Delta 16 1/2" drillpress. My biggest complaint was changing speeds. Since I am a tinkerer I drill both wood and metal which require drastically different speeds. Changing belts was always a pain, especially if having to swap both belts. I decided to convert the drill press to electronic variable speed using a VFD (variable speed drive) which also required swapping out the single phase motor with a 3 phase motor and running them on 220V. In the process I also increased the hp from 3/4 to 1.5 hp. Though you can convert VFD frequency to RPM, I decided to add a tachometer to make it easy to monitor the drill RPM.
Here is the completed unit. The work light was a prior mod as was the Woodpeckers after-market table.
A little closer look shows the digital readout, red speed knob, and small toggle switch; all of which mounted neatly in the front of the original switch housing. The tach is wired so that it powers up and the remote mounted display lighted when power is applied to the VFD with the original large start stop buttons.
Here I have flipped the small toggle switch which starts the drill turning and have turned the speed knob to adjust the speed which is set at 999 RPM in this pic.
The VFD is mounted to a thin steel plate attached to the motor mount below the new Leeson 3 ph motor.
Here is a look inside the pulley cover. I removed the idler pulley (it just lifts out) and in its place I mounted an electrical box and 220V outlet. A power adapter that provides 9V DC for the tach is plugged into the. I will eventual replace the standard V-belt with a Powertwist link belt.
The orange cable in front of the quill pulley goes to the tach pickup which is mounted to the small bracket screwed to the side of the pulley housing. The tach circuit is "mounted" in a "temporary enclosure" (plastic bag :-D ) which will be replaced with a hard case. Also partially visible is the alternating black and white pattern I glued to the top edge of the bottom sheave of the quill pulley which is the target for the tach pickup.
Here is the completed unit. The work light was a prior mod as was the Woodpeckers after-market table.
A little closer look shows the digital readout, red speed knob, and small toggle switch; all of which mounted neatly in the front of the original switch housing. The tach is wired so that it powers up and the remote mounted display lighted when power is applied to the VFD with the original large start stop buttons.
Here I have flipped the small toggle switch which starts the drill turning and have turned the speed knob to adjust the speed which is set at 999 RPM in this pic.
The VFD is mounted to a thin steel plate attached to the motor mount below the new Leeson 3 ph motor.
Here is a look inside the pulley cover. I removed the idler pulley (it just lifts out) and in its place I mounted an electrical box and 220V outlet. A power adapter that provides 9V DC for the tach is plugged into the. I will eventual replace the standard V-belt with a Powertwist link belt.
The orange cable in front of the quill pulley goes to the tach pickup which is mounted to the small bracket screwed to the side of the pulley housing. The tach circuit is "mounted" in a "temporary enclosure" (plastic bag :-D ) which will be replaced with a hard case. Also partially visible is the alternating black and white pattern I glued to the top edge of the bottom sheave of the quill pulley which is the target for the tach pickup.