Poor mans Milling maching.. sorta

[Rowdy]

hi folks, just wanted to share something..
those hardware store drill presses aren't made for drilling metal. they range from 650-3000 RPMs, with belt/pulley changes. And, the motors are weak..
So, they are PERFECT for all the wood stuff you could ever throw at it.
Now.. the motors, are a NEMA class 4 .. and that is 99 percent of them. The significance of that is how they mount as well as its "class" of motor...
Stay with me....
Ever drill a hole in metal only to have it chew through the last bit and/or bind up?
heres a fix a buddy turned me onto.
AC vs DC.. no not the band..
All hardware store drill presses are AC...
DC provides 100 percent torque at any speed. Cool thing is, the speed is run from some type of potentiometer (KNOB/TURNEY THINGY).
so, a treadmill, is a POWERFUL NEMA class 4 motor. That means they have the same mount.
heres what I did...
take a treadmill motor, with a DC controller. took off the motor and was a direct swap. The controller, a little computer board, I housed in a radio shack electronics kit/project box, which I then mounted that on a simple "L" bracket right to the motor with large hose clamps..
The result?? not only 100 percent torque at any speed, but I can turn the knob down to as low a 80 RPM!!! this is the range you want for clean metal holes..... not 650.
heres a couple pics..
here you can see the treadmill motor behind it. Its much longer, but also much skinnier..

and here is the "TURNEY THINGY"..

neat, huh?

[Travis2k7]

Not bad.

Working in a machine shop I'll go ahead and say that once you go Waterjet, you never go back. The versatility is unmatched for just about any job out there.

YouTube - Waterjet cutting 1.5" Stainless Steel

Of course, it's not for a poor man It is an enjoyable and interesting job to say the least.