can i use this for variable speed spindle control?
i got a woodworker's catalog in the mail today, as i usually do, and when i was thumbing through it, i found a little box that allows you to turn your router into a variable speed one. it claims it doesnt lose power at lower speeds, so presumably its a PWM converter or whatever.
it appears to work at 120V, 15A and with a motor less than 3.5HP. so, it should work power-wise with a smaller bench-type single-phase milling machine. could you just plug the machine in and get a variable spindle speed? this would stop changing belts.
also, if you attached one of those optical tachometers to it, you could get a decent speed control on the cheap.