Vice for Fobco Star

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Depends what you want to drill.

I have 4x drill vices for metal things, and several more for holding odd wooden shapes. They don’t mix well as the grease and metal swarf really mess up the wood’s finish.

Anything from Soba is good for the price. Axminster sell them as their own.
 
Depends what you want to drill.

I have 4x drill vices for metal things, and several more for holding odd wooden shapes. They don’t mix well as the grease and metal swarf really mess up the wood’s finish.

Anything from Soba is good for the price. Axminster sell them as their own.
I hadn't really considered a separate vice for wood...

I guess iI was thinking just a general-purpose vice that fits the Foboc's table - I can always degrease it if I'm working on wood after metal...

I'll take a look at the Soba's
 
When you say a vice that 'fits the Fobco Star' do you mean one that is the right size just to sit on the table or one that can be fixed to the table through the slots? If the former there are many, if the latter I've yet to find anything that doesn't need a bit of thinking about - the ribs on the underside of the table are awkwardly close to the slots.
Rob.
 
When you say a vice that 'fits the Fobco Star' do you mean one that is the right size just to sit on the table or one that can be fixed to the table through the slots? If the former there are many, if the latter I've yet to find anything that doesn't need a bit of thinking about - the ribs on the underside of the table are awkwardly close to the slots.
Rob.
It was the latter, I was assuming you must be able to get a vice that has fixing slots that line up with the slots on the table..?
 
The point of slots is that you can move and align as needed; the location of hole you are drilling will vary in relation to the fixed-jaw of the vice depending on the geometry of the thing you want to hold. Therefore you will always need to work out the least-annoying fixture location. I find a vice with a wide base, then clamps through the table is pretty flexible.

However there are so many factors, e.g. needing to drill a recess and through-hole in a 2x4 for a bench leg will require very different fixing to compound-angle chair parts (a tilting table helps), let alone bits of metal.

I have the 100 mm version of this Soba (axminster rebadged), and it does at least 50% of what I need.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-craft-drill-press-vice-100mm-220034
 
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The point of slots is that you can move and align as needed; the location of hole you are drilling will vary in relation to the fixed-jaw of the vice depending on the geometry of the thing you want to hold. Therefore you will always need to work out the least-annoying fixture location. I find a vice with a wide base, then clamps through the table is pretty flexible.

However there are so many factors, e.g. needing to drill a recess and through-hole in a 2x4 for a bench leg will require very different fixing to compound-angle chair parts (a tilting table helps), let alone bits of metal.

I have the 100 mm version of this Soba (axminster rebadged), and it does at least 50% of what I need.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-craft-drill-press-vice-100mm-220034
Thanks for the link - I've been looking at that particular clamp.

I may need to readjust what I think I need (please assume that I have no knowledge about this subject).

In my head, I'm thinking I need to have a clamp that has the fixing holes/slots that are the same width as the slots on the table (5.75") so that it can be mounted with the jaws at a right angle to the body of the drill. (allowing for maximum flexibility in positioning)

Like this:

61GV3IRsb3L._AC_SL1500_.jpg


Or am I just not getting it through my thick skull?

Cheers

Macca
 
I have a normal drill vice and also a cross slide vice. You can also get one that tilts but as the table tilts I decided to get by without that one.
You dont need the slots to match each other you just wriggle things around to position then do up the nuts. The cross slide vice makes things even easier.
Regards
John
 
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