How much should I pay for a decent Fobco Star

[jweaver]

Hi.. Joined up to make this post and hope someone can help me.

Have lived with a cheap bench top Pilar drill (From Lidl) for years and its served me well.. But I have some space and want a floor stander.. Was initally going to go for a new one (Sealey, Clarke, SIP, etc) but have realised that my money is better spent on a vintage model.

Been looking around for a few weeks and a Fobco Star has come up.. I went to look at it today and its in nice condition.. Not perfect obviously, but its clean (no rust), quiet, straight with no wobbles.

Was happy to buy it assuming that something around £200 might get it... But talking to the seller, he is obviously expecting more. Whilst he didn't say a price, I got the feeling that he was expecting atleast double!....

What sort of price range would one expect to pay for a good Fobco? I am happy to pay more if needed, but want to buy it for a fair price and not over pay.

Looking at eBay for the past few months, they seem to sell from £70 right up to high £200s... Anyone got any thoughts/advice?

Jon

 

[wizard]

£400.00 you could by a Meddings

 

[jweaver]

£400.00 you could by a Meddings

Excuse my ignorance.. But is a Meddings a better option?

There is one on ebay now.. Ending the same day.. Its restored and absolutely mint.. The only thing it lack is 'handles' for adjusting things.. Instead it has bolts so would need a spanner to adjust everything.. But it looks amazing condition..

Would the Meddings be a better buy..

Jon

 

[wizard]

fobco is good but meddings is better

 

[jweaver]

fobco is good but meddings is better

Thanks.. I will certainly bear that in mind.... But assuming I couldn't get a Meddings and I was going to go for the Fobco, what sort of price would one expect to pay.... As I said, I already offered £200 and he didn't even pause for breath.. But based on what I have seen/read, I don't see them going for much more than this.

Jon

 

[wizard]

i paid under £400.00 for this meddings off eBay a fobco no more than £250.00

 

[wizard]

Tell the seller to put the Fobco on eBay then he will get the true value of the drill

 

[jweaver]

Tell the seller to put the Fobco on eBay then he will get the true value of the drill

It already is... But I don't think he plans to let the auction run if he doesn't get what he wants.. Believe me, I don't agree with this practice.. But what can I do...

Jon

 

[wizard]

http://www.meddings.co.uk/company/
Have a look they are still going

 

[beech1948]

bought my Meddings bench drill off ebay 3 yrs ago for £47....it was in good nick but has now been restored.

Patience in all things.
Al

 

[Dissolve]

I was looking at both Fobco Star's and Meddings bench drills. After looking at the obscene price the Fobco's seem to be going for now (in very good condition) you might even get a Meddings for cheaper! And I prefer the size/capacity as well as the peace of mind.

I set up my 3 phase meddings with an inverter extremely easily and it is WELL worth the hassle. It's a fantastic piece of kit!

 

[jweaver]

I was looking at both Fobco Star's and Meddings bench drills. After looking at the obscene price the Fobco's seem to be going for now (in very good condition) you might even get a Meddings for cheaper! And I prefer the size/capacity as well as the peace of mind.

I set up my 3 phase meddings with an inverter extremely easily and it is WELL worth the hassle. It's a fantastic piece of kit!

Can you define "obscene prices"? Are you saying that £200+ is too much? Or are you suggesting they sell for even more than that?

 

[fluffflinger]

It's worth what you or anybody else is willing to pay.

I would say personally that if it's in good condition £200 is a fair price, I paid a lot less but was patient and I probably would have paid £200. Remember if it has the capacity you need it will still be drilling holes when you are long gone so it is a one time purchase and a good one at that.

 

[Dissolve]

I was looking at both Fobco Star's and Meddings bench drills. After looking at the obscene price the Fobco's seem to be going for now (in very good condition) you might even get a Meddings for cheaper! And I prefer the size/capacity as well as the peace of mind.

I set up my 3 phase meddings with an inverter extremely easily and it is WELL worth the hassle. It's a fantastic piece of kit!

Can you define "obscene prices"? Are you saying that £200+ is too much? Or are you suggesting they sell for even more than that?

