Show Off Your Antique Electric Hand Drill

[RTM]

while trawling patents for something else, found these two drill patents issued to Mr Decker

US 1647396 A
Rotary tool with key pocket

US1647396A - Rotary tool with key pocket - Google Patents

US 1649060 A
Portable power-driven rotary tool with spindle latch and hand operated chuck

US1649060A - Portable power-driven rotary tool with spindle latch and handoperated chuck - Google Patents

 

[Brazen Bull]

I've been doing some research on Black & Decker's first drill from 1917. I recently bought, what I thought to be, a first model 1917 example. It has a 2nd patent # on it, so it's probably from their 1921 patent. When I've read or looked up pictures in the past, this style drill is what was considered the first. Then, I saw the actual drawing of the drill on the original patent and it's not this model at all. The first model was a completely different design. Pics attached. More to the story on the next post.

Im waiting for two of these babies to come to me from eBay. I too have looked up the patent and been bewildered that it isn't the same drill.
These are nice drills. Still very useful. Please put on a grounded cord.
The lowest so called "light-duty" up to the "heavy-duty" all cost a pretty penny back in the day.
The "light-duty" still has ball thrust bearings.

 

[Brazen Bull]

I have a lot of vintage and antique drills, but I took a few photos of one I pulled out of mothballs just today.
A 30's or 40's Signal Electric Corp. Junior 1/4" 120v 1.0A drill.
In 2016, I bought it from a man who had fallen in love with a Cuban woman and literally liquidated everything, his house all his stuff and moved to Cuba that same year never to return to Canada. I don't blame him. At his garage sale I bought this drill and tried it out on the spot. Got home and was frightened to see how crappy the wiring was inside, so I replaced the cord with a fresh grounded one.
Didn't use it. Pulled it out of my storage unit today, saw it was only one amp and brought it home to see what it could really do.
Runs very nicely, it has a nice "im working" smell to it. Drills holes like a champ.
Than I stress tested it with bits and stuff it was NOT designed for, EVER.
Tried a 1" spade bit and going slow, one side than the other it worked OK. Than I tried a 1/? twist drill bit (the end was turned down by somebody in a lathe) worked n problem. Than I tried a small 2" hole saw. I didn't lean on it like a newfangled brushless M18 Fuel drill, I took it easy and let the saw do the work. It worked.

Its happiest drilling the holes it was designed for, but it will do much more once and a while, if you are patient and careful.
A lot you can do with one amp.

Plus I have a big 150W vintage 50's ATR brand ******** inverter and it should run that drill very nicely.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I have a lot of vintage and antique drills, but I took a few photos of one I pulled out of mothballs just today.
A 30's or 40's Signal Electric Corp. Junior 1/4" 120v 1.0A drill.
In 2016, I bought it from a man who had fallen in love with a Cuban woman and literally liquidated everything, his house all his stuff and moved to Cuba that same year never to return to Canada. I don't blame him. At his garage sale I bought this drill and tried it out on the spot. Got home and was frightened to see how crappy the wiring was inside, so I replaced the cord with a fresh grounded one.
Didn't use it. Pulled it out of my storage unit today, saw it was only one amp and brought it home to see what it could really do.
Runs very nicely, it has a nice "im working" smell to it. Drills holes like a champ.
Than I stress tested it with bits and stuff it was NOT designed for, EVER.
Tried a 1" spade bit and going slow, one side than the other it worked OK. Than I tried a 1/? twist drill bit (the end was turned down by somebody in a lathe) worked n problem. Than I tried a small 2" hole saw. I didn't lean on it like a newfangled brushless M18 Fuel drill, I took it easy and let the saw do the work. It worked.

Its happiest drilling the holes it was designed for, but it will do much more once and a while, if you are patient and careful.
A lot you can do with one amp.

Plus I have a big 150W vintage 50's ATR brand ******** inverter and it should run that drill very nicely.

Cool drill Bull. Can't beat the old ones. They can lay around 50+ yrs & still work. Looking forward to seeing your drill collection

 

[Brazen Bull]

A 60's vintage Black and Decker 7250-04 1/2" Drill.
I got one from a pile of junk at the scrapyard.
The metal around one brush holder was smashed and threw off the Bakelite button.
I stuffed a spring in onto of the brush still in there than wedged a round piece of rubber over it.
In the backyard I used the ****** thing, off a 400w inverter from a car battery I found.
Used a big four inch hole-saw into plexiglass, drilled holes in wood, I really used it.

Than I got another drill that had a destroyed chuck. So I laid both of them side by side TODAY and made one good drill from the both.
When I opened the one I was used to using off the inverter, you can see the bar in the gearbox stage was busted in half!
I had no idea, and the drill never complained.

