Cleveland Twisted Metal Bit.. Need info please

[TwIsTeDMETAL]

I acquired bits just like this one from an auction of one of my relative's belongings. He was a machinist. It measures about 3 inches long with a diameter of 14/16 to 1 inch. According to the logo on the bit, it was the Cleveland Twist Drill Company of Cleveland, Ohio. It has never been used because it still has the wax on it.

I cannot find any information on them. Anyone have any insights or information on this bit? Thank you.

 

[rsanter]

It's a ream

Bob

 

[Provincial]

It is a Machine Reamer, meaning that it is designed to slightly enlarge and make a drilled hole round, straight and to a specified diameter.

In use, a hole is drilled slightly smaller (a few thousandths of an inch) and the reamer is run through the hole with the fluted end forward. The shape of the shank (round with a cross-hole) indicates that it was driven by a specialized machine tool. The reamer was placed on the end of a shank with with the shank entering a hole in the end of the shank. A pin was placed in the cross-hole to retain the reamer and also provide a means of driving the reamer as the shank was rotated by the spindle of the machine.

Standard machine reamers have much longer shanks, with no cross-hole. They are intended to be held in a chuck or collet. Hand reamers have a square cut in the end of the shank to be driven by a tap handle or similar device.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Twisted,

Cleveland Twist Drill is owned by Greenfield now, and Greenfield sells their stuff as a brand they call Cle-Line. I don't know where the bits are currently made, but they were a supplier to the US Army during WWII, which is my interest area, and at that time their plant was located at 1242 E. 49th Street, Cleveland 14, Ohio.

Here is a reamer set. I have not been able to date it, but it looks like 1930's or 1940's to me. The label is very faded, unfortunately, but hopefully you can make out the logo. The word CLEVELAND with an auger bit running across the letters. EDIT: Also on the label are sales offices in London, Paris, and several other European cities.

I think I have close-up photos of the bits somewhere. In addition to the rectangular box with the mfgr's info inside of it, as on your bit, the reamers in this set also bear a trademark symbol - a "C" inside a four-pointed star. That logo is still used by Greenfield for the Cle-Line today.

 

[woody 73]

Funny story that caught me by surprise...

Yesterday my wife and I were in lowes and I spotted the following Cle-line drill bit package that was proudly stamped MADE IN THE USA. As I was reading the rest of the label it said made of global materials (Foreign steel) and the metal box came from china.

http://www.lowes.com/pd/CLE-LINE-High-Speed-Steel-Twist-Drill-Bit-Set/1000043335

 

[MShaw]

The reamer is known as a stub screw machine reamer as it was made short to fit in the limited space on screw machines. Check which way it cuts. There was a lot of left hand tooling made for older Brown & Sharpe screw machines.

 

[leg17]

The reamer is known as a stub screw machine reamer as it was made short to fit in the limited space on screw machines. Check which way it cuts. There was a lot of left hand tooling made for older Brown & Sharpe screw machines.

Looks like RH cut.

 

[davethorik]

Ah, reamers. In theory they're great but if you work in a production machine shop, they're more often bent than not, and as such will ream oversize or straight up be unusable. Even with proper care reaming can be very difficult to dial in. I much prefer to use boring heads.

 

[MShaw]

But, if you don't have a mill or jig borer a boring head is useless. A drill press is not rigid enough for a boring head. So the only viable alternative is to ream if you need a reasonably precise hole. The only caveat is you need reamers that are in good condition as noted above.

 

[davethorik]

But, if you don't have a mill or jig borer a boring head is useless. A drill press is not rigid enough for a boring head. So the only viable alternative is to ream if you need a reasonably precise hole. The only caveat is you need reamers that are in good condition as noted above.

Good point, just seeing the reamer made me reminisce of when I worked in a machine shop. To be honest I don't miss reamers one bit, lol.

 

[TwIsTeDMETAL]

Ty rsanter, Private Lugnutz, Provincial, woody73, davethorik, MShaw, and leg17 for your help identifying this item as a Stub Screw Machine Reamer (plus the other information).

My own research indicates that the Cleveland Twist Drill Company was bought out in 1968. So my thinking this reamer was made before 1968. And even that might not be accurate. But other than that, I have not found any information that will date the year or year range this item was made.

If I were to sell it, how much is one like that worth please?

 

[larry_g]

If I were to sell it, how much is one like that worth please?

Near scrap price. It is an odd and special tool and anyone using one would probably not be in the market for an old used one.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[NJ Marty]

Near scrap price. It is an odd and special tool and anyone using one would probably not be in the market for an old used one.

lg
no neat sig line

This one the OP has is NOS. Still not much though unless you have a bunch with the wax on them, then they will sell no problem.

 

[leg17]

Looks like an older logo, say pre 1960, (ruff guess)
If it is a standard size you might get a couple of bucks.
Odd sizes meant a lot to the original user, but not much to the general machinist.

 

[TwIsTeDMETAL]

This one the OP has is NOS. Still not much though unless you have a bunch with the wax on them, then they will sell no problem.

I have 27 of them with wax still on the end. I just listed them on Ebay. $10.00 each or best offer. If anyone is interested enough to want to buy at least one, send me your best offer that will make us both happy.

Please mention the Garage Journal in your best offer message so I know you are from this site please. Thank you.