VFD on variable speed drill press

Hi

Only just now learning about VFD and phase converters in general.

Is it worthwhile for me to put a VFD on a 3 phase drill press that also itself has a variable speed (CVT not stepped pulley) drive? I see in another thread that the variable speed eats HP and I guess with VFD you can control the speed anyway. But even though one might prefer to use pulley, surely it's still worthwhile to use a VFD on this drill press?

I have single phase power but could easily bring in 3 phase and skip the VFD altogether.

I run a VFD on a Clausing VS drill press,

The combination of torque control and speed control just cant be beat!

The very low speed control is often times a real advantage.

Cool, so does the torque control come from the drill's speed control (gear reduction) or from variable torque (amps?) on the VFD? Forgive my noobness.

Can you recommend a VFD for this application? My drill is only 1HP.

Adequate torque at low speeds is mainly a function of the pulley setting. Something like a sensorless vector drive VFD will do a slightly better job at providing adequate torque at low Hz rates.

While a VFD is a nice addition even to a Reeves drive (variable speed pulley) setup, over time you're likely to wear the pulley in one spot. There are also some extra losses in power transfer, since the tall belt tends to squirm a bit under load. The point is that there will still be some value in "exercising" the mechanical variable speed now and then. OEM advice is usually to run the pulley through it's entire range once a day, though many units have survived decades without that care. On the other hand I've also re-faced Reeves pulleys that had been deeply worn (especially in the low part of the pulley).

Personally, I'd rather see a VFD on a gear head or step pulley drill press. That said, it's still a nice upgrade if you need speeds above or below the range you currently have. If you have only one 3 phase machine (the drill press) you might also just as well buy a VFD as a static or rotary phase converter since the cost is pretty low for a 1hp unit.

Most any name brand VFD should be fine (Teco, Hitachi, etc.).

I have a Huanyang VFD and 2 HP motor on my General 340 15" drill press and it works well.

While I can change the pulleys it is basically 1:1 ratio as is and rarely would I need to change it.

The 2 HP motor is perhaps a bit of overkill, but it was what I had on the shelf with a shaft sized to fit the pulley and even at low speed it has plenty of torque.