misterfish
Established Member
I bought an old Fobco Star bench drill last month - a good and solid bit of kit with no play in the quill (unlike my previous Chaiwanese drill)
Having been using the Fobco for a few weeks I have a couple of questions that hopefully other owners can help me with.
1. Adjusting the height of the head assembly. I have been unable to move the head - the very top of the pillar (the bit protruding into the drive belt chanber) looks rusty but below this (including inside the body) is 'clean and greased'.There is a pinch bolt that clamps the head to the pillar and this can be loosened ok. There is also a support collar that clamps to the pillar below the head assembly and this can be released and move up and down the column. So the first question is should the whole head assembly rotate around the pillar when released or is there some key/peg that forces the head to remain aligned with the base? Any suggestions as to how to easily release and adjust the height of the head assembly (without any damage to the castings).
2. Adjusting the angle of the table. I can rotate the table around the drill OK but beneath the table is an angled lever. I don't want to force this and want to know if this has to be unscrewed to unlock and lock the table at a selected angle between horizontal or vertical or is this something that keeps the table horizontal?
If need be I can take photos to show what I'm talking about. Also if anybody has a parts list/diagram it would be really useful.
Misterfish
Having been using the Fobco for a few weeks I have a couple of questions that hopefully other owners can help me with.
1. Adjusting the height of the head assembly. I have been unable to move the head - the very top of the pillar (the bit protruding into the drive belt chanber) looks rusty but below this (including inside the body) is 'clean and greased'.There is a pinch bolt that clamps the head to the pillar and this can be loosened ok. There is also a support collar that clamps to the pillar below the head assembly and this can be released and move up and down the column. So the first question is should the whole head assembly rotate around the pillar when released or is there some key/peg that forces the head to remain aligned with the base? Any suggestions as to how to easily release and adjust the height of the head assembly (without any damage to the castings).
2. Adjusting the angle of the table. I can rotate the table around the drill OK but beneath the table is an angled lever. I don't want to force this and want to know if this has to be unscrewed to unlock and lock the table at a selected angle between horizontal or vertical or is this something that keeps the table horizontal?
If need be I can take photos to show what I'm talking about. Also if anybody has a parts list/diagram it would be really useful.
Misterfish