Help identifying this hand hammer drill, if thats what it is

[Buddy94]

Came from West Virginia, probably used somewhere between early 1900's to around maybe 1950'ish by my great grandfather. He was a stone mason. If it wasn't his it could have been used in the coal mines by other family members.

Unfortunately no markings on it that I can see although I haven't disturbed the existing rust from it.

Any ideas where it is truly a hand hammer drill....or what ever they might be called? Would they have been used in the mines or more likely stone mason work?

Thanks for any thoughts and opinions.

 

[woody 73]

Buddy Hi,

Not sure if this will help you out, but it is worth a shot as they say.

The following tool is a star bit that is used in mining (well old handheld drilling, as they now use power bits).

star drill - Bing

Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you.

www.bing.com

 

[woody 73]

A stone carving point chisel:

Sculpture House - Point Chisels

Point Chisels

www.sculpturehouse.com

 

[f121]

That's a bit short to be a hand drill. The ones I've seen in UK mines are more like 3ft long, one man would hold the drill against the rock face, another would hit it with a hammer, the one holding would rotate the drill 90 degrees, then the one with the hammer would hit it again. By candle light, for 12hrs/day

 

[RTM]

I have a few hand hammer star drills in the 12-15" length. Most under 3/4" diameter. The bigger the diameter, the further I'd want to get away from the hammer.

 

[archtimb]

When I started as an electrician in the '70s, we still had 18"-24" star drills on the truck. Came in surprisingly handy at times for getting through thick masonry walls.

 

[Farmer J.]

That's a bit short to be a hand drill. The ones I've seen in UK mines are more like 3ft long, one man would hold the drill against the rock face, another would hit it with a hammer, the one holding would rotate the drill 90 degrees, then the one with the hammer would hit it again. By candle light, for 12hrs/day

Like this. East Pool mine, Cornwall in the 1890's with 2 of them hitting the hand drill.

 

[four.cycle]

"star drill" aka "singlejack"

 

[four.cycle]

Nomenclature might vary regionally. "singlejack" was the term used by the person interviewed (most likely a Northrup descendant) by person(s) unknown (most likely an NPS ranger) and archived at ONP. (see http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=934259#934259)
I'm not sure how Wray got the term "jackhammer" in there..... there's no power up on top of that rock, no way to get power to it, and the top of the rock is about the size of your bathroom.

 

[AreBeeBee]

Two books I can recommend on oldtime drilling equipment, techniques & lifestyle, and mining & drilling terms in English and Spanish: Western Mining (1970) and Black Powder and Hand Steel (1975), both by Otis Young and both still available in paperback.

When I had to break up some spilled concrete that hardened unnoticed, I had a two-foot star drill and 8 lb sledge. But I was not going to hold that drill while someone else swung the sledge — nor was I going to ask anyone else to hold it while I swung the sledge. In the Cornish photo above, all I can say is that those three guys must be best of buds, or someone's gonna end up with a ruined hand.

I took two 4-foot 2x4s, nailed them together into a 4x4, drilled a hole through one end, and used that to hold the drill. Worked, too, with a friend standing on the safe end of the 4x4, and nobody got hurt.

 

[AreBeeBee]

I'm not sure how Wray got the term "jackhammer" in there..... there's no power up on top of that rock, no way to get power to it, and the top of the rock is about the size of your bathroom.

Diesel-powered air compressor at the foot and a hose running to the top? Just a guess.

 

[four.cycle]

Diesel-powered air compressor at the foot and a hose running to the top? Just a guess.

That actually made me laugh. I've been on the top of that rock twice in my life - back when it was possible to get to by mortal men.
Currently it is inaccessible from the south side, and not much better from the north side. It's the high point on a ridge in the middle of a jungle. The closest power pole is 26 miles away as the crow flies.

 

[Farmer J.]

Nomenclature might vary regionally. "singlejack" was the term used by the person interviewed

Yes, all the terms vary regionally, that's for sure!
Here's a list of them as used by some of the finest hard rock miners in the world, at Geevor.

https://geevor.com/content/uploads/2019/05/Mining-Vocabulary-List.pdf

That mine closed some years ago and is now a very interesting tourist visit. The ex miners still work there.
I too have heard the term 'singlejack' used, and I understand it to mean 'drilling by a single person, with borer in one hand and hammer in the other'. They reckon to drill about 6" per hour but it varies depending on the stone of course. These are using a 'Jumper Drill'

The photo I posted above shows 'double hand drilling'.
A 'jackhammer' means a powered hammer drill. Maybe called that as it was so often used by Cornish miners, known the world over as 'Cousin Jack's'
In answer to the OP's original post, I think his tool is likely a Borer which his Grandfather would have used single handed to make holes in pieces of stone, for instance to fix a gate hinge in a block of stone. I have one very similar, for that job, but it's easier to use a Makita SDS! The size and length of the borer varies depending on the job in hand, the ones used for quarrying and making holes for blasting in mines are usually quite long. I don't know much at all about coal mining, the miners I have met are all 'hard rock' men and I'm a farmer so may be wrong but unless someone who is a stone mason chimes in here that's the knowledge i can offer! Look forward to see if any more information comes forth.