A restored Fobco bench drill

[Chataigner]

Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of a friend in the UK I am now the proud owner of a beautifully restored Fobco pillar drill.

I've been looking for a machine of this quality for ages (massive cast iron parts, big solid bearings, even the pillar is solid, not a tube) and could find nothing comparable in France. I mentioned this on a UK woodworking forum (thewoodhaven2.co.uk) and my friend Bob "9 fingers" offered to try to find me one in the UK.



Here it is, tidied up, fitted with an electronic variable speed drive by Bob, and delivered to me today as he and his wife were passing en route to friends in the south. I'm overwhelmed !



It is a bit bigger than I'd allowed for, so for the moment it has to sit diagonally on the bench, but I'll extend the bench in the next week or so to acomodate it, it only needs another 5cm. That will allow the head to swing to the right to place the quill clear of the side of the bench for jobs deeper than the current max height.

[Herb G]

Nice looking old iron.

[Guest]

Nice drill press! I've never seen one with a solid column (pillar). I have a soft spot in my heart for the old ones. Your VFD makes me think I should outfit my Walker Turner with a VFD and a new motor; but I'm torn between leaving it all original, the way it is now, or bringing it up to 21st Century standards.

[Chataigner]

Hank Knight in SC said:

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Nice drill press! I've never seen one with a solid column (pillar). I have a soft spot in my heart for the old ones. Your VFD makes me think I should outfit my Walker Turner with a VFD and a new motor; but I'm torn between leaving it all original, the way it is now, or bringing it up to 21st Century standards.

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I find the instantly variable speed indispensible. I'm afraid I'm a bit lazy and used to make do as far as speed settings are concerned - changing belts over is just too slow and laborious. Now I have instant variable speed, I use it and dont damage so many drills by overheating them for example!
I reason that the original makers would have fitted a VFD if they had existed at the time !

[Guest]

Chataigner, I completely agree that instantly variable speed would be a wonderful feature. My response to the hassle of changing belts is that I don't. My press is set on a medium low speed and I just leave it there. That speed works fine for most metal drilling (with some care) and almost all drilling in wood. I have one enormous forstner bit that I seldom use. I'll slow the speed down for it; but, otherwise, I leave it alone. I can't recall the last time I changed speeds. Nevertheless, your VFD is very attractive and I'm still thinking about it. Thanks for posting.

By the way, have you finished building your shop? I haven't seen you post about it recently. I thought your posts about remodeling your ancient (by American standards) home for your workshop were fascinating.

Hank

[doobes]

Very nice.

Do yourself a favor and secure the electrical cords to/from the VFC. The terminal blocks are none too secure. I don't think it would take much to dislodge them from the circuit board.

I've got a similar motor/VLC set up on my drill press. It's 'da bomb!

[Chataigner]

doobes said:

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Very nice.

Do yourself a favor and secure the electrical cords to/from the VFC. The terminal blocks are none too secure. I don't think it would take much to dislodge them from the circuit board.

I've got a similar motor/VLC set up on my drill press. It's 'da bomb!

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Thanks for the tip, the wires are secure in the terminals, so I never thought about how well the terminals are fixed to the board.

[Chataigner]

Hank - I think a workshop is never truly finished, there is always some improvement one has in mind, but it's all working. I'll do an update one of these days when it's not too untidy !!!

[Tapper]

Looks like a real beaut - congrats!

Doug

[GNP]

Sweet