Suitable motor for universal pillar tool?

I bought what I now know is a Geo Thomas Universal Pillar Tool at the weekend. I admit I didn't know that was what it was at the time but it looked interesting and the seller was a friendly chap so deal was done.

It came with the sensitive drilling head but no accessories, so I have ordered a copy of his book and can have the fun of finding or making those, but getting to the point there was no motor either so what should I be looking for to suit the device? My first thought was a sewing machine motor, description of which says 180W and up to 10,000rpm - would that be good or perhaps a bit too fast and whirry?

Thanks in advance.

If you are serious about the UPT it would pay you to get GHT's book even though the motorisation possibilities are different today.

It's just turned up in the post - flicking to the appropriate page he recommends a Parvalux SD28, 1/2th hp at 1400rpm, so yes the sewing machine one will be much too fast.

Probably one of the variable speed router motors complete with speed controller and mounting bracket sold on Aliexpress would work. Sorry can't post a link due to rules etc. But a friend bought one to use as a milling spindle on his lathe and it works very well.

Edited By Hopper on 30/09/2020 12:48:36

Adrian, check your message box.

Emgee

Mounting the motor on the bench behind the UPT is a popular option and very flexible on the type and size of motor. Mounting on the tool itself will require a motor that is fairly compact so as not to be too top heavy. If I build the sensitive drill option for mine then I will use a motor that I have ‘in stock’ probably 1/6 or 1/4hp. As the drills are likely to be small I would be looking for a spindle speed of a few thousand rpm at least.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 30/09/2020 19:05:05

Which is my solution. A cheap 6" grinder has a fixed speed of 3000 rpm which can be adjusted with a choice of pulleys to give suitable speeds for small drills.

HTH,

Rod

Thanks folks. I've got a Bodine motor which I will try, but I will need to remake the jockey wheels first as the set that came with it (on a separate freestanding post) are too big to - more like the ones on this similar tool http://www.myford-lathes.com/misc2.html - and don't align properly with the spindle.

Just returning to this subject quickly.

I'm in the process of converting my 1/4" Cowells drill from a set-up similar to Rods - to a more direct 'in-line' drive, with a 200W-220V DC motor. I've still a lot of tidying up to do but the new setup seems to work well and gives another level of speed control in addition to the three-pulley system.

A few drilling tests this afternoon went well, so it seems to have enough grunt for this size of drill and the variable speed will be an improvement. The actual DC motor is relatively small and light. It's a brushed motor and although the drill is used regularly, it won't be used so often that I'd expect this to be an issue.

It might be worth looking at this kind of DC drive for devices that only need about a 1/4HP - such as this one.

Regards,

IanT

Indeed. I made the missing pulleys and mounting block over the weekend and tried the Bodine motor. Not a very good test as I was using a piece of string as a drive belt (proper one in post) but it starts with quite a jerk so DC may be the way to go to get variable speed and soft start if no other reason.

if no other reason.

The only significant DC motor (apart from vehicle starter motors) I have is on my rolling road (treadmill). All the other Larger variable speed drives - other than my cordless tools - are 3 phase induction motors with VFD.

So much more programmable control with those - soft start, speed control (even before pressing the start button), remote pendant control of all operating functions (stop/start/jog/forward or reverse/speed/emergency stop) and with circuit protection trips adjustable for the drive concerned).

Yes, the occasional VFD might fail but, if the experience of the forum is anything to go by, DC drives and their control boards seem to go pop much more often - and more expensively than the VFD route.🙂 Older boards are likely more at risk than more recent designs, mind.

Fractional 3 phase motors do not seem expensive these days. VFDs are obtainable quite cheaply, too. A friend has sourced all his from scrappies, who remove them from scrapped machinery.

I converted my ancient lathe to 3 phase with an inverter drive a few years back. Didn't get as far as rigging up the pendant but it has made the machine much nicer to operate, only minor quibble being a bit of static hiss on the radio which I haven't managed to suppress.

On the DC side when my kids were smaller and I converted a Sonic 7 (think half scale Lotus 7) from petrol to electric using the drivetrain from an off road mobility scooter - bonus there was that the drive controller incorporates lots of safety features e.g. handles full forward to full reverse gracefully.

So either could work for the UPT if a motor is available in suitable size. I realised I made a typo above, the GHT book says 1/12th hp motor so in metric we are only talking 75W or thereabouts. I would only anticipate using this device for small drills, say up to 5mm so controllability will be more important than oomph.

I like the use of a bench grinder being used, most people have one and many have an old one dumped under the bench.

Nice one Rod! If you left the grinding wheel on the free end you wouldn’t have to walk far to sharpen your drills.

Hi Baz,

I did try putting a polishing mop on the other end but not nearly enough oomph for that.

Best wishes,

Rod

That might be true of DC brushless motors and controllers NDIY but this is a brushed motor and replacement DC 220v controllers are currently about £18 on eBay, so not so bad. Hopefully the one I'm using will be OK though.

Regards,

IanT