Speed-reduction power controller for drill press: Does one exist?

We needed a variable speed reversing drill press and I converted one by changing the motor to DC and purchasing a DC motor speed controller. It would run down to about 10 rpm. The controller had armature feedback and it did a pretty good job of maintaining constant speed under loading. We were using the drill press for tapping holes.

I had a lathe that had an old GE var. speed motor on it. It had a lever on the brush holder and you rotsated the brush assemble to change the speed, or you could even change the direction of the motor. By the way this was a 120vac typical motor.

A motor conversion would be practical. A 230V 3 phase 1 HP motor and a 3 Phase Variable Freqiency Drive that is powered by 230 single phase source can be picked up for about $250 (about $125 for each componet). I suggest at least a 1 HP Motor because IF you are trying to run at a reduced speed then you are probably trying to use a tool with a higher torque rating. ALSO you will find that most any motor is a Constant Torque device, so if you are running it at half of the nameplate speed, then only half of the nameplate horsepower is available. After evaluating your needs, you may find that you will need more than 1 HP.

Replace the 4 pole motor with a 12 pole motor.

Seconding, previous posts, universal motors which have brushes (typical of hand held drills, sanders, etc) you can drive with an SCR chopper circuit, but for a capacitor start induction motor, speed can only be controlled by changing the frequency. I wonder if you had an old generator kicking around and you could mess with the frequency reference, you might be able to vary the generator speed (output frequency) but still an inelegant and klugey solution. What about something like this? www(dot)midwestequipment (dot) com (slash)Product.aspx?ProductID=18061

Good idea. So I went to the Enco site to look for one designed for motor control. Unfortunately the way AC motor control is done commercially is apparently with variable frequency motor controllers driving 3-phase motors. I think I'm outa luck.

...but either is such an inelegant solution.