# Fobco star bench drill



## heatherw (20 Feb 2013)

Evening all,

I'm not sure where to post this, but I think this is the most likely place. 

I'm thinking of buyng a secondhand Fobco Star and the only thing I'm not sure about it is the height of the pillar. How difficult would it be to change the pillar for a longer one? There are a couple of workshops here in the village which have big metal lathes, so the diameter post wouldnt be a problem. are there a lot of attachments to the pillar or is it just a straight piece of steel?


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## dickm (20 Feb 2013)

Just one dirty great heavy steel bar on mine. But is your potential one floor or bench mounting? Mine's bench.


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## heatherw (20 Feb 2013)

Hi Dick, it's bench. To be honest I only need another 10cm or so, just so as to be able to use longer drill bits, but the distance from chuck to table seems quite small when you consider the size of the drill head. Is the post just a straight round bar then, without any notches or taps to attach things to? I'm fairly sure it's solid in the Fobco.

I thought there might be someone around who's rebuilt one, and would know what lies underneath.


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## chippy1970 (20 Feb 2013)

Just a plain solid post as far as I know , I refurbed one last year


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## misterfish (21 Feb 2013)

I recently needed to drill into a larger than usual lump of timber with my Fobco star and initially had a similar problem. However, I just rotated the table out of the way and used the base of the drill which gave me more than adequate space. As the head can be moved up and down the post it was easy to get it to a usable position. If you want I'll go and measure the size of the working depth I ended up with.

Misterfish


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## Racers (21 Feb 2013)

Hi,

If you mount the drill at the edge of your bench you can turn the head round and have it hang over the edge, work holding might be fun.

Pete


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Feb 2013)

When I drilled my bench for holdfasts, I made sure that four of the holes coincided with the slots on the base of the drill, so the drill can be bolted down and then swung in an arc towards and over the vice - if I need angled holes, I can put the item in the vice.


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## heatherw (21 Feb 2013)

Mmm, very interesting mr Fish. I didn't know you could move the head up and down. Although having said that I'm not sure whether I'd be capable of moving it up, down obviously wouldn't be a problem, Yes please, if you could measure the longest possible distance between chuck and table that would be great.

The weight is also the reason why I wouldn't be moving this item around much, but I suppose I could make it a dedicated table and I just happen to have a spare Record quick release vice which has been lying around for years waiting for me to think of a use for it, this could go on the edge of the table as phil.p says and problem solved. The question is which is more work, making a longer pillar or making a dedicated table. And which am I more likely to finish in the foreseeable future..........


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## Cheshirechappie (21 Feb 2013)

Unless you have absolutely no other option, do not change the pillar of a pillar drill. If you do have to, ensure that you end up with a bar that is dead straight, and finished to the same diameter as the original to close limits (no larger, and no more than about 0.0005" smaller). The reason is that the accuracy of the tool depends on the alignments maintained between base, head and table by the closeness of fit between pillar and the bores on the castings. If any are loose, that assembly will no longer be square to the rest - the amount may not be noticable, but may be significant in machine tool terms. Any inaccuracy will reflect in the work, and could be magnified several times depending on what is misaligned, and how.

If you need greater daylight between spindle and worktable, it may be worth looking for a floor-standing drill, or using one of the dodges outlined above.


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## flh801978 (21 Feb 2013)

I have a bench mounted Fobco Star and find its sometimes limited in its capacitys so I bought a startrite floor standing machine however not much difference in practice
so I recently bought and fitted a new column for the startrite floor stander drill so I had a bit more room for large assemblies.
I needed a 2and3/4" diameter column....found that very difficult to find ended up with a 70mm length 6' long solid rather than a tube as originally ( £155)
Very heavy 60kg...
Now 70mm is about 5thou " over 2 3/4" however my nominal 70mm was only 69.95mm
the moving table fitted perfectly over the 70mm bar
the head and base didnt so taking a 75mm diameter flap wheel a few minutes work in a drill opened out the casting in the base and head so it was a perfect fit.
The startrite like the fobco clamps by a pair of slugs with coarse tapers gripping the column shaft from behind therefore pressing and registering the head and table to the front edge of the column.
Your column shaft would have to be massively bent for any appreciable inaccuracy to show up
So I would say go ahead and fit a longer shaft...just be sure to bolt down the base so no chance of it falling over

