Powermatic 1200 Drill Press

[Maui]

I just picked up this 20” variable speed Powermatic drill press, and it is a beast of a machine. The previous owner said he thought it weighed about 350 lbs. Having just loaded it onto my trailer earlier today I beg to differ. It easily weighs somewhere between 600 and 800 lbs. Everything works well. I suspect that the teeth in the drill chuck should be replaced at some point. It looks like somebody spun a bit in the chuck and created a burr on the teeth. Other than that, there don’t appear to be any significant issues. The variable speed runs relatively quietly, the power down feed works, and nothing was broken or repaired that I can see.

It is currently set up with a 3 phase 1.5 hp 1140 rpm motor. I do not currently have 3 phase in my garage. The motor is set up to run on 440V, but it can be configured to run on 230V 3 phase. I do have a rotary phase converter that I’ll be setting up later on this summer after I run run a 220V line to the garage. To get it running now I could swap out the 3 phase motor for a single phase 1 hp motor that I have on hand if I choose to. A VFD won’t make any sense for me because I’d need at least a 220V line which I don’t currently have anyway. The question I have for the members here is this: Does leaving it set up for three phase really buy me anything significant over single phase operation? Because if I swap out the motor I probably won’t want to go to the trouble of switching it back again once I get the phase converter set up.

Maui

 

[Rusty Bolt]

I've got a newer version of that drill press without the power downfeed. I think it's closer to 1100 lbs.

My version came from the factory with a VFD. High range and low range via adjusting pulleys with most of the speed control with the VFD. I like it, except that when lowing the speed, I have to go slow, otherwise the back EMF from the motor trips the VFD. There might be a way to add a braking resistor to the VFD but I couldn't find one when I checked.

Switching from forward to reverse can take a couple of seconds as the VFD ramps down and then back up. Stopping can take longer than I'd like too. That's annoying sometimes - power tapping could break a lot of taps. Real 3 phase or a rotary phase converter might work better for tapping.

 

[crugg65]

Looks like you have a nice find! If you change it to single phase 220v, most likely you would change the motor and it would be 1725rpm vs the 1140rpm three phase. That big beast depends on the slower speeds on your larger drill/boring bits. Also I’m not sure if your power feed is three phase as well throwing a monkey wrench in the mix


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Davefr]

A VFD won’t make any sense for me because I’d need at least a 220V line which I don’t currently have anyway.
Maui

You don't need 220V to run a 1.5 HP 3 phase motor with a VFD.

There are 120V 1.5 HP VFDs. You can also cheat and use a 1 HP 120V VFD like the Teco L510. There's usually plenty of guardband built into the VFD specs and you can also enable SLV mode and do an autotune.

I've been running my 1.5HP 3 phase DP with a 1 HP 120VAC Teco L510 without any issues.

 

[exmaxima1]

You don't need 220V to run a 1.5 HP 3 phase motor with a VFD.

There are 120V 1.5 HP VFDs. You can also cheat and use a 1 HP 120V VFD like the Teco L510. There's usually plenty of guardband built into the VFD specs and you can also enable SLV mode and do an autotune.

I've been running my 1.5HP 3 phase DP with a 1 HP 120VAC Teco L510 without any issues.

+1
I run a Baldor 1.5hp belt sander with a Leeson 1hp VFD with no issues.

 

[Maui]

So a VFD is a possibility with 120V power. Cool. But I heard that you only get at most 2/3 of the rated power with a VFD. Is that true?

 

[Maui]

Here is a photo of my motor tag for reference in case somebody needs to see it.

 

[Warrenator]

That only 2/3 rated power thing is for a static converter, not a VFD.

 

[Shop Dad]

That only 2/3 rated power thing is for a static converter, not a VFD.

Or a VFD for three-phase run on single phase 240V. I’d go the VFD route for the additional speed adjustment, breaking and motor protection. In fact I am since I have a PM1200 too in the queue for this. Nice that you have the power feed and foot switch. It’s a pretty impressive machine. Manual can be found on vintagemachinery.org

Doug

 

[Bottlecapdigger]

If you already have a single phase motor on hand, why not use it, no cost. If you put on a VFD your going to be less likely to use the variable speed adjustment that is already provided on the drill. The sheaves will get stiff and not slide on the shafts with lack of use. Also I find equipment with single phase motors have a quicker resale that 3 phase. BCD.

 

[Bottlecapdigger]

If you already have a single phase motor on hand, why not use it, no cost. If you put on a VFD your going to be less likely to use the variable speed adjustment that is already provided on the drill. The sheaves will get stiff and not slide on the shafts with lack of use. Also I find equipment with single phase motors have a quicker resale that 3 phase. BCD.[/Also very nice drill by the way, been looking for a drill like that. BCD QUOTE]

 

[Davefr]

If you already have a single phase motor on hand, why not use it, no cost. If you put on a VFD your going to be less likely to use the variable speed adjustment that is already provided on the drill. The sheaves will get stiff and not slide on the shafts with lack of use. Also I find equipment with single phase motors have a quicker resale that 3 phase. BCD.

Using a VFD is much more convenient then the units original power switch and variable speed control. Besides that, you can dial down the DP's speed to it's lowest setting (300 RPM???) and then use the VFD to dial it down further to <<100 RPM.

The VFD also gives you the capability for L.H. drilling/tapping and it includes braking capability.

Yes, even with a VFD you should run the machine thru it's entire variable pulley speed range occasionally.

Who cares about resale if the machine was purchased to use. However I'd bet a VFD machine would have a higher resale vs lower.

 

[Davefr]

Here is a photo of my motor tag for reference in case somebody needs to see it.

5 amps should be no problem. I run a 5.8 amp motor with the 1 HP L510.

VFD's are designed with plenty of extra surge capacity and they self protect themselves and the motors. Just enable SLV mode/autotune which will fine tune the VFD's performance to the actual motor.

P.S. That looks like a wonderful machine!!!

 

[GTO]

Nice score,good luck with it.

 

[Maui]

As always, the members on this forum have provided some great information. Thank you! You’ve given me a lot to think about. Attaching a VFD would allow me to run the drill press at a much lower rpm than would normally be possible simply by setting the variable speed on the machine at the lowest rpm setting (around 200 rpm) and then using the VFD to adjust the motor speed lower if I need to. So I could use it to drill larger holes. I hadn’t considered that.

If I were to go this route, and wanted a VFD that was rated for 1 1/2 hp, which unit would you recommend and why?

 

[larry_g]

Something in my memory banks tells me these Powermatic DP's have a proprietary motor on them or at least an uncommonly long shaft. Confirm this before tearing down for a motor swap.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Maui]

I found the technical information for the TECO-Westinghouse 510 series VFDs, so I think that I'm all set if I decide to go that route. And I'm surprised how inexpensive they are.

Maui

 

[CreateStage]

Hey All, New to Garage Journal. Setting up a small fab shop and I found Powermatic 1200 Drill press for $350, no chuck, no power cable etc. I might pick up a Teco 510 to test this thing out as I will need one for any future 3 phase tools in my shop. I'm pretty good with electrical and I got my hands on a manual. Any things I should look out for when I test it? What kind of chucks would you suggest? There seems to be few parts on ebay but I really don't know much about what I'm looking for. My budget is about $700 for this project at least to get set up and pressing. Thank you!