zacker01
Well-known member
... lol YEP!!!
well, after some time, I finally got off my duff and made my vari Speed for the DP.
It wasn't as hard as I was imagining, I got the basic idea from a Post I think I saw here where someone made one for his old Craftsman DP. they welded a plate with a bolt coming off it to the column of their press... but since I was too lazy to take my DP apart to get the column off and weld it, I decided to make one that kinda-sorta worked as the Craftsman one from the 50's works. ya know, drop it into the column and attach the belts, turn it (cam action) to adjust tension and drill away...lol This is what I did...
I measured the ID of my column and it was 2" exactly so I went to find something that's 2" OD... Hmmm. Man, its hard to find something with a 2" OD. But I did... I got like 15, 3/4" flat washers from Home Depot,
a 3/4" bolt 4" or 5" long,
a 3/4" nut.
A short piece of 1/2" threaded rod
a 1/2" lock nut (the kind with the nylon insert inside)
I then took a piece of steel plate, it was 3/16 I believe, and a spanking new 3" Bi-Metal Hole saw and proceeded to drill / cut a 3" circle from the plate.. wow, it makes the worst noise ever when doing this... Anyhow, I then took my 3" circle and I welded it to the top of the 3/4" bolt's head, off center so that when it sits on the DP column, one edge hangs over the column and the other side of the circle is about flush with the columns edge.
then I put the washers on the bolt and put the nut on it, tightened it up snuggly, then put the stacked washers in the vice and squeezed (or is it squoze?) them to make them all even up so none were sticking out more on one side. (you can tap them in with a hammer too, if need be)
then I put the newly made "plate-welded-to-bolt-with-washer-stack" into the DP column to test fit.. you may have to beat it down with a hammer to get everything to go in at this point.
I then marked out a spot on the over hanging edge of the plate for the 1/2" rod to be welded on.
After that, I removed the set up and took off the washers. I drilled and tapped a hole for the 1/2" rod to go into. I wasn't gonna weld it but decided to, for extra strength.
So I welded it from underneath, ground it almost flat then put the washers back on and stuck it in the DP. I attached the 5" to 2" 4-step pulley to it after inserting a brass 5/8" OD x 1/2" ID bearing into each side of the Pulley (pulley needs to be the same size as the one on your motor and drill press.. mine were both 4 step Pulleys with the biggest part @5" and the smallest part @2". And it should have a 5/8" Bore, set screw, key way mount, it doesn't matter because we wont be needing it...)
So now the set up is in the column, the pulley is on small end down, big end up.. put on a 1/2" flat washer and the 1/2" locking nut and tighten just until the pulley wont turn then back off just a tiny bit, just until the pulley moves freely but with as little up and down movement as possible.. baby steps here...lol
At this point you'll need to remove the pulley from your motor and turn it upside down...
now looking at the pulleys from above with the shaft pulley closest to you and the motor pulley farthest away, turn the new set up until the pulley is more on the left side than the other two... (I had to put a small chisel in one of my threaded holes (for future use) and hit it with a hammer to spin it...(which is a good thing!) then attach the belt that goes to the drill shaft first then install the belt from the motor above that one. on mine, I used a 24" belt from drill to new set up, then and a 28" Belt from the new setup to the motor. they are both really tight and the motor is as far in to the DP as possible. I probably could have used a 29" or 30" belt to make changing easier but for now its fine. fire her up and test your speed.
Cons and fixes.
The blob of weld on the bottom of the plate from where I welded the 1/2" rod on is preventing the whole set up from sitting flat and level on the drill press which it really needs to do because the pulley needs to be about as level with both of the other pulleys. So for now I just stuck a piece of 16 GA steel under one side to keep the pulley assy from rocking to and fro. I drilled and tapped two holes to put small bolts into for adjusting the angle of the assy but in my haste, I drilled them in the wrong spot so I need to re do it at a later date. once done ill be able to raise or lower them to adjust the level and the weld blob wont be an issue. I ground off as much weld as I dared and got it flat but its still raised up on that side so ill need the adjustments still.
The washer / bolt assy sits so snug in the column that the pressure by the belts hold it nice and still so no need for a set screw to keep it in place, Con: makes it tough to remove once in and also makes it harder to turn to adjust belts. I used a small chisel in one of the holes I made in the plate, hit it with a hammer until the belts were tight. worked out very well. Any how, that it!
well, after some time, I finally got off my duff and made my vari Speed for the DP.
