Help identifying vintage tools

[cjlindem]

Hi, I'm going through a bunch of old tools that belonged to my grandfather. There are a few which I could use some help with identifying their purpose.

First up - a yellow plastic handle which resembles a grip/guard for a cold chisel, but the end of the tool is a drill bit. There's not a set screw or other way to 'lock in' the bit, so I'm not sure if it's changeable.

Thanks for any help.

-Chris

 

[four.cycle]

^ impact drill for cement/masonry would be my best guess.

 

[Mintgrun]

The bit probably has a tapered end that locks it into the handle. There were a few small bits in the Habitat bin with short tapered ends and I wondered what they were for. The slot on the side is for removing it, using a thin wedge to drive it out. Similar to this. (I'm guessing).

 

[The Cobbler]

above post is Morse taper, post 1 looks to be Morse taper

 

[Beerhippie]

Thinking it should have a star bit in it, not a twist bit. Used for drilling rock, concrete, etc, without busting your hand with the drilling hammer. Pretty recent in my book.

Not the best reference I could find, but the first:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm84232602/page08.htm

One guy holds the drill, the other swings the hammer. Real men.

 

[four.cycle]

We were discussing those on another site about a month ago:


Enderes 0828 1-inch Star Drill

used by trail crews way back (when they used blasting powder.)

you strike it with a hammer (2-pounder minimum, 5-pounder better) and give it a twist with each blow. sometimes done as a two-man operation, with one guy holding the hammer and the other the star drill.


five pound hammer

the top of Kloochman Rock (bottom of post) was leveled off using a device like this. (The nomenclature gets confusing for some. HERE is the USFS page which describes "single jack" and "jackhammer" in the context of hand tools. I can guarantee you that Wilbur Northrup did not haul a pneumatic jackhammer and an air compressor up to the top of that ridge in 1934.

Drilling a hole in rock using a Star Drill and Hammer (kind of hard to tell from the video, but the "patent" on the wrench seen in the last few seconds of the video refers to either patent 229673 or 301681 )

Member @Squankum recently posted an image of the modern-day set-up for this kind of work, which uses a hand-held rotary hammer drill powered by a small generator.

 

[Beerhippie]

We used gasoline-powered Hilti rotohammers back in the late '70s for drilling and blasting when clearing trails--outside of the wilderness areas. Wilderness trail crews still hand-drilled. Somehow, blasting powder isn't forbidden in the wilderness, but gas-powered tools are.

 

[Squankum]

We used gasoline-powered Hilti rotohammers back in the late '70s for drilling and blasting when clearing trails--outside of the wilderness areas. Wilderness trail crews still hand-drilled. Somehow, blasting powder isn't forbidden in the wilderness, but gas-powered tools are.

Thanks to four:cycle for tagging me!

Here's my pic from Yellowstone last fall. Hilti, Honda, 3M, and more traditional hand tools, being used by a crew of three young men doing trail work.

 

[Squankum]

Thinking it should have a star bit in it, not a twist bit. Used for drilling rock, concrete, etc, without busting your hand with the drilling hammer. Pretty recent in my book.

Not the best reference I could find, but the first:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm84232602/page08.htm

One guy holds the drill, the other swings the hammer. Real men.

Thanks! Never really knew why they called them drilling hammers.

"Hammer heads weigh either 3 or 4 pounds, and handles are 10 inches long. The short handle helps you place blows accurately."

And that explains why I fell in love with my Craftsman 3 lb. drilling hammer a few decades back. No more big swings with variable accuracy. More oomph, better aim, less drama. (Yeah, before that my car work hammers were carpentry hammers, I was a young adult with only so many tools.)

 

[Beerhippie]

Thanks to four:cycle for tagging me!

Here's my pic from Yellowstone last fall. Hilti, Honda, 3M, and more traditional hand tools, being used by a crew of three young men doing trail work.

This is the Hilti we used:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3261070874...pMLtGE-W2baVlRgVYHC_6liqPPJhZvpxoCrBkQAvD_BwE

Another tool I used when new that's now "vintage".

 

[joel63]

Hi, I'm going through a bunch of old tools that belonged to my grandfather. There are a few which I could use some help with identifying their purpose.

First up - a yellow plastic handle which resembles a grip/guard for a cold chisel, but the end of the tool is a drill bit. There's not a set screw or other way to 'lock in' the bit, so I'm not sure if it's changeable.

Thanks for any help.

-Chris

Morse Taper Drift Key MT3 Taper Shank Drill Bit for Drill Chuck Sleeve Removal Tool​

 

[four.cycle]

"... but gas-powered tools are ..."

Depends upon where you are. U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service and Bureau of Lands Management have different interpretations of Section § 4C of the 1964 Wilderness Act which "prohibits other uses in wilderness areas, including: motor vehicles, motorized equipment, aircraft landing, mechanical transport, structures, and installations ... except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the Appendix A-20 Page 5 administration of the area..."

^ This is the sticky wicket that is the catalyst for the lawsuits filed by Wilderness Watch on projects such as those involving the use of heavy-lift Chinook helicopters.

The USFS won't let you use a chainsaw in Designated Wilderness, but the National Park Service will if you're certified.
(I didn't want to do any big cuts on NPS land so I never bothered with that part of it, so all my work was done by hand with a D-ring, brush hook, and loppers.)

This is the Hilti we used:

Good grief! Your arms must have felt like rubberbands after using that thing!

(* the reason you paint your trail tools with "Yield Sign Yellow" is so you can find them when they go flying 30 feet off into the brush.)

 

[akasrick]

Hi, I'm going through a bunch of old tools that belonged to my grandfather. There are a few which I could use some help with identifying their purpose.

First up - a yellow plastic handle which resembles a grip/guard for a cold chisel, but the end of the tool is a drill bit. There's not a set screw or other way to 'lock in' the bit, so I'm not sure if it's changeable.

Thanks for any help.

