Fobco Star

[junior]

I have a fobco star flooring standing pillar drill which I recently purchased. It does not have a chuck, what type/size of morse taper chuck should they go with?
Also the pillar bar has a bit rust on it what would be best clean it up?
Tia

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Junior,
It looks to be a 2MT shank with a Myford nose thread if this information is correct... http://www.lathes.co.uk/fobco/

You ought to be able to buy a Jacobs chuck and MT2 arbor from just about anywhere. Axminster, ArcEuroTrade, Warco, RDG etc etc sell either cheap keyed 1/2" (starting about £12-13) or 5/8" ones or keyless varieties.

Some swear by keyless chucks but I can recommend an Axminster super precision 1/2" keyed chuck and arbor for about £30.

HTH
Jon

 

[junior]

Thanks Jon much appreciated.

 

[junior]

Its was an mt 1 arbor but we got there in the end. Going by the info in that link you would think it was an mt2 arbor.

 

[skippy75]

Im a bit late to this one but only the universal variant of the star has the mt2 spindle with a threaded nose and thats always a bench version (as far as i know) as it was designed for drilling and light mill work. It could still have been a mt1, mt2 or jacobs in the floor mounted config just without the threaded spindle. Glad you found out which one, can be hard to tell!

Did you get the rust off the pillar?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

For the rust I strongly recommend garryflex blocks. Brilliant stuff

 

[junior]

No havent been back to the fobco yet (too many projects on the go at the mo) but hoping to get there soon. Yes the rust on the pillar does make it unsightly looking, really needing a good clean up.
Yeah thats what I was thinking for cleaning up the pillar the garryflex blocks. What would you think would be the best grit to get? Also what would be best to put on after the clean up to stop the rust returning?
Thanks for the help.

 

[skippy75]

Ive always just used those nylon abrasive pads/wire wool and wd40 for removing rust from things like that but those blocks look interesting.

I tend to use a thin layer of silicone grease to stop rust coming back on things that wont come into contact with wood. Then furniture wax on stuff like the tables.

 

[memzey]

My star is a bench top version and has a Jacobs chuck.


A wonderful machine. I wouldn't swap it for a new far eastern one that costs ten times the £80 I paid for it last year.

 

[WoodMangler]

Brilliant tool, I inherited mine from my father-in-law. The only thing I've changed is to give it an NVR switch (power can be a bit intermittent here).

 

[skippy75]

Just got my Fobco star up and running on an inverter. It is beautifully smooth. Now i just need to strip it all down and repaint.