Ebay Will Not Leave me Alone
January 6th, 2009Big Old Tools are Cheap
I still need a few basic tools in order to accomplish anything with wood. One of those tools is a drill press, although I have a Sears drill guide which may be useful for some jobs.
Here is an item which shows why a big shop (unlike mine) is good to have: CLICK.
That’s a Powermatic 1150 drill press. It has a 3/4 HP Baldor motor. It goes fast. It goes slow. It has a 6″ stroke. And look at the asking price: $650. And it’s within half a day’s drive. I don’t think it will work with 1-phase 220, but a new Ebay motor would not cost a whole lot.
There is a lot of stuff like this on the market right now. The beautiful 8″ Powermatic jointer I mentioned recently sold for much less than the cost of a crummy little Chinese job.
The drill press wouldn’t be a bad buy, if I had a place to put it. It’s a 15″ machine, but for some reason, it takes up a lot more room than a typical 17″ drill press.
The nice thing about old machines like this is that they don’t cost anything. You can buy them for X dollars and sell them for the same amount or more. A Steel City drill press would probably do more stuff, since it has a 17″ swing compared to this one’s 15″. But the minute I got a new Steel City drill press home, the value would drop from $500 to $350, and I could kiss the sales tax goodbye.
Maybe I’ll offer this guy $50.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:12 PM
The only problem with old stuff is, if the repair parts are unavaillable, they go from priceless to worthless with the snap of a belt.
Usually not a problem though.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:59 PM
…kind of overkill for woodworking: even I have my limits (size-wise) for [some] shop tools. Guess it depends upon what you’re going to use it for, but for woodworking, where reach can be kind of important, a radial arm drill is on my current lust-list (I already have a Jet DP that I’m very happy with).
.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Overkill doesn’t bother me, if I get a deal I know I can get out of cheaply or at a profit. But the size of this thing…
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Also, it’s only 15″, and if it has the 1750-rpm motor, it won’t go slow enough for some jobs.
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I like the 6″ depth. People who own the Steel City drill press keep squawking about how great it is to have a longer stroke.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:10 PM
The 1150 is a good press. You want variable speed, not step pulleys, if you can get one. You hardly ever need to use a drill press below 500 rpm.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Buy it Steve. Buy it now.
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You won’t have any problem with space once you get your Bobcat and can just move tools around whenever you want.
January 6th, 2009 at 3:55 PM
I’ll second Og’s suggestion on the variable speed. I have a step-pulley setup. It’s fine for me, because 95% of the work the press does is in Ipe hardwood. But if I have to change it for metal work or another wood, it’s a PITA.
January 6th, 2009 at 4:02 PM
I don’t know whether to tell you to go for it or to convene your friends together for an intervention.
STEP AWAY FROM THE TOOLS!….
January 6th, 2009 at 8:29 PM
It occurs to me to wonder: are large universal motors with electronic speed controls available? I know where to look for new ones, but I’m not even sure what I’d search for on EBay.
A 3/4 or 1 HP motor with electronic speed control would make a fantastic retrofit for the Powermatic. For one thing, you could get rid of most of the bulky housing for the step pulleys.
Regards,
Ric
January 6th, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Here you go. I had no idea that sort of thing had gotten so cheap. The last time I looked around for it, you could pretty much move the decimal point one place to the left.
Regards,
Ric
January 6th, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Seems like a lot of money, to avoid moving a belt.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Yes, it’s a lot of money to avoid moving a belt, probably not cost-effective. The marvel to me, as an old-timer electronics type, is how cheap it is.
That’s a perfectly ordinary one-HP three-phase induction motor. Connected to ordinary electric power, it would turn at nominal 1800, actually around 1730-1750 RPM. The box takes in wall-plug power and converts it to three-phase with variable frequency up to around 250 Hz, and feeds that to the motor, which obediently turns slow or fast according to the frequency it gets. At low speed that’s a lot of current, at high speed it’s a lot of voltage — and they can sell drive and motor together for $400 or so.
I know a little about what all has to be inside the controller, and it boggles my mind. It hasn’t been all that long since one transistor capable of handling that amount of power cost more than $400, and that’s not even counting the effect of inflation.
Even more mind-boggling, consider the Cajun. One of his toys is a nine thousand horsepower motor with the same sort of drive, used to pump natural gas up the pipeline. The fact that it’s possible at all is astonishing. The fact that it doesn’t cost the GNP of Canada is mind-warping.
Regards,
Ric
January 6th, 2009 at 10:22 PM
I picked up a speed controller to power my sheldon lathe (1 hp-3ph) on single phase 220 for $150 delivered.
I dont change any belts just throttle the electronics to slow it down.
http://dealerselectric.com/item.asp?PID=417
as another option…
bob