It wasn't as hard as I was imagining, I got the basic idea from a Post I think I saw here where someone made one for his old Craftsman DP. they welded a plate with a bolt coming off it to the column of their press... but since I was too lazy to take my DP apart to get the column off and weld it, I decided to make one that kinda-sorta worked as the Craftsman one from the 50's works. ya know, drop it into the column and attach the belts, turn it (cam action) to adjust tension and drill away...lol This is what I did...
I measured the ID of my column and it was 2" exactly so I went to find something that's 2" OD... Hmmm. Man, its hard to find something with a 2" OD. But I did... I got like 15, 3/4" flat washers from Home Depot,
a 3/4" bolt 4" or 5" long,
a 3/4" nut.
A short piece of 1/2" threaded rod
a 1/2" lock nut (the kind with the nylon insert inside)
I then took a piece of steel plate, it was 3/16 I believe, and a spanking new 3" Bi-Metal Hole saw and proceeded to drill / cut a 3" circle from the plate.. wow, it makes the worst noise ever when doing this... Anyhow, I then took my 3" circle and I welded it to the top of the 3/4" bolt's head, off center so that when it sits on the DP column, one edge hangs over the column and the other side of the circle is about flush with the columns edge.
then I put the washers on the bolt and put the nut on it, tightened it up snuggly, then put the stacked washers in the vice and squeezed (or is it squoze?) them to make them all even up so none were sticking out more on one side. (you can tap them in with a hammer too, if need be)
then I put the newly made "plate-welded-to-bolt-with-washer-stack" into the DP column to test fit.. you may have to beat it down with a hammer to get everything to go in at this point.
I then marked out a spot on the over hanging edge of the plate for the 1/2" rod to be welded on.
After that, I removed the set up and took off the washers. I drilled and tapped a hole for the 1/2" rod to go into. I wasn't gonna weld it but decided to, for extra strength.
So I welded it from underneath, ground it almost flat then put the washers back on and stuck it in the DP. I attached the 5" to 2" 4-step pulley to it after inserting a brass 5/8" OD x 1/2" ID bearing into each side of the Pulley (pulley needs to be the same size as the one on your motor and drill press.. mine were both 4 step Pulleys with the biggest part @5" and the smallest part @2". And it should have a 5/8" Bore, set screw, key way mount, it doesn't matter because we wont be needing it...)
So now the set up is in the column, the pulley is on small end down, big end up.. put on a 1/2" flat washer and the 1/2" locking nut and tighten just until the pulley wont turn then back off just a tiny bit, just until the pulley moves freely but with as little up and down movement as possible.. baby steps here...lol
At this point you'll need to remove the pulley from your motor and turn it upside down...
now looking at the pulleys from above with the shaft pulley closest to you and the motor pulley farthest away, turn the new set up until the pulley is more on the left side than the other two... (I had to put a small chisel in one of my threaded holes (for future use) and hit it with a hammer to spin it...(which is a good thing!) then attach the belt that goes to the drill shaft first then install the belt from the motor above that one. on mine, I used a 24" belt from drill to new set up, then and a 28" Belt from the new setup to the motor. they are both really tight and the motor is as far in to the DP as possible. I probably could have used a 29" or 30" belt to make changing easier but for now its fine. fire her up and test your speed.
Cons and fixes.
The blob of weld on the bottom of the plate from where I welded the 1/2" rod on is preventing the whole set up from sitting flat and level on the drill press which it really needs to do because the pulley needs to be about as level with both of the other pulleys. So for now I just stuck a piece of 16 GA steel under one side to keep the pulley assy from rocking to and fro. I drilled and tapped two holes to put small bolts into for adjusting the angle of the assy but in my haste, I drilled them in the wrong spot so I need to re do it at a later date. once done ill be able to raise or lower them to adjust the level and the weld blob wont be an issue. I ground off as much weld as I dared and got it flat but its still raised up on that side so ill need the adjustments still.
The washer / bolt assy sits so snug in the column that the pressure by the belts hold it nice and still so no need for a set screw to keep it in place, Con: makes it tough to remove once in and also makes it harder to turn to adjust belts. I used a small chisel in one of the holes I made in the plate, hit it with a hammer until the belts were tight. worked out very well. Any how, that it!