Ian


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## dickm (21 Feb 2013)

I love the way some folks are suggesting moving the drill around. It took two of us (one of whom was the muscular then-boyfriend of my daughter) to get my Fobco into place and it ain't moving again .


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## Cheshirechappie (21 Feb 2013)

flh801978":2b5dpgte said:


> I have a bench mounted Fobco Star and find its sometimes limited in its capacitys so I bought a startrite floor standing machine however not much difference in practice
> so I recently bought and fitted a new column for the startrite floor stander drill so I had a bit more room for large assemblies.
> I needed a 2and3/4" diameter column....found that very difficult to find ended up with a 70mm length 6' long solid rather than a tube as originally ( £155)
> Very heavy 60kg...
> ...



If you don't mind a 'near enough' drilling machine, or try the new column trick with a budget model, then fine. However, it seems pointless to compromise something like a Fobco, which was built to be accurate, by replacing the column by something fitted by waving a flap-wheel at it.

To give an indication of the lengths that Fobco and similar premium manufacturers went to, the table is fitted to be about 0.001" higher at the front than at the back. The reason for that is the deflection induced by the weight of the machine vice, job and drilling pressure will deflect the table to bring it square to the column, so the hole drilled will be square to a job fixed to the table. 

If the head is no longer square to the column because of flap-wheel 'adjustments', the spindle will no longer be parallel to the column to the accuracy built into the machine by the maker. For woodworking, that may well be good enough, but for the precision work for which the machine was built and set up, it won't be.

I'm not trying to be smart-buttocks or critical - just trying to point out so that you're aware.


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## Myfordman (21 Feb 2013)

The usual trick to get more range out of a bench drill for odd jobs now and then is to mount it on the end of a bench and for those bigger jobs, swing the head round 90 degrees to over hang the end of the bench so the workpiece can go down as far as the floor if necessary.


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## misterfish (22 Feb 2013)

With the table swung and rotated out of the way and with the head near the top of the column there is about a 32cm space between the bottom of the chuck and the base - obviously you have to allow for the length of the drill bit itself. The drill head mechanism gives nearly 10cm of drilling depth. I could probably raise the head another couple of cm.

The head of the drill can be moved up and down the column and clamped in any required position - it is heavy (as is the whole drill). There is also an adjustable collar on the column that goes below the head that helps support the head mechanism and allows you to set it so the head will not drop below a selected level and allow the head to be unclamped and rotated if required.

I could photo these bits if you want.

Misterfish


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## ossieosborne (22 Feb 2013)

I also have the bench mounted Fobco Star and I too went down the route of looking for a longer (floor mounting) pillar just to drill accurate dowel holes in long stock. 

Two things swayed me against it: The tolerances of the replacement pillar, as mentioned by Cheshirechappie, and the fact the original pillar could well be an interference fit into the base table (it’s certainly a tight fit).

I came up with a different solution utilising the swivelling drill head and intermediate table. With the base placed close to the edge of a bench (cabinet on castors in my case) I made a table to hold long pieces vertically down the side of bench. The following pics might help:

My current working table bolted directly to the intermediate table. Thanks to 9fingers for the idea.






A "universal" plate (made out of Tufnol) to which I can fit various other tables. This plate would normally be bolted through the slots on the intermediate table (with the large table removed).





A simple table made from 2 pieces of tufnol and held together at right angles to each other.





Side view of the table showing the vertical fence.





Stock clamped to the fence.






By being able to slide the right angled table back and forth as well as rotating the drill head, it is quite simple to position the drill bit accurately.

