Old Black and Decker heavy duty drill.

[the gypsy]

Hi guys I need help identifying the model number on this old drill that I picked up today for $25 canadian. it is heavy duty turns at 375 rpm forward and reverse. the reverse is activated buy moving the big collar under the d handle. I discovered this while cleaning it. It has a Jacob chuck number 37KD
holds between 1/4-13/16. I hope there is enough info there.

 

[WWIIjeep]

Catalog (model) No. 644. 1950s vintage. Nice score.

 

[the gypsy]

Thank you, but where did you find this info. I am looking through the google images and can not find anything that looks close to what I picked up.

 

[Outlawmws]

Wow now that is an armbuster! Never seen one with a long pistol grip like that! Make sure the wiring inside is all good and that the plug is properly grounded.

 

[Outlawmws]

WWIIjeep is a freaking encyclopedia on tools!

 

[the gypsy]

it runs well and like I said before, I discovered how to put it in reverse while cleaning it. The person I bought it from told me there was no reverse.
and yes the handle is very long.

 

[WWIIjeep]

WWIIjeep is a freaking encyclopedia on tools!

But a lot of the pages have been misfiled.

Thank you, but where did you find this info. I am looking through the google images and can not find anything that looks close to what I picked up.

Google? Who's he? I found it in a file made out of actual paper instead of zeros and ones in cyberspace.

 

[the gypsy]

The only pics I found on google that resemble this model, the drill is mounted on a magnetic base but have a different model number.
By the way where did you get all the paper you are talking about ( your encyclopedia).

 

[Pumpman1968]

I had one similar to that a number of years ago....but I believe mine was a Rockwell. Damn thing would twist your arm into a pretzel if it caught a nail...............GEEZ!

 

[WWIIjeep]

The only pics I found on google that resemble this model, the drill is mounted on a magnetic base but have a different model number.

The one on the magnetic base was a Cat. No. 655 and didn't come with the side handles.

By the way where did you get all the paper you are talking about ( your encyclopedia).

50 years of working in industry and saving catalogs and cut sheets, plus, when I was younger, I had a nearly photographic memory for such things.

Here's a Google image-to-be for you:

 

[neophyte]

According to the inflation calculator, if the drill cost $130 in 1950 it would cost $1,260 today. This is about what the similar Fein made drill currently sells for.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00307RWX8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rsanter]

I used to work for B&D, those drills are monsters.
I know of one case where one dud break a customers arm when it grabbed.
One customer I know of had reels mounted in the chucks and used them as winches for bin dumps.

Triple gear reduction, you shut it off it coasts down for a little bit

Bob

 

[Davefr]

Make sure the wiring inside is all good and that the plug is properly grounded.

^^^ Absolutely!!

On these old metal drills it was common for guys to cut off the grounding prong or replace the plug with a 2 prong unpolarized plug. There were even adapters added to the plug to go from 3 prong grounded to 2 prong unpolarized.

Any short inside the drill could make you the path to ground!!

These are great old tools but going thru them with a fine tooth comb for electrical safety is very important.

It would also be a good idea to use a GFI protected circuit.

 

[the gypsy]

^^^ Absolutely!!

On these old metal drills it was common for guys to cut off the grounding prong or replace the plug with a 2 prong unpolarized plug. There were even adapters added to the plug to go from 3 prong grounded to 2 prong unpolarized.

Any short inside the drill could make you the path to ground!!

These are great old tools but going thru them with a fine tooth comb for electrical safety is very important.

It would also be a good idea to use a GFI protected circuit.

Thank you for this piece of advice. It does have a grounding plug, but I will still use a GFCI circuit.

 

[the gypsy]

The one on the magnetic base was a Cat. No. 655 and didn't come with the side handles.




50 years of working in industry and saving catalogs and cut sheets, plus, when I was younger, I had a nearly photographic memory for such things.

Here's a Google image-to-be for you:

With all those catalogs and cut sheets and whatever else you've accumulated over the years, their may be some people that may accuse you of being a hoarder, but not me. I thank you for the picture/add.

 

[the gypsy]

WWIIjeep Do you have any other literature on this particular model drill?

 

[acdeucey]

Gypsy, do a continuity check from the grounding prong to the body of the drill just to be sure it's grounded.

In the last few months I have purchased a couple of these big-*** old drills (arm-breaker/widow-maker variety) and while the 20's-vintage B&D had a 3-prong plug, it was a hard-wired add-on that wasn't providing any protection at all. I have no idea why somebody would add a 3-prong plug to a 2-wire cord. Huh? Usually they add a 2-prong adapter to a 3-wire cord.

On the other hand, my 30's-vintage Thor did come with a 3-wire cord. However, it had a 2-prong plug. A bare ground wire came out the side of the plug. I guess to wrap around the electrical box cover screw. The ground wire was connected inside the drill.

Bottom line, I put new 12/2 with ground power cords on both drills. That should make them non-widow-makers.

Anyway, nice drill. Have fun with it.

Don

 

[Milton Shaw]

I bought an old B & D gobbler, it worked but I took it to the B&D service place in town and had them go through it. Parts were still available for them and they put it back in nearly new condition, well worth the money to restore it. (Gobbler is B&D's name for giant electric nibbler. 3/16, 8 gauge capacity)

 

[Packard V8]

Those old B&D are the real deal. Worst tool mistake I ever made was letting mine go.

