Variable Speed Drill Press Question

[Chip Seltzer]

I have that bench top Rockwell (Delta on the hood). My dad bought it new back in the 50s. Made in Pittsburgh. For all intents and purposes, 0” runout. It is a fantastic machine and it sits in the metal shop section. I also have a Nova Voyager and it is a great drill head with a mediocre table / adjustment set up. There is no reason in the world why they couldn’t have designed that drill press all the way to the floor for that kind of money. They stopped at the top. When you release the lock on the table, it actually drops (out of Square with the column) quite measurably. To beef up that casting wouldn’t have added $10 to the cost of manufacture. The drill press I got rid of to make room for the Voyager had 0” deflection when the clamp was released. Unknown brand but made probably in the 40s. It did have too much runout for me (maybe a slightly bent quill) and I really like the speed selection on the Voyager.

[Derek Cohen]

...I also have a Nova Voyager and it is a great drill head with a mediocre table / adjustment set up. There is no reason in the world why they couldn’t have designed that drill press all the way to the floor for that kind of money. They stopped at the top. ...

Chris, you are so right. The Voyager was conceived of as a drill press for the woodworker. Why then did they leave a table designed for a metal worker?



Fortunately, we are woodworkers, and can build our own tables. This one is made of UHMW ...



I have since replaced the fence as well, and added a Wixey laser.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark R Webster]

Very helpful input from all of you thanks so much!

[Mike Henderson]

I have a variable speed drill press with a Reeves drive and it has worked great for me. I have a control arm on the side of the drill press and by moving that back and forth it changes the quill speed. While an electronic speed control would be nice, this one was probably a lot less expensive. Seems to have acceptable power at all speeds - although I mostly use it at lower speeds.

Mike

[Mark R Webster]

Thanks I was still wondering about the mechanical solution. Did you end up with a Wen?

[Bill Dufour]

A reeves drive is loud while a vfd makes no noise beyond ,maybe, a small fan. A VFD can cause radio noise. If you buy a used reeves drive it is almost guaranteed the bushings need replacing.
Bill D.

[Mark R Webster]

Good to know, I am not a fan of loud! Worn bushings are not so nice either ha ha

[Larry Frank]

I have never had a drill press table that I liked. They all are typically cast iron and I do not want wood against it. With every drill press I have owned, I have built a custom table to suit my uses. I would rather have the mfg just give me a plain cast iron table that I can add onto. I also find it much cheaper to build my own with fences and hold downs than buy one.

One thing with the Nova Voyager is that it can easily run at high speeds up to 3000 rpm and optionally to 5500 rpm.

[Mike Henderson]

A reeves drive is loud while a vfd makes no noise beyond ,maybe, a small fan. A VFD can cause radio noise. If you buy a used reeves drive it is almost guaranteed the bushings need replacing.
Bill D.

I have a Reeves drive in my drill press and in my lathe and I certainly don't notice excessive noise. No more than a regular belt drive. All a Reeves drive does is change the "size" of the pulleys to speed up or slow down the final drive. Once the adjustment is made, it's exactly like a belt on pulleys.

Mike

[Chip Seltzer]

We can make whatever kind of table we want. What we cannot easily fix is the junction between the table and the column and that is what is so poorly under built on this drill press. Just the same, I spent a good part of the day today using it and I really like the whole drill head!

[Mark R Webster]

Thanks for the additional input Larry. Interesting, I was just looking around for prices and specs on the Nova and it looks like nobody has them in stock. Possibly sometime in August it is expected to be in stock again. Anyone have any idea what is going on... Covid? Are they made in New Zealand?

[andy bessette]

My solution was 2 drill presses. The Rockwell DP I purchased new decades ago has a manual table lift (very fast and convenient). I leave this one set at medium high speed. Also have a very heavy duty Delta DP (purchased used) which has a heavy crank-up table, deeper throat, and is capable of considerably lower speeds. This one is left on its lowest speed and is used for hole saws, Forstner bits, spur bits, drilling stainless steel, etc.

[Andy D Jones]

A few points to consider:

The Nova Voyager is 1.75 HP when run from 120VAC, and 2 HP when run from 240VAC. All you have to do is change the plug, the wiring does not change. So the Voyager starts out with more power and torque than most drill presses.

The DVR motor and drive are better at generating torque at low RPM than induction motors on VFDs (some VFD algorithms are better than others, but do not match DVRs at low speed. For induction motors, consider a 6 pole (1100 RPM nominal) motor instead of a 4 pole motor (1760 RPM nominal), if low speed torque is important.

The Voyager has MANY more useful features beyond just variable speed, for both safety and convenience.

Reeves drives should be running when changing the speed. So you need to get in the habit of always returning to low speed before turning it off, in case the next bit you install (e.g. a wheel cutter) can vibrate excessively at high speed. This is not the case with electronic variable speed (DVR or VFD); you can set the correct speed before turning the motor on.

Disclosure: I have a Voyager and really enjoy it.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Bill Dufour]

For half the cost of a voyager drill press buy this and set each one to a different speed. It would make a nice router table
Bil lD.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Buffalo-16-...temCondition=4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-HEAD-DELTA-DRILL-PRESSES-AND-TABLE/232958484569?hash=item363d686059%3Ag%3AOa4AAOSwjXZ bvAlu&LH_ItemCondition=4

The first one is in Indiana the second in Ohio. USA.
Any idea what country the Op is in?

[Bill Dufour]

Those I linked are likely three phase. You could run one at a time from one VFD since they all use the same motor. Set the parameter once for the motors.
Bill D