Antique power tools

[Zeppe807]

So I have some nice old metal cased drills from my grandfather. Coincidentally I am also taking the OSHA 30 hour course. These drills don't have grounding prongs, so the case is not grounded.

Has anyone retrofitted old power tools to be grounded?

Thanks,
Joe Zeppe

 

[bad_idea]

It would not be difficult. Take the old cord off and replace with a new one with 3 prongs. Home depot sells new power tool cords. May have to get creative with the attachment of the ground wire inside the drill. But I imagine there is a screw somewhere inside it that would lend itself to grounding.

 

[Zeppe807]

It would not be difficult. Take the old cord off and replace with a new one with 3 prongs. Home depot sells new power tool cords. May have to get creative with the attachment of the ground wire inside the drill. But I imagine there is a screw somewhere inside it that would lend itself to grounding.

I don't think that would be a bad idea. I was looking at something along those lines but did not know if it wasn't possible.

Thanks,
Joe Zeppe

 

[38Chevy454]

It would not be difficult. Take the old cord off and replace with a new one with 3 prongs. Home depot sells new power tool cords. May have to get creative with the attachment of the ground wire inside the drill. But I imagine there is a screw somewhere inside it that would lend itself to grounding.

Agree, all you need to do is put a new 3-wire cord and connect the ground to the tool metal case.

 

[bad_idea]

post some pics when you get it open and after you put it back together.

 

[Zeppe807]

post some pics when you get it open and after you put it back together.

I just finished. Pictures to come. (Im on my phone) I am VERY GLAD I did this. The hot legs wire nut was off and was bare.

Pictures soon.

Thanks,
Joe Zeppe

 

[Jim in Wis]

There was a wire nut in there? There probably shouldn't be, usually the cord goes directly to the switch or a terminal with a screw. The hard part of putting a newer cord on some old drills is in where it goes into the handle. You usually need some sort of grommet or something to tighten it so it can't pull out. Milwaukee cords usually have a molded on section for that purpose.

 

[nehog]

You can ground it, but if you use them on a GFCI circuit don't be surprised if they trip it... Leakage in those old tools was often high enough to trip a GFCI.

 

[Zeppe807]

So here are the pictures. Cummins 1/4" Hand Drill.

The wire nut was off the hot leg, and the neutral leg had a bare spot near the wire nut. The cast hole next to the loose wire nut, is where I drilled and tapped a place to attach the ground wire.

I took and soldered the hot leg directly to the togle switch and soldered the neutral wire to the existing wire, after trimming it up. When I soldered it, I also doubled the shrink wrap in those areas.

Complete with a gromet and a zip tie to reduce the chance of it pulling out.

Complete:

Thanks,
Joe Zeppe

 

[bad_idea]

Looks good Joe.

 

[sselander]

Good save on the drill. Brings back some memories.

My dad has a bunch of those old metal drills that were my uncles (electrician by trade)

One thing I remember him showing me was the basic underwriters knot:
http://hope.edu/academic/engineering/labs/Electricity_Lab/Figures.html

 

[Zeppe807]

Good save on the drill. Brings back some memories.

My dad has a bunch of those old metal drills that were my uncles (electrician by trade)

One thing I remember him showing me was the basic underwriters knot:
http://hope.edu/academic/engineering/labs/Electricity_Lab/Figures.html

Hey! That is a cool knot. I like to see and know knots, and haven't ever seen that. Handy. I was thinking of a knot of some sort to reduce the chance of it pulling out, and that is why I put the zip tie on. I wish I would have known the knot.


Oh, I have not used it in a GFCI circuit, but used it last night, and it ran very nice.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[ndnchf]

I too like old power tools and have thought about using a 3 wire cord on at least one of them. Thanks for the photos, you've inspired me to do it.

Just curious - do you plan to polish the case? Seems like that would really make it look sharp.
Steve

 

[Zeppe807]

I too like old power tools and have thought about using a 3 wire cord on at least one of them. Thanks for the photos, you've inspired me to do it.

Just curious - do you plan to polish the case? Seems like that would really make it look sharp.
Steve

I thought about it, in fact I did start polishing the trigger and area around it in case I wanted to polish more. It would look sharp.

Joe

 

[JohnK007]

Nice clean job on that rewire Joe! You got me thinking about doing the same on an old Thor drill I have.

 

[barks]

Old computer or printer cords.

 

[Zeke]

I have scads of those old drill motors. I cut the cords off at the base and hang 'em up to look at. I'm not sure why anyone would want to use a single speed, one direction drill anymore. It's not like using Grandpa's old block plane.

 

[Zeppe807]

I would love to see some pictures of others that have the done the same thing. Zeke, I would like to see what you have too. It sounds like a good collection.

We have a vintage floor jack thread, so we might as well make this a vintage / antique power tools thread!

Joe

 

[ndnchf]

OK - I'll jump in for "show and tell". Like I said, I'm fond of old tools of all sorts. Old power tools are particularly interesting to me. I like the real early stuff because they are simple but functional, tools from the 1930s just oooze art deco styling. Tools from the 1950s/early 1960s are cool because of the space/rocket design influence.

Here's one I just picked up. Its a Speedway Electro-Magnetic Type 49 drill. I would guess its from the 1920s. It works well, is functional and is just plain cool. No it won't replace my modern variable speed, reversable drills. But on occasion, I'll use it just for fun.