Have seen two fobco stars in very good condition sell for £450+ on eBay over the last few months. I know because I was bidding around the £250 Mark. I ended up getting my three phase meddings and inverter for a total of £250, but this was a particularly good deal. I went to look at a few and I love them but from what I've seen you can get a much better deal on a meddings at the moment!

As fluffinger says though, anything is worth as much as someone pays!

 

[beech1948]

Its a bit subjective but drills of good quality probably rank as follows:-

1 Progress....big and heavy and industrial
2 Elliot.....large and precise and industrial
3 Meddings
4 Fobco

The issue with the list is that many people have jumped on the Fobco band wagon for no other reason than there is money to be made.

Sources other than ebay would be:-

a) Gumtree...owned by ebay
b) local businesses/garages/woodwork shops
c) Apex Auctions....but beware distance(£), auctioneers fees, VAT
d) old and looking beaten up but would be fine after a refurb...you can learn about this online and no really difficult skills are needed.

Al

 

[Dissolve]

Its a bit subjective but drills of good quality probably rank as follows:-

1 Progress....big and heavy and industrial
2 Elliot.....large and precise and industrial
3 Meddings
4 Fobco

The issue with the list is that many people have jumped on the Fobco band wagon for no other reason than there is money to be made.

Sources other than ebay would be:-

a) Gumtree...owned by ebay
b) local businesses/garages/woodwork shops
c) Apex Auctions....but beware distance(£), auctioneers fees, VAT
d) old and looking beaten up but would be fine after a refurb...you can learn about this online and no really difficult skills are needed.
Al

Gumtree can be a great source, there was a refurbished fobco for £120 a few weeks ago but it was a 4 hour drive away from me. I'm sure it got snapped up in minutes and I'm even more sure it'll be in eBay within the month! Haha

My meddings drill doesn't exactly need refurbishment but I'm considering taking on a project as a present for somebody. Does anyone have useful links/info on taking apart and reassembling the old meddings drills?

I'm going to replace the bearings on mine and I'd like to strip one down entirely and refurbish. Too many of these machines get scraped unnecessarily! Haha

 

[beech1948]

I usually refer people to :-

http:/www.owwm.org

Its American so models are different BUT drill presses are simple and very similar...just look up some of the Delta 220 DPs to see a full demonstration of how to break down and reassemble a drill press.

Al

 

[jweaver]

The Fobco i have been looking at was surprisingly short when i saw it.. At a guess it was about 65" from the base to top....

I have been looking at other photos today of other Fobco Stars and they look a fair bit taller... Are the various models/variants different heights? Or could it be that the head was lowered down the column? When i looked at it, the column was poking up into the belt/pulley space at the top, so i figure it could be raised an inch or 2..

Also.. Are there any documents/diagrams floating about? I would quite like to see how they go together whilst i tryt o locate a suitable one.

Jon

 

[jweaver]

Hi Everyone.. Thanks for your help.. But I think I am going to walk away from the one I am looking at anyway.

When I met the guy he pretty much told me what he expected for it, and was only using eBay to "advertise it".. His plan was to let it run for 90% of the time, and if he hadn't got the bids he wanted, he would remove it from sale and let people ring him (phone number was added to the description) if they were still interested. I was shocked that he made such a confession, but figured that perhaps it was bravado and when faced with a decent offer he might let the auction run.

I put a bid anyway, but this morning got outbid by TWO people (one with 0 feedback) and I have to say it looks suspicious.. Its convenient that at exactly the same time, 2 people came along and started to outbid each other. If this was the last minute/hour/day, I might believe it... But the auction still has a way to run and it just doesnt' look or feel right.

I don't have a good feeling about it.. And I will never know who I am bidding against, or whether I get a fair price.

So I am not taking a chance and will keep hunting... There is a lovely looking Meddings finishing on Sunday.. But its so clean/tidy, (And has obvious missing parts), I am not sure its the right one either.

Thanks to you all for help

Jon

 

[wizard]

forget the fobco get one like this meddings