Fobco Pillar/Bench Drill Ebay (poor advert) £50 starting, Royston

[Jonm]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14455997...,osub=osub,crd=crd,segname=segname,chnl=mkcid
Advert does not mention fobco in title or description so may go cheap. £50 starting price, one bid at the moment. Looks like plug is single phase, but phase not stated in the advert.

 

[Spectric]

That is a nice little bench drill, single phase going by the plug and they do say 240 volt in the advert. Anyone looking for a decent bench drill would be better buying this than some rebadged asian import.

 

[Jonm]

I thought it looked good. If I was interested I would ask a question about the condition of the pulleys, they sometimes have chips out of the sides where someone has levered the belts rather than loosening the adjuster to then move the belts.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The plate says 400 - 3.

 

[Fitzroy]

The plate says 400 - 3.

Motor's not original as the cabling does not run through the head, and the original on/off switch has been removed. Looks you you turn it on and off at the plug, the smile of shame is also a cracker! Still a good drill for sub £100.

 

[Craig22]

Looks like an ex-school unit - look at the table! I paid quite a bit more for my Fobco Star (£150? maybe more) but it had a perfect and undamaged table. And an original single phase motor. Quite unusual.

It had a plate at the side with a simple switch (nothing on the head at all), which I replaced with a zero voltage unit.

 

[Jonm]

Looks like an ex-school unit - look at the table! I paid quite a bit more for my Fobco Star (£150? maybe more) but it had a perfect and undamaged table. And an original single phase motor. Quite unusual.

It had a plate at the side with a simple switch (nothing on the head at all), which I replaced with a zero voltage unit.

Latter part of 2020, between lockdown 1 and 2 they were selling for about £350.

 

[dickm]

Glad I paid £25 for mine! Then another £20-ish from Mr O'Brien himself for a used but undamaged table. That was ***** years ago but it's still in daily use.

 

[Jonm]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOBCO-St...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
This one just sold for £290 on ebay.

 

[Fitzroy]

Looks like an ex-school unit - look at the table! I paid quite a bit more for my Fobco Star (£150? maybe more) but it had a perfect and undamaged table. And an original single phase motor. Quite unusual.
Upload Video
It had a plate at the side with a simple switch (nothing on the head at all), which I replaced with a zero voltage unit.

Mine has a simple switch on the side of the head, if that's the correct term, as per image below. On the drill in the OP you can see the original cable and switch holes.

 

[dickm]

As the years take their toll, have been wondering if anyone has ever fixed a raise/lower handle on the table of a Fobco?

 

[Jonm]

As the years take their toll, have been wondering if anyone has ever fixed a raise/lower handle on the table of a Fobco?

I have a fobco and a Nearok. The Nearok is not up to the fobco in terms of quality and I bought it for the vice that came with it, and it was cheap. Intention was to sell the Nearok but it has a table raise/lower handle plus lots of speeds. Not sure which one to sell because of this feature.

 

[mikej460]

Motor's not original as the cabling does not run through the head, and the original on/off switch has been removed. Looks you you turn it on and off at the plug, the smile of shame is also a cracker! Still a good drill for sub £100.

My old Union drill press also has this smile of shame, does anyone know if it can be welded and ground flush?

 

[bazzason]

Yes, I’ve seen it done but you can still see the welds which, to me, defeats the purpose. It seems like a lot of work for something aesthetic on what is a working machine.

I also quite like a machine that shows its history. That smile of shame may have been made by a master engineer when learning his trade. Or a spotty teenager. You just never know…

YMMV, of course.

 

[Fergie 307]

Looks like an ex-school unit - look at the table! I paid quite a bit more for my Fobco Star (£150? maybe more) but it had a perfect and undamaged table. And an original single phase motor. Quite unusual.

It had a plate at the side with a simple switch (nothing on the head at all), which I replaced with a zero voltage unit.

Ah, the arc of shame !

 

[Jonm]

Sold for £203