Pillar drill pulley setting range for woodworking?

They would tend to be toward the higher higher end in most cases, but it is not that critical IME. For comparison a typical handheld drill might top out at 2400. In a drill press you can compensate a lower speed with more drill pressure.

I typically have mine set a bit lower than ideal for wood (probably about 1000 - 1200 rpm), and that will cope ok for most wood drilling operations. That saves having to change it when drilling steel!

Thanks, pulley changes seem as popular as circular saw blade changes. For good reason I'm sure. I'll follow your advice.

This is one of a large number of charts that a quick search will produce:

so: (35 m/min) / (circumference of drill in meters) = rpm

Adjust for blunt bits, spade bits, etc -- but this will get you into the right ballpark.

from

Thomas Prufer

Very useful chart. Thanks

Thanks Thomas. Close must be good considering how some drillers stick to one medium setting for all.

My 16 speed pillar drill is set to one of it's lowest speeds (can't remember which) & probably hasn't been changed since I first bought the machine 30+ years ago.

Same here. Some wood boring bits are unchanged from the days of unpowered drills with a winding handle or a brace and bit and therefore are very unsuitable for fast speeds or high power. Small twist bits will quickly overheat and break. Larger auger bits will sometimes also break in a powerfull drill if run too fast.

On the other hand some bits - flat bits, forstners - will only work at speed, although they tend to be larger dia so the rotation speed still isn't high.

TW