Delta P-20 Foot Pedal vari speed?

[DaveDeltaP-20]

Just wondering if its a thing. 

The P-20 has 6 speeds but can a foot pedal give this saw a vari speed?

Thinking its probably not good for the motor but figured I ask.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

25 minutes ago, DaveDeltaP-20 said:

Just wondering if its a thing. 

The P-20 has 6 speeds but can a foot pedal give this saw a vari speed?

Thinking its probably not good for the motor but figured I ask.

No not a good idea. Never put a variable speed foot pedal on a variable speed motor. 

[kmmcrafts]

3 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

No not a good idea. Never put a variable speed foot pedal on a variable speed motor. 

Those have a single speed motor and you change speeds via a belt on different set of pulleys.. I don't know if that makes any different as I don't know electronics enough to give any advice.. I just know this saw is a single speed motor.. was one of my dream saws I was saving up for back in the 2007 or so.. and they discontinued making them.. many parts are now no longer available so glad I never did get one, LOL 

[DaveDeltaP-20]

Thanks,  I didnt think so but figured I ask.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Besides all that if it is single speed or VS, footpedal with VS are not robust enough to control that motor. Besides who would ever want a foot speed controller. You have enough to concentrate pushing wood through a blade and following lines and now you want to sit there with your foot semi pressing to control speed. Just does not make sense whenever I see this question come up I cringe. Pick a comfortable speed and stay with it I can count on one hand the amount of times I changed speed on my RBI saws. Adjust your feed rate that is a speed controller. My opinion only. I can not say for certain if it will work on that motor or not. I do not know the ratings of the motor or the foot switch. This goes for drill presses too that use pulleys for speed control.

[DaveDeltaP-20]

JTTHECLOCKMAN,

thanks you made some good sense there. 

[Ber Gueda]

13 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Besides all that if it is single speed or VS, footpedal with VS are not robust enough to control that motor. Besides who would ever want a foot speed controller. You have enough to concentrate pushing wood through a blade and following lines and now you want to sit there with your foot semi pressing to control speed. Just does not make sense whenever I see this question come up I cringe. Pick a comfortable speed and stay with it I can count on one hand the amount of times I changed speed on my RBI saws. Adjust your feed rate that is a speed controller. My opinion only. I can not say for certain if it will work on that motor or not. I do not know the ratings of the motor or the foot switch. This goes for drill presses too that use pulleys for speed control.

I normally scroll quite thick wood (2,5 to 3 cm) at full speed. When I scroll much thinner pieces, I definitely have to reduce speed. It may be my personal issue, but I must say that going full speed with thin wood makes me impossible to follow the lines. The aggresive Pegas blades I use might not help either 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

23 minutes ago, Ber Gueda said:

I normally scroll quite thick wood (2,5 to 3 cm) at full speed. When I scroll much thinner pieces, I definitely have to reduce speed. It may be my personal issue, but I must say that going full speed with thin wood makes me impossible to follow the lines. The aggresive Pegas blades I use might not help either 

That is all part of scrolling. Matching material with blades and also speeds. Over the years I found a happy medium blade that I used on just about all thickness woods and that was a #5 Penquine silver reverse FD blade. To me it was the sweet spot of blades. I never was in a hurry to get a project done. I let the blade and the saw do the cutting. Having patients is also a huge factor when doing this hobby or any hobby. It is suppose to be fun and enjoyable. Making a few dollars on the side is a side benefit. This is why very few do it for a living. You do for a living you are under constant time line pressures. Each and everyone of us approach scrolling differently and along the way we pick up habits and methods  that help us. But this is the way in all aspects of life. I would say getting back to speeds the only times I lowered the speed was when I was scrolling puzzles and also metals because then I had to use very very thin blades and talk about letting the saw do the cutting. try scrolling brass or aluminum. Even plexiglass had to slow speed. With today's speed controllers right on the saws makes that all too easy. A saw like the P20 being driven by belt positions can be more challenging but again if you do it alot it becomes easy. trying to control speed with your foot and working with hands and eyes is too much. Probably why that saw is not made any more. 

[Dan]

On 12/31/2024 at 12:15 PM, DaveDeltaP-20 said:

Just wondering if its a thing. 

The P-20 has 6 speeds but can a foot pedal give this saw a vari speed?

Thinking its probably not good for the motor but figured I ask.

After using it for a while you will find no need to change the speed while sawing. If you change material or thickness and you find you want to change the speed, it only takes about 5 seconds to change. I leave the cover off the belt and pulleys. I had a saw with electronic variable speed control years ago and the controller went out. That's one reason I settled on the pulley system of the P20.