Thank you all for your help. I didn't think about whether the VFD would be big enough. My drill press has a 1 hp motor running off a 1 hp VFD and seems to be happy, but I have never run it for more than half an hour continuously. 3 or 5 second start is fine with me. A panel mounted surge protector sounds good, and I will aim to add one of them. I've only got 50 amps running to the shop subpanel. I could do flex conduit, it would just mean a slightly bigger hole. Thank you all very much.