My machine tools, part 1 The VFD pillar drill

[@ericdidmon1524]

A good insight on how to modify a basic pillar drill for the better

[@ACDodd]

Hi Eric, yes a very worthwhile project!

[@markgutter8443]

Thanks for sharing.

[@paulp96275]

Thanks very much this convention is on my to do list next on a Clarke’s drill similar to yours great 👍👨🏻‍🏭

[@ACDodd]

It has really made the most of this drill

[@jeremykemp3782]

Great vid thanks

[@MNW124F]

Great vid - AC. Looks like I have a future project to modify mine!

[@ACDodd]

Yes it makes a great project and really transforms the tool.

[@73ake]

Nice i have the same drill 👍

[@michaelbermingham4502]

I have a 3-phase 0.75 kW drill press. Should I get a 0.75 kW VFD or go a size up and get a 1.5 kW drive?

[@ACDodd]

My pillar drill uses a drill 1.5kw inverter. If it’s a high quality inverter you can use an inverter the same size of the motor with no problems. I’m he cheap inverters I think it’s a good idea to have the inverter a little bigger than the motor.

[@stephenporter5752]

This is something ive had on the cards for a while. I built a 2x72" belt grinder and a 9" disc grinder each running 1 HP off a yaskawa vfd but not simultaneously. I've wired the vfd in such a way that, the output from the drive is wired to a uk 3 pin wall socket and the motor for each machine to a 3 pin wall plug allowing me to alternate between the two as required. The motors are 4 pole which has had its limitations on the belt grinder set up as i often require high belt speeds to utilise the potential of ceramic belts but causes stalling/overdrive protection on the vfd. Would you recommend a 4 pole for this operation as i will be upgrading the belt grinder motor to 2.5hp with its own stand alone vfd in the near future and hopefully using the current 1hp motor on the press. Thanks, Stephen

[@ACDodd]

What rpm do you need to drive the belt rollers at?

[@ptirom44]

Very nice mods! Is it a 1 turn pot? It seems a bit tricky to adjust the speed. Maybe use a multi-turn pot instead?

[@ACDodd]

Not needed really you could also expand the range if you wanted it’s perfectly usable as is and I have not felt the need to change it. The point is you can do pretty much whatever you want really!

[@jeremykemp3782]

Would you share your graphs for speeds please?

[@ACDodd]

I can’t post the graphs here