Those who worry about the cords and grounding of metal housing power tools are correct to do so, but in sixty years of working with them, I've never had a problem. So far, so good.

jack vines

 

[Outlawmws]

Those old B&D are the real deal. Worst tool mistake I ever made was letting mine go.

Those who worry about the cords and grounding of metal housing power tools are correct to do so, but in sixty years of working with them, I've never had a problem. So far, so good.

jack vines

I did have a problem with my old Port-A-Band- All aluminum construction, and get this; there was nothing wrong with the saw itself, properly grounded etc. There was an improperly wired drill press, (****** import) plugged into the same circuit, and I was cutting off a cyclone fence post, (read WELL grounded) and every time I started to cut, I'd get shocked. Nothing big but clearly not right...

I finally traced it back to the DP un plugged it and tried again. no shocking feeling. I finally traced it to where, IIR (Almost 30 years ago...) they really didn't see the difference between ground and neutral and the plug itself was wired backwards, and it was back feeding to me.

ALWAYS recheck old tools cause you never know...

Another potentially bad experience, was a few years ago we were replacing all the receptacles in a house my buddy lived in previously, then it was a rental for near 20 years. About 1/2 the receptacles were wired bas-acwards, and that could have been disastrous...

Most recently my next door neighbor (an old school marm literally..) complained the one of her receptacles was out and she could not find the issue with the breakers. Someone had actually daisy chained in another lamp and that one was out. I happened to plug in a night light to test the plugs we suspected were on the circuit, and the "dead" plug came on. so the plugs were wired in series not parallel...

The point being, Check ANYTHING someone else may have mucked with or is old and know the difference between Line power and neutral (And ground for that matter )when wiring things up, because it CAN matter...


The best couple of bucks you can spend is one of those idiot light "circuit testers' that will tell you if a plug is wired properly. And the matter is made even simpler if you simply remember green screws are ground, the Neutral (White) goes to the silver screws, and the Line (black) to the brass/gold screws on outlets...

 

[WWIIjeep]

WWIIjeep Do you have any other literature on this particular model drill?

No, nothing else for that one, sorry.

 

[rsieracki]

I got one of those 3/4 B&D drills off craigslist when i was out of town on business this past year.. some people sightsee.. i buy old tools lol

I've been looking for a project so I can use it

 

[the gypsy]

Just to reassure you guys and myself obviously, I opened the handle (which by the way is well designed IMO, because you don't have to take half the drill apart) and the ground wire is there and it is connected to the aluminium body.

 

[BDFan1981]

Model 1405 was the latest version ('70s-'90s) of this heavy duty drill. There was even a DeWalt version.

~Ben

 

[the gypsy]

Thank you for this info, it may come in handy. I have gone to the dewalt parts outlet here in Montreal and was told that the screw is no longer available. If it was built till the 90's, I think the screws should still be available.

 

[Outlawmws]

I just re-read the whole thread: What screws are you looking for? You have never said.

Specifically what thread, minimum length and head style?

 

[Jack Olsen]

That handle is really something. I've got a similar model. I've got no idea when it was made, but it will bite you if you're not careful with it.

 

[the gypsy]

Hey Zack that is a nice drill. There is something about these old tools that really get me interested in them. I don't know but I like them..

 

[the gypsy]

I just re-read the whole thread: What screws are you looking for? You have never said.

Specifically what thread, minimum length and head style?

I need 1/4 28 x2 3/4, 2 screws

I want 1/4 28 x2 3/4, 2 extra,
I want 1/4 28 x1 3/4, 2 extra,
I want 2 brushes.

If someone close to a B&D parts dealer is willing to pick it up for me and ship it USPS, I will pay all expenses and be forever grateful. I am in no hurry, no need to make a special trip for me.

 

[3xpendable]

My dad and I had the same drill. Found it in a pawn shop completely covered with paint. I knocked enough paint off to open the chuck and remove paint paddle that was two solid disc's of paint instead of two rows of fins and slapped in a drywall mud paddle to mix buckets of refractory mortar. Was the slowest strongest drill I have ever used the thing was boss and never skipped a beat. Dad sold it with a bunch of stuff when we shut down our business

Oh and we was out looking for a drill because we burnt 4 1/2" drills trying to mix mud that was more like play dough for glass furnaces. That b&d would spin the bucket under your feet while you was standing on it with 50 lbs of material in it. Lol I went riding on it more then once


Sent from under an open range fifth wheel 8p

 

[bonneyman]

...Google? Who's he? I found it in a file made out of actual paper instead of zeros and ones in cyberspace.

Right on!

 

[the gypsy]

Just wanted to update this thread a little.

FYI i finallysaw the Dewalt copy of the old B&D. Here is a picture

 

[the gypsy]

Would I have known this was exactly the same I could have bought the parts needed for my oldie here in Montreal. Instead of spending $$$ for parts plus approximately $40.00 in shipping from US.

 

[Lbcwanabe]

looks clean!

 

[the gypsy]

I hope so, it is the recent model of the B&D model 644 that I bought a year ago.
The photo is of the Dewalt listed on KIJIJI for $550.00.

 

[CNGsaves]

Nice score OP . . . . that's a lifetime keeper!!

Back in high school days in '70s my dad had that same 1/2" chuck B&D drill. It would yank your arm half out of socket if you bound up the drillbit.

Keep up your exercise and weight lifting to use that monster !!