A Dead Scooter Saves a Drill Press

My neighbor kicked two Razor E200 electric scooters to the curb some months back, so of course I took them home for salvage- he tends to throw away some good stuff. Turns out to be a smart move because the motor on my 1950 Duro drill press died, and this gave me the chance to add variable speed and reverse to my machine, a very easy modification that most anyone can do.

After determining the scooters were beyond economical repair, I removed the electrical and drive systems from both. I now have a heavy duty pulse width modulated D.C. speed control, on/ off switch, thermal circuit breaker, and a nice 200 watt 24 volt d.c. motor set from each. Only one motor was of interest for this build, so the rest will be shelved for some future project.

The motor shaft is 8mm (.315) diameter, and the standard motor pulley arbor is 1/2” (12.7mm) diameter, so I turned an adapter on the lathe to join them together. Mounting was rather straightforward, using wood scraps to position the motor as needed for a straight inline drive to the main spindle lower pulley. Since the brushed motor is variable speed, I did not need to accommodate the upper grooves to obtain speed change. A simple linear power supply was fashioned from a salvaged transformer, rectifier, and filter capacitor, with no regulation needed.

At top R.P.M. the voltage output is a very agreeable number for a 24 volt d.c. motor, and I like the option of simply swapping supply leads to reverse rotation since I have a bunch of left- handed drill bits I acquired real cheap, as not being the usual right- hand type. Final customization of the stand was to add a front panel on/ off switch controlling a dedicated receptacle outlet.

The motor, due to it's design, is not rated for continuous use, but if required I can add a cooling fan for prolonged operation, however most of my needs are only for a few simple, quick, and accurate holes in my projects. Like many drill press users, I have found my “sweet spot” for the most commonly used bit sizes, which are fairly small, thus I tend to use the top end of output rotation, but for the rare instance when a large diameter bit is called for, I simply clap on my H.F. variable A.C. speed control and throttle back to the R.P.M.'s that are most effective. In closing, the only cost was for the pulley, about $4.00, not a bad exchange for a better tool.