I don't buy that excuse. There is a wealth of knowledge at our finger tips, and with the help of members here to steer him and answer any questions it would be a great learning experience.
To the op, you can put the board in a larger enclosure tucked away close to the motor and have a matchbox size box to house the potentiometer wherever you want.
yeah, maybe house the Pot and the on off switch up front.
House the reverse switch too if you have one.
Don't really need reverse on a drill press, but maybe use-full for left handed drill bits.
You can use a plastic or metal electrical box, and use a piece of AL for the plate, or but a metal dummy plate and drill holes in it.
Myself and I am sure like srmofo above will help you with it.
There is not really a lot to it.
Pretty much L1 and L2 (marked on the board) are you power in. Fuse the Hot wire in, and put your switch after the fuse on the hot wire in(A/C wire)
P1 P2 and P3 are your 3 to the pot. P2 is the Center tap.
if you turn the pot clock wise, and it (the motor) speeds up, your good.
if it's backwards, reverse the outside wires to the pot.
A1 and A2 go to your motor. If it runs backwards, (Unplug your board first!).....................Switch the two wires going to the motor.
(Again, un-plug your board first)
Just be safe and always make sure your power is UNPLUGGED before changing or hooking up wires to or out of the board.
I understand this DC voltage can be deadly.