Got one good one from my landlord too a while back, works beautiful but I never really used it!
The trash picked ones got more action and attention from me for some reason.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I have a lot of vintage and antique drills, but I took a few photos of one I pulled out of mothballs just today.
A 30's or 40's Signal Electric Corp. Junior 1/4" 120v 1.0A drill.
In 2016, I bought it from a man who had fallen in love with a Cuban woman and literally liquidated everything, his house all his stuff and moved to Cuba that same year never to return to Canada. I don't blame him. At his garage sale I bought this drill and tried it out on the spot. Got home and was frightened to see how crappy the wiring was inside, so I replaced the cord with a fresh grounded one.
Didn't use it. Pulled it out of my storage unit today, saw it was only one amp and brought it home to see what it could really do.
Runs very nicely, it has a nice "im working" smell to it. Drills holes like a champ.
Than I stress tested it with bits and stuff it was NOT designed for, EVER.
Tried a 1" spade bit and going slow, one side than the other it worked OK. Than I tried a 1/? twist drill bit (the end was turned down by somebody in a lathe) worked n problem. Than I tried a small 2" hole saw. I didn't lean on it like a newfangled brushless M18 Fuel drill, I took it easy and let the saw do the work. It worked.

Its happiest drilling the holes it was designed for, but it will do much more once and a while, if you are patient and careful.
A lot you can do with one amp.

Plus I have a big 150W vintage 50's ATR brand ******** inverter and it should run that drill very nicely.

Love it. Very cool. Flash Gorden look.

 

[Brazen Bull]

Cool drill Bull. Can't beat the old ones. They can lay around 50+ yrs & still work. Looking forward to seeing your drill collection

I don't think my collection is any great shakes compared to the real collections here. Im pretty poor and these are just basically 50's era vintage B&D all metal ones, some 70's B&D half metal/plastic bastards (some single speed and variable) A 1/4" 1950's Fury drill, and a very nice 1952 vintage B&D Holgun.
I think the Holgun is my favorite because it is so posh looking and it is rated for production line use, but the armbreaker 1/2" B&D drill is pretty nice too. I think it is my companion to my two modern Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hammer drills.
I got a couple 80's (90's?) red Milwaukee corded hammer drills too, which I like.
I DO have two 1920's era B&D hexagonal type drills coming soon from ePay.

 

[Brazen Bull]

Finally got Big Red in the mail yesterday gents! I still have very little information on this old Black and Decker babe.
Saw an example that matched the style of the body on an Australian forum. I doubt its 220v because it had a US plug on it and it came from the US. Its a 5/16" keyless Jacob's No. 312 chuck.

 

[Brazen Bull]

Here is my first really old B&D drill I got the day before Big Red. The snout of it was protruding through the cardboard box and had taken a knock in shipping. Knocked ball bearings out of the thrust bearing. Put them back in and she runs!
One brush is the wrong size, needs fresh grease and a total shakedown. But for only 110v 1.7A she drills through hardwood like butter!
In its past work life shes been used heavily and been through some real hell.

 

[Brazen Bull]

Stress tested Big Red today with a 1" spade bit into pine and very old hard oak. The power draw was similar.
She loved it.
Monitored the power usage. -/+ 1.15A -/+ 135W just free running with no load.
With a 1" spade bit, it was between -/+ 2.0 and 3.5A
-/+ 200-300W. No smoke, no complaints, nothing got even above warm.
But I seriously doubt it was ever designed for a 1" spade bit!
Funny thing I can't turn the chuck with my hand to get the bit out! It got tighter the more I drilled it now its in there GOOD.
Jacob's chuck is a winner.

 

[Brazen Bull]

Beautiful tools gents!

 

[Brazen Bull]

Nothing wrong with a drill from Grandma. I still have mine too

The last thing my grandma bought me very soon before her death, was a translucent emerald green limited edition Xbox (and two matching controllers) I really wanted.
But back to tool talk: back in 2007 when she sold her home, the sons (the big dogs) stripped all the "good tools" from grandpa's shop and the **** tools were left behind. This so called **** was a lot of antique metal working tools. Punches, eggbeater drills, brace bit drills, nice old screwdrivers and his big red York bench vice. Plus the 60s vintage glass office clock on the wall. It was nonfunctional from sawdust getting into it. Cleaned it and oiled it and its up on my wall.

I should have gotten the entire triple drawer full of brace bit twist drill bits. But I didn't know. I picked out what I could using what brains I had when I was 22. I'm 40 now.

R.I.P Gramma Shirley.

 

[Provincial]

Finally got Big Red in the mail yesterday gents! I still have very little information on this old Black and Decker babe.
Saw an example that matched the style of the body on an Australian forum. I doubt its 220v because it had a US plug on it and it came from the US. Its a 5/16" keyless Jacob's No. 312 chuck.

This looks like "Big Red" and is from tha Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden catalog believed to be from 1939.