TOP TIP:
To move the drill head and or the intermediate table up and down, I use a small screw type bottle jack.

HTH

Oz


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## heatherw (23 Feb 2013)

Misterfish, thanks for that. No need to photograph the bits, I was wondering what that collar thing was for. 32cm isn't as bad as I thought, I'll measure the existing one tomorrow to see how much more it is. And my long drill bits, of course.

ossieosborne I love the adjustable table thingy, I normally do that with cramps and it can get a bit crowded with stops on both sides and 2 for the fence as well. I want one. 

The other tufnol arrangement seems to be a kind of wooden crossvice, is that right? I wonder if you can get Tufnol here, I don't think I've ever seen any.

Thankyou everyone, I'm learning lots of new stuff from this thread.


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## ossieosborne (26 Feb 2013)

The "t" shaped table is just a means of presenting a vertical fence to which the stock is clamped.

I used Tufnol simply because I had a sheet of it. Good quality (Baltic Birch) ply would be a suitable alternative as long as the right angled joint is well supported as mine is.

Some more piccies:

A different view of the table 






My universal plate bolted through the slots in the intermediate table





The "vertical fence" table installed. The slots allow for N/S movement when aligning the drill bit to the required mark.





Front view of the table with the drill head slewed. As you can see, the drill press is currently in the centre as i've yet to need it "over the edge" since i placed it on the cabinet.





Closer view of the right angled bit





Side view of the vertical fence to which you clamp your stock






Another shot of my standard work table showing a typical holddown clamp





The fence moved forward allows you to overcome the restriction of the "throat". 





Hope some of this helps. If you need any more info on these tables (not that i'm an expert), you know where to find me.

Oz


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## heatherw (12 May 2013)

Well, my Fobco Star is now here in Spain waiting to be pressed into service. It is VERY heavy. So when I want to move it I take it apart and move it bit by bit.

There are a few defects. Of course. It's been slosh painted blue. I've managed to get most of it off the tables and you can see it was originally cream. However, to get the paint off the casing I'd have to take the gears off to take it apart and I'm not prepared to try to do that until I have a better reason, such as a new motor. The motor it has works fine but is only 1/6 HP. I drilled a 35mm hole with a Forstner bit with no problem, (and it looks like no runout) but I think that anything much bigger in harder wood might be a problem. It's still a considerable upgrade on the one it's replacing. Would you always use the lowest speed on wood?

The other bigger defect which I'm not sure how to solve is the return spring. I opened the little spring compartment and it's empty. This was not obvious before because the lever which stops quill movement was tightened so the quill was up. Is it possible to buy new springs for Fobcos?

And it has little grease nipples which I don't know how to use. We had a bandsaw a long time ago which had grease caps which you screwed down every day, but how do you get grease in to grease nipples?


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## Phil Pascoe (12 May 2013)

Any grease gun should either clip over the nipple or depress the ball bearing and "inject" into it. Get hold of a grease gun - it's easy.


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## heatherw (12 May 2013)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8oz-Push-Type ... 5d3dae9b8a

Would this do the job? I'd rather not have a full sized grease gun cluttering the place up. None of my other machines require one. As far as I know. Hmm, perhaps I should investigate further.

Or maybe this, but I can't see any way of fitting nozzles onto it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360654676189? ... 4.m1438.l2


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## Myfordman (12 May 2013)

Return springs for older machine tend to be either unobtainable or sold at premium prices.

Hopefully someone with a similar machine could measure the thickness of the spring steel strip used and then you should be able to buy some spring strip from a clock restoration website. To form the ends, all you need to do is heat to red heat and allow to cool slowly and then bend with pliers.

hth


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## Phil Pascoe (12 May 2013)

I can't see why the first gun wouldn't work - I can't speak for the second, but I've only ever seen two different ends, and they both fit the same nipples.


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## misterfish (13 May 2013)

Tony at http://www.lathes.co.uk/fobco/ holds some spares for the drills. A while ago some were listed on Ebay but not at the moment.