 

[Zeppe807]

OK - I'll jump in for "show and tell". Like I said, I'm fond of old tools of all sorts. Old power tools are particularly interesting to me. I like the real early stuff because they are simple but functional, tools from the 1930s just oooze art deco styling. Tools from the 1950s/early 1960s are cool because of the space/rocket design influence.

Here's one I just picked up. Its a Speedway Electro-Magnetic Type 49 drill. I would guess its from the 1920s. It works well, is functional and is just plain cool. No it won't replace my modern variable speed, reversable drills. But on occasion, I'll use it just for fun.

Very cool. I have never seen one like that. Thanks!

Joe Zeppe

 

[rippered]

I use the little one all the time. The bigger one needs restored. I have a lot of old power tools, but hardly any pics of them.

 

[ndnchf]

Those are neat Skilsaws! How old you you think they are? These remind me of a 3 Stooges episode where the boys are carpenters. Curly uses a huge circular saw to cut tables in half and create other mayhem. It looked something like that but I don't recall seeing a name on his saw.

What else do you folks have? Show us your antique power tools!

 

[Zeppe807]

I use the little one all the time. The bigger one needs restored. I have a lot of old power tools, but hardly any pics of them.

Amazing how the design of these great saws have gone virtually unchanged for so long. It is a testament.

 

[Bicyclegarage]

I would like to share .This is a saw my dad gave me a few years back. He told be my grandma would use it to cut fire wood.When I got it had a light switch wired in as the on and off switch. The switch that gose to it was in a glass jar . It took a wile to get it back together but worth it . The light switch was a little scary.

 

[ndnchf]

Grandma must have been a pretty smart cookie! What a neat heirloom. The storage case is a real nice extra as well.

 

[Zeke]

I have that box, but not the saw. I use the box for my body hammers and dollys.

 

[JohnK007]

Thor Copperline 1/4" single speed drill. From the 50's. Works good but could probably stand to have the brushes replaced. This is identical to the drill my father had when I was a kid until some sh!thead broke into our garage and stole it along with a bunch of other tools. Bought this one off eBay since it brings back memories from working together with my Pop.

View media item 15649

View media item 15650

 

[ndnchf]

I love those tools from the 1950s, they were so space age looking.

There are a ton of old power tool out there and not a lot of folks are interested in them. All the better for those of us who are. Here's another drill I picked up recently. Its a Craftsman 1/4" drill with original storage box, accessories and instructions. It works well and the price was right at $10. I'll put a new power cord on it, clean and inspect the brushes and polish it up a little and it will be ready to go to work.


John K007 - I see you are from Downers Grove. I grew up there in the 1960s and early 70s. But haven't been back in many years. Its a small world indeed!

 

[JohnK007]

John K007 - I see you are from Downers Grove. I grew up there in the 1960s and early 70s. But haven't been back in many years. Its a small world indeed!

Sure is! I've been in DG since '85 but grew up in Villa Park.

 

[ndnchf]

Sure is! I've been in DG since '85 but grew up in Villa Park.

I left there in 1977, so we likely did not cross paths. It was a nice quiet little town back then. I graduated from DG North High in '76. I actually moved there in 1962 when the town was still surrounded by cornfields. I imagine those are long gone now...

That copperline drill is neat. I've seen other Thor drills that didn't have the copper wash on them, but looked the same otherwise. I wonder if they charged extra for that? I bet is was really snazzy looking when brand new.

 

[Zeppe807]

Well I picked up a Mag 77 Skilsaw for $40, but it needed the cord repaired.

I also worked on polishing the drill a little, since my recent move I was not able to find all my polishing compounds, but so far so good.

Before

After

The tools posted above by you guys look great too. There was style back in those days!


Thanks,
Joe

 

[ndnchf]

Joe,
Is that a worm drive saw? Neat piece. I'd like to find one of those big worm drives saws, they look very powerful. I've never really done much metal polishing. You drill shined up very nicely. What did you use on it? I've got some Mother's mag and aluminum polish I thought I'd try with a buffing wheel.

 

[PCO6]

Neat thread.

My Dad is getting on (85) and is passing on his tools. Among other things he wanted me to have this Black & Decker 7" sander. I remember him teaching me how to use it in the mid 60's when I was 14. I had a 61 VW that needed body work and this came in handy. I used it on several cars after that. It works just as well now as it did then!

 

[sselander]

Love the UL knot

The old stuff is pretty cool.

 

[ndnchf]

Neat thread.

My Dad is getting on (85) and is passing on his tools. Among other things he wanted me to have this Black & Decker 7" sander.

Nice old sander. Is the wooden handle original? Its great to have something passed down through the family like that. I bet it brings back a lot of memories.

 

[PCO6]

ndnchf - Yep - that's the original handle and there's no way it's getting painted. As far as I know it's only been touched by my Dad and my 2 brothers. When one of my sons gets it there will be one stipulation ... don't paint the handle!

 

[ndnchf]

Very cool, keep it original. Its only original once.

 

[Chuck McB]

I picked up a Thor drill like yours 007 did you restore yours?

 

[rick carpenter]

Here' a good thread

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91019

I was gonna redo my old drill a while back, actually I have several old drills and saws, but I went on to other meaningless tasks instead. I do remember that I found a mfr that makes new braid-covered cords but I don't have that website bookmarked anymore.

 

[where2]

Now we're talking! I'll have to go dig in the garage and get acquainted with image hosting. I've got a few metal case old-school tools.