Help ! - Fobco Star pulley removal
- Thread starter PeteCo
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Well it’s more than I ever found, so thanks for posting, it’s been filed my end.
My star is ok, I have slightly more run out in the Chuck than I would like and lots of measurement with a dial gauge tells me it’s the chuck not the spindle, but two new chucks later I still have it. Mine is the jt6 integrated male spindle version so I would have to get a new spindle made to prove its not.
The bearings are all good so will not be pulling it apart anytime soon. There is slightly more play between the spindle and the pulleys so it can ‘gallop’ a bit when not loaded.
It was however a complete bargain, £50, locally a couple of years back so really couldn’t ever complain.
Fitz.
Jester129
Established Member
@PeteCo & Fitzroy - top right of the drawing: F O'Brian & Company (FOBCO?) Ltd., Swadlincote.
Swadlincote is between Ashby de La Zouch and Burton on Trent. It looks like Lathes took over from Fobco some time after 1984.
Maybe this is of help if you get in touch with Lathes? Regards.
Do you have any pics if it you could post? I should be able to tell you which model it is from the guide i bought from Lathes.
Continuing the thread on these lovely drills ....( not sure how to edit my thread title..! )
- my next challenge is to unfreeze the tilt bolt on the table.
Its an original Fobco table - part 122 - but the 3/4" bolt underneath the table which enables it to be tilted is completely stuck. I've tried WD40'ing it and tapping it with a long handled CV spanner, but to no avail so far. I am fearful of using too much welly and shearing off the bolt. There are also 2 metal rods/pins about 4mm dia. which go through the back of the table and into locating holes on the table/column collar. These appear to be rusted/gunked into place too.
What might be a sensible way to go about freeing up the table mechanism without risking permanent damage to the bolt and table ? Has anyone else had this problem ?
I'd love to be able to angle the table so I can clamp stuff and drill accordingly.
Any help most welcomed.
- my next challenge is to unfreeze the tilt bolt on the table.
Its an original Fobco table - part 122 - but the 3/4" bolt underneath the table which enables it to be tilted is completely stuck. I've tried WD40'ing it and tapping it with a long handled CV spanner, but to no avail so far. I am fearful of using too much welly and shearing off the bolt. There are also 2 metal rods/pins about 4mm dia. which go through the back of the table and into locating holes on the table/column collar. These appear to be rusted/gunked into place too.
What might be a sensible way to go about freeing up the table mechanism without risking permanent damage to the bolt and table ? Has anyone else had this problem ?
I'd love to be able to angle the table so I can clamp stuff and drill accordingly.
Any help most welcomed.
Removing things which are stuck in threads is a hierarchy of least to most risk, the more stuck it is, the more likely it is you'll break it off and there's no way round that unfortunately.
I would suggest trying (In order of least to most risk) the following thread releasing approaches:
- "Proper" Penetrating Oil/Spray + Spanner
- Penetrating Oil + Impact Driver + 6 Sided Socket
- If you have a ¼" hex electrical driver for screws, then adapters to ½" S/D are easy to come by,
- Otherwise a hand-operated one is handy to have around and can be had for not much money, toolstation does one which comes with some screw-bits and takes sockets for under a tenner
- Heat the female portion of the thread up as hot as you dare with a blowtorch, then use all of the above solutions.
- Heat + Penetrating Oil (beware the risk of fire, it's generally totally ok for the part to catch fire whilst you're doing this, so long as you've planned for that eventuality) + 6-Sided Socket + the biggest breaker bar you can find/dare to use + gentle application of force.
- Accept your fate and drill the bolt out whilst the head is still attached, (which makes it much easier to make a center punch and avoid damaging the female threads)
- Aim to use a drill bit just slightly smaller than the minor diameter of the thread, if the bolt is ¾" AF then likely it has a ½" diameter, and using an 11 or 11.5 mm drill will work ok
- Cobalt Drills are a better option, because bolts tend to be heat-treated.
- Using a left-handed drill is also a good idea if you can lay your hands on one, as it may well break the thread loose whilst drilling, rather than having to actually drill out fully.
- Accidentally break the head off then have to drill it out.
- You'll 100% wish you'd committed to drilling it out before the bolt broke,
- There's also a painful irony that it's 100% a task which is much easier to do with a drill press when you can,
- If you can find someone who has a drill-press (or milling machine) big enough to drill into another smaller drill press, you should definitely get them to assist with this.
- Have someone burn it out with a rivet-washing tip on an oxyfuel torch, then clean up with a tap
- Avoid getting this far if at all possible, this technique is not easy to do well on such small bolts.
- But can remove them with minimal damage to the parts they're in, when done properly.
- Drill out oversize, tap for a larger thread and then either use with a larger bolt or install a helicoil thread repairer.
- This is the worst case, and still results in a working tool at the end of it, just not a fully original one.
