This first pic shows the view of my contraption from the back. I removed the motor and installed a piece of aluminum plate. Size and thickness was as-found in the scrap box.
Next, I made up a couple of "pillow blocks" out of a couple more pieces of aluminum plate and some 3/4" od x 1/2" id flanged bronze bushings. There is a third piece of plate in between the two, to help hold them square to the main plate. All of these were attached with 1/4-20 screws, the ones from the main plate into the other three were flatheads countersunk. My only reason for making the pillow blocks is that my local hardware store didn't have any, but they had the bearings. It did give me the opportunity to make the whole mess as tall as the old motor was, but this is not essential (it did allow me to reuse the old belt).
Next, I removed the 4-grove pulley from the motor and attached it to the jackshaft, which was held in the pillow blocks with a couple of shaft collars. I then mounted a new 3-groove pulley on the motor. I elected to use this as the only reason I could see to use a 4-groove would be to speed up the drill press, and I wanted to do just the opposite. I then offset the holes for the bolts of the motor higher by the width of one groove. I also stuck a piece of angle iron under the motor plate for a jack screw to press on from the middle plate of the pillow blocks, since it was there. If you use commercial pillow blocks, you could just attach another block for this purpose. To tighten the motor belt, I loosen the motor bolts, and use the jack screw to push the motor over using the slots in the motor baseplate, then retighten the bolts. The main belt tension is still the old Delta two post system. I have not found a need to change the belt speed to anything higher since I set this up this way. The belt also stays tight enough to stall the motor, such as when drilling a 5/8" hole through a stack of 1/4" thich pieces of steel with an aggressive feed. Overall, I've been very happy with this setup.
From the front, you can also see the light I added, which hangs off of the new motor plate. It's a regular outdoor fixture with the smallest floodlight bulb I could find, and it is controlled by the bottom of the two switches above it. I also have a switch there for the motor, since it's switch is now relatively inaccessible behind the machine.
Last updated 8/18/02
© 2002 Glenn S. Lyford, all trademarks etcetera property of their respective owners.