I have a drill press that I use often in my shop, and the table has about 2’ of travel. I use most of this travel often, but the constant hand cranking got me wondering if there wasn’t a way to mount an electric motor with a variable speed switch, kind of like the two-way switch you see on old-fashioned elevators. The further you push the switch in one direction, the faster the motor runs, and when you let go of the switch, it returns to center and the motor stops. The motor would also have to be able to run in both directions on the fly.
I was thinking of a 3 Nm stepper motor since those can run in either direction and at different speeds, and it should have enough torque to raise and lower the table with a moderate amount of weight on it. However, it seems there’s a lot of components involved - it’s not a simple matter of “mount it and plug it into an outlet.” Do any of you folks have any experience with setting up stepper motors and a switch like I described?
Or is there a better way using an AC motor? I’ve attached a pic of where the motor would be attached to the crank shaft; I’d machine a steel collar to connect the shaft to that on the motor, which would be mounted in line. I thought it was an interesting mental exercise, but if it’s feasible, I’d give it a shot.
I was thinking of a 3 Nm stepper motor since those can run in either direction and at different speeds, and it should have enough torque to raise and lower the table with a moderate amount of weight on it. However, it seems there’s a lot of components involved - it’s not a simple matter of “mount it and plug it into an outlet.” Do any of you folks have any experience with setting up stepper motors and a switch like I described?
Or is there a better way using an AC motor? I’ve attached a pic of where the motor would be attached to the crank shaft; I’d machine a steel collar to connect the shaft to that on the motor, which would be mounted in line. I thought it was an interesting mental exercise, but if it’s feasible, I’d give it a shot.
