Member postings for Peter Cork 1

.. sorry, finger trouble there, no sure how that emoticon got in ..

Further to my last, in consideration (in the thread above) of conversion of the 'split boss' clamp arrangement to 'internal two-part clamp', I meant to add a word of caution. The standard arrangement of bolt closing the slot tightens the collar onto the pillar, nicely under tension, all as intended. (OK, not brilliant if boss wear means you have to close the slot a long way to get grip &hellip Boring out and replacing the bolt with the internal clamps will then impose a 'spreading' force on the split boss. If this is overdone, there's a danger of cracking the boss. Thussly - if the system is converted to internal clamp parts, a means of taking tension across the existing split is required. This might be an independent bolt or just possibly welding / brazing up the slot. Neither ideal.

The split boss arrangement, with new and un-worn parts, is the nicest way to achieve the aim of securing the boss to the pillar in a close tolerance and repeatable fashion because the system inherently closes any play in the fit of the boss on the pillar, all around the boss. I therefore don't recommend conversion to two-part clamp - better to re-work a loose boss to achieve a better fit and to keep the 'split clamp' arrangement.

Ian, Phil et al,

I'm new here, just signed up having found this thread looking for FOBCO drill table clamping chat ...

I have (just bought ) a 10 8, similarly to many of you chaps the table clamp need gorilla force to get it to hold. The play in the table boss when un-clamped isn't commensurate with FOBCO build quality and clearly arises from wear from decades of heavy use. I suspect the boss has worn clamp side (rear) at the top and table side (front) at the base from table overhang loading.

I'm reluctant simply to add a long lever / bearing washer to generate enough clamping force ... I don't want to break the casting. On the off-chance - has anyone considered getting the bore of the table boss re-built with weld or braze followed by re-bore to a decent ('FOBCO original' fit? If so, I'd be interested in any leads.

My 10 8 is a 3 phase machine and I'm adding a VFD (Invertek) to drive it from single phase, I'll post progress as I get it all going.

Peter