Fobco 1/2 Cap Drill Restoration

[Dieselman 63]

More tales from Sunny Farm

Did a little test of all the bits together - all except the base need a second coat but I'll leave them for a few days to harden before I do that. Pics are a bit rubbish taken at night on my basic phone.

Found this pic of it when I started out - quite good progress

And again from another angle, with the lid on

Only the motor to really get onto now, running out of jobs to do on it which is a good thing, the end is in sight!

 

[rtbcomp]

fftopic: upload to PC, upload to Imgur, link BB Codefftopic:

NO please don't use 3rd party hosting sites, the recent debacle with Photobucket shows why.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/why-you-shouldnt-use-photobucket.12020/

On a PC simply drag and drop into the reply box or

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/...our-pictures-to-a-post-windows-version.64464/

 

[Dieselman 63]

NO please don't use 3rd party hosting sites, the recent debacle with Photobucket shows why.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/why-you-shouldnt-use-photobucket.12020/

On a PC simply drag and drop into the reply box or

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/...our-pictures-to-a-post-windows-version.64464/

How do I get text between the pics when I upload direct to the forum though? If I'm doing a one pic post I upload to here but for my restorations I like to tell it as a story and choose the order rather than rely on the upload ordering, which is where Imgur excels.

 

[rtbcomp]

..., is there a way to rotate in this forum.

Edit your post , remove the pics, rotate & save them using a photo editor (I use Xnview) and reload them or ask (another) mod to do it for you

 

[rtbcomp]

How do I get text between the pics when I upload direct to the forum though? If I'm doing a one pic post I upload to here but for my restorations I like to tell it as a story and choose the order rather than rely on the upload ordering, which is where Imgur excels.

When you drop the photos they appear in a list at the bottom of the page, write your text, position the cursor then click "Thumbnail" against the picture you want, write more text, click next "Thumbnail" and so on.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Thank you! I will try this in future.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Ready for some pedantic, tedious and probably unnecessary work?

The plaque received a coat of black spray paint last night, good and thick and I left it overnight to settle and harden - the tin said 4 hours so I gave it double and got some sleep, too

We end up here - armed with a craft knife and some old TV shows on YouTube, the operation begins

And continues...

I did manage to scratch stuff I wasn't supposed to twice, but a little tin of Humbrol Acrylic black got me back on track. The shades are different but that doesn't matter as I gave it two coats of clear varnish, again Molotow aerosol

And here it is with only two screws just to show the positioning, but I'm very pleased with it. The process takes quite a long time, but the results are well worth it imo. The drill is starting to look splendid

 

[Dieselman 63]

Wow, over a month since I updated this...

So the black clamps and table needed their second coat, this was done at the same time I painted the motor starter for the Harrison grinder I'm currently working on.

I emailed Tony at Lathes.co.uk and had a chat about my Bantam and this drill, and he was very kind in offering to send me the spare nut for the handle lock at no cost. That's my drill complete in terms of parts now.

Today I added the second coat to one side of the body, and got the funny rubber things for the cabling back in. A wash with turps and they came up really good, amazing really for rubber that's about 60 years old, I was scared they would split.

Now I have to paint the other side as well as get the switch back in - always a fun, fiddly job. I've also got sandpaper for the tables to bring them up to a nice lustre. It's coming together, slowly!

 

[indy4x]

Yes they were all cream except for the Universal which was a sort of turquoise colour. Then there's the 7/8 and 10/8, they are much larger and sophisticated machines and are a similar turquoise. I strongly dislike the cream so I opted for a colour of my own choice.

Under the turquoise of the 7/8 and 10/8 is Fobco cream and yes I hate the cream too, love the turquoise tho

 

[Dieselman 63]

Under the turquoise of the 7/8 and 10/8 is Fobco cream and yes I hate the cream too, love the turquoise tho

The turquoise reminds me of metalwork at school, there was a big 7/8 by the door. I was pondering whether to paint mine in the turquoise for fun but thought it was a bit like adding a Ferrari badge to your Ford Fiesta!

 

[Dieselman 63]

Got the switch back together and replaced into the drill. It is possible to remove the switch and wire it up outside of the casting, but getting it back inside is a hellish job of twisting and turning. I managed to rip one of the rubber things that stop the wires chaffing but it's on the inside so you can't see. A problem for someone in the (hopefully distant) future!

This job concludes this side of the drill in adding the switch again. It's starting to look like a drill again.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Topcoat is on the head casting and on the lower belt guard. The retainer bolts have been screwed in, thus securing the two castings together. The top guard piece is ally but the bottom bit is iron, and a heavy little thing it is too! I tried to get photos but the sun was bright and my phone is poor. Since I've done the paint I've been able to get the quill bearings in and circlipped, the quill itself, and the head lock. Still to finish are the quill lock and the return spring, always a pain of a job.

Those ball handles are going to get re-chromed. Yes expensive, but if you think about it the current chrome has managed to last from the late fifties to now and looks like this, it's worth re-doing it to rejuvinate it. I'll do it in batches to cut the cost down. I'll also get the top nuts re-knurled as someone has felt the need to use pliers at some point (why?!)

Then there's this, the spanner in the works. This needs repainting into black and I hate stripping paint on motors. I'll have to start on this soon.

So really it's looking more and more like a drill every day. I've had it working this year when I got it and it bores like a dream, I'm really pushing for completion as I have jobs that it needs to do for the grinder restoration!

 

[Cris B]

Looks really good. Did you find a source for suitable bearing grease from your research?

 

[Dieselman 63]

Looks really good. Did you find a source for suitable bearing grease from your research?

I did I'm using Total Ceran now. I went to Penzoil and they gave me some lithium grease, but then I went to get iso 32 hydraulic oil for the lathe from the Ford spares pdepartment, and they sold me a tube of calcium Ceran. It feels a lot finer than the other stuff, you can wipe it off and it stays in your finger print, plus it was cheaper than Penzoil so I can't complain.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Update time. I've actually been avoiding replacing the spring because it was such a pig to get off originally, but since I've cleaned everything up and it's all working now, it was really easy. The quill lock has been unfastened and the quill now holds in the up position - result!

The depth gauge is refitted and oiled. When everything fits together like new it really is a pleasure to work on machines!

The Devil is in the detail and the depth dial could be overlooked. The numbers and lines are recessed. I'm going to fill them with paint, it's unclear if they were enamelled or it's just dirt in there

Numbers repainted

And the tedious job of refilling the lines, you obviously have to wipe diagonally to avoid brushing the paint out of the lines. I like to do two coats so I'll do another tomorrow.

That's all for now!

 

[Dieselman 63]

That's the dial finished. I decided to paint the large lines on the inch/half marks yellow like the on/off lettering, everything else is white. If you didn't know this was for the drill you could be forgiven for thinking it was off some kind of camera!

 

[Dieselman 63]

Borrowed my Dad's iPhone 6 to get some somewhat better pictures than my $35 supermarket-special Alcatel. Still a little way to go (plus the motor) but if I do say so myself it looks good, exceeds what I thought it would look like so that's something.

These next two pictures are views I've never actually seen on the net, but the drill is capable of being used this way so here you are, with the table round the back to allow the base to hold a workpiece or vice:

And the table locked 90 degrees.

A look at the drill as it was in Feb

And now in December

Thanks for looking

 

[rory1]

A lovely job you've made of that.

 

[Scruffywelder]

That looks absolutely cracking!
When you get that grinder done your workshop's going to look like Buck & Hickmans showroom

 

[Farside]

You'll not want to use it, now.