If you want I'll take the spring cover off my drill and photograph it and try measuring the cross sectional size of the spring. The parts list that I have seen gives no spring specification.

Misterfish


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## heatherw (13 May 2013)

Mrfish, that would be wonderful, I was wondering how i was going to manage that. I'd also need the length, but I'd draw the line at getting you to uncoil it, something tells me that it would be very hard to get back in again. Anyone got any clever ideas about deducing the length from a photo? Some mysterious engineering solution? But if Mr fish can give me the width and thickness, that would be a start.

It could do with a new belt as well, the old one's got a nick in it. But I can probably get that here in Spain, that sort of spare isn't so hard to get locally. And presuming that the existing one is the correct one, there should be something written on it.


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## Phil Pascoe (13 May 2013)

It's probably a standard "V" belt - just take it off and take it to a motor factors and get one the same length (assuming the existing one is the correct length).


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## misterfish (14 May 2013)

I've got to go up to Kingston today and will sort out pics etc when I get back. I seem to remember the belt on mine is actually marked with its size - I'll check that as well.

You might want to look at http://toolco.co.uk/pages/bakery/fobco- ... gs-204.php - you could see when they expect to get more in stock. Also have a look at http://www.lathes.co.uk/spring/ where he says he can arrange supplies of suitable springs!

Misterfish


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## misterfish (14 May 2013)

The drive belt on mine is branded 'Fenner' and its size is A36

The return spring cross section is about 8 x 0.65 mm - as near as I can measure. Although this is not as wide as the one I've linked to above it does the job fine. I did have to increase the tension on my drill when I first got it.

This is the inside of my spring cover with the cover removed












Misterfish


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## heatherw (19 Jun 2013)

I've been putting this off for ages, but it really is a hassle using the drill without the return spring, you need about 4 hands. So i went up the local machine shop this morning and asked their opinion. Of course, they wanted to see the broken spring, and I haven't got it. Anyone know the correct length for the Fobco Star return spring? It seems that they can obtain springs for various (Spanish) machines so it would just be a case of getting the nearest size and hoping to adapt it. If noone can help I'll be doing some complicated calculations from mrfishes photos and my drill to see whether I can arrive at an educated guess.

I've just emailed Tony at lathes.co.uk for the third time, no answer as yet so unless he answers this time I'm writing him off as a solution.


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## misterfish (20 Jun 2013)

Although you are in Spain these may be of interest - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... n%20spring and http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw= ... g&_sacat=0 

From what I can see you ideally need a spring 1.5 inches x 0. 5 inches (further delving into my drill looks like it is that size). The ones that are closest that I've found so far are the 8 inch drill type - they are about the right width but a bit narrower. I'll see if I can find anything elso of use. 

Misterfish


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## heatherw (20 Jun 2013)

Cool, misterfish, it never occurred to me to look on Amazon for springs. I'll get someone to bring one out for me, it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work. The crucial part, I think, is the length. If it isn't long enough then the drill won't drill as deep as it should, the spring will be overextended before it gets to the maximum drilling depth.


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## misterfish (21 Jun 2013)

I must admit that I didn't think about Amazon directly to tell the truth, but did a search on Google images and then chose the option to look at the original pages of things that looked hopeful and sort of worked backwards!

Misterfish


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## sjalloq (11 Mar 2015)

I realise this is an old post but it was kind of left hanging...

did you manage to get a replacement return spring and did it do the job?


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## heatherw (18 Aug 2015)

Hmm, yes, sorry about that. The Amazon spring worked perfectly, though I had to tighten it up a round more than it came with to get the quill to return fully, which was not entirely straightforward.; I can't remember which one I bought as it was so long ago.........but could probably look it up on my Amazon account if necessary. (Getting a bit worried about using Amazon, are they really treating their workers so badly?). I've been in the UK for the last 9 months so haven't been using it much, now back in Spain and raring to go........


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