 

[Provincial]

This old drill didn't sell at an estate sale, and I saved it from the dumpster. It is a Wappat, as shown on the handle, but the tag is missing. It does have a tag from the dealer, M. N. Thackaberry, of Los Angeles, California. It has a Jacobs No. 3 chuck, of 5/8" capacity. It runs and the chuck works.

Vintage Machinery says that Wappat was around for a fairly long time. I don't see any ads online. I suspect this drill is from the 1930-40 era.

It looks like the pushbutton switch is a factory option, since the grip casting incorporates its mounting pad. I can see why they wouldn't want to have a trigger with a lock!

 

[Eric Brown]

This old drill didn't sell at an estate sale, and I saved it from the dumpster. It is a Wappat, as shown on the handle, but the tag is missing. It does have a tag from the dealer, M. N. Thackaberry, of Los Angeles, California. It has a Jacobs No. 3 chuck, of 5/8" capacity. It runs and the chuck works.

Vintage Machinery says that Wappat was around for a fairly long time. I don't see any ads online. I suspect this drill is from the 1930-40 era.

It looks like the pushbutton switch is a factory option, since the grip casting incorporates its mounting pad. I can see why they wouldn't want to have a trigger with a lock!

Does it have a threaded opening opposite the trigger handle for maybe a 1/2" pipe? Bet it has lots of torque. Good save.

 

[RTM]

Vintage Machinery says that Wappat was around for a fairly long time. I don't see any ads online. I suspect this drill is from the 1930-40 era.

Did you look here?

wappat - Google Search

Waiting for videos to download, have not looked at the links.

 

[Eric Brown]

This old drill didn't sell at an estate sale, and I saved it from the dumpster. It is a Wappat, as shown on the handle, but the tag is missing. It does have a tag from the dealer, M. N. Thackaberry, of Los Angeles, California. It has a Jacobs No. 3 chuck, of 5/8" capacity. It runs and the chuck works.

Vintage Machinery says that Wappat was around for a fairly long time. I don't see any ads online. I suspect this drill is from the 1930-40 era.

It looks like the pushbutton switch is a factory option, since the grip casting incorporates its mounting pad. I can see why they wouldn't want to have a trigger with a lock!

Here is a site with some info: http://www.wappat.co.uk/WappatNewYorkFamily.html

 

[Eric Brown]

Here is a PDF from Simonds catalog selling Wappat tools

 

[Provincial]

Eric, yes, it does have a pipe thread socket opposite the handle.

The Simonds PDF has an illustration showing the cord entering the handle where mine has a push button switch. This installation is too well done for me to think it was a field modification, so maybe it was a factory response to triggers getting locked on and the drill going out of control.

RTM, I did not get down the Google rabbit hole, since drills did not appear on my early searches, only saws.

 

[Mintgrun]

The chuck key holder is a nice feature.

 

[Provincial]

The chuck key holder is a nice feature.

All in all, a very well-designed tool for its time.

 

[Eric Brown]

I wonder if there weren't two styles of triggers used. A momentary like yours and one you can lock in the ON position when the drill is mounted in a drill press. I know some other makers would remove the D handle and use that bolt along with the round section by the chuck as mounting points.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I found these two Montgomery Ward 1/4" drills this morning for $5 ea. I didn't need these, but I thought I'd rescue them & clean them up before they ended up in the scrap pile. They both seem to be from the 50's & 60's & work great.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I found these two Montgomery Ward 1/4" drills this morning for $5 ea. I didn't need these, but I thought I'd rescue them & clean them up before they ended up in the scrap pile. They both seem to be from the 50's & 60's & work great.

Great find. Those tools will be back.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Earlier in this thread I ask the question who made the first right angle drill. Milwaukee holds this title as producing the first one in 1949 even though Black & Decker released a right angle drill as we can see on page 4 of their 1938 catalog (pic attached). I'm not necessarily a Milwaukee tool fan, but I do have the first version of their right angle drill. I've had this for a while, I just didn't realize its age. It came in Milwaukee's no. 412 kit in a red metal toolbox that says Milwaukee Tri-Speed Electricians kit. Most of the red Milwaukee boxes I see like this usually say something different. I have a buddy that's a die hard Milwaukee fan & I told him this is the only Milwaukee tool I own & I keep it just as an example to show that Black & Decker really came 1st I suppose Milwaukee was the first to make a 1/2" right angle drill. Black & Decker's Shorty only came in a 1/4" & 3/8", but it came 1st.

 

[INSP380]

Picked this killer lil 1/4 at an estate sale a few weeks back. Late on a Sat, I pulled it off a high shelf in the barn and offered $2. Home it came. Incredible condition, with corded chuck key still. Runs perfect, like brand new. Happy to rescue this one…

Steve