Meddings pillar drill (picture heavy)

[Doug B]

Those sizes do ring a bell Mark, though to be honest I took the old ones to the shop to be doubly sure & it was 3 months ago.

I came to a similar conclusion as yourself, I mainly want the drill for cutting plugs so it's never going to get overly used & as the bearings are straight forward to change & don't take long to do I figured the cheaper bearings were worth a shot, I'll consider the more expensive ones when/if these fail.

 

[chuckey]

With bearings, you get what you pay for, large precision bearings for lathes (3" ID) cost £300 each, if you want a lot of run out, buy cheap!
Frannk

 

[Doug B]

I was told it was more the longevity due to quality of materials used rather than run out, obviously the cheaper bearing will break down quicker which will lead to run out, but as with my own, when new the cheaper bearings are fine.

I will monitor the accuracy of the drill as it will be interesting to see how they fair, but at an eighth of the price quoted for metal shielded ones, in my case, it was worth the saving. Incidentally in the jobs I've all ready done they have more than payed for themselves so I've not lost anything even if they pack up tomorrow & I change them for the more expensive ones.

 

[sjalloq]

Marcos, if you haven't already bought the bearings, take a look at these guys. The no-name bearings I've just bought for the pulley side of my Fobco cost £2 + VAT each. They sell a range of Far Eastern as well as higher quality Japanese/Euro ones. I spoke to them on the phone today and they were helpful. I haven't worked out which bearings I need for the spindle yet but I'll probably try to go for something mid-range there. I'm not going to be using the drill full time as it would be in a pro workshop so I figure for the limited bashing it's going to get it doesn't need gold slippers (but flip-flops look a bit too casual).

http://www.midlandbearings.com/

 

[marcros]

Ordered today from simply bearings. A bit more than that price but the whole lot (4) was £28 including vat and postage which is a bit less than I first thought. I was expecting about a tenner each which is why I was so taken aback by the Leeds place. I know I am not comparing like for like but I am sure that they will do.

I think that the fobco are slightly smaller but I will bookmark that link for future use.

 

[evildrome]

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[evildrome]

Which Fobco do you have?