I had always hoped to come across a variable speed motor for my old Rockwell 15" wood worker's drill press or some other way to get it geared a bit lower. I gave up on finding a variable speed motor and bought a Westward brand heavy 20" drill press with 12 speeds from Grainger's. I have just about finished making small modifications to the table and making it "mine". Wouldn't you know - I just acquired a variable speed motor. The new drill came with a 1 HP. The new acquisition came from a commercial tread mill with a 1 1/2 HP, 90 V DC, variable Leeson motor. The output shafts are even the same and the frame mounting pattern is adaptable.
Should I proceed or is the variable motor more valuable on something else? Should I install the multi-sheave pulley on the variable motor and continue to run through the multiple pulleys? Is there a simple way to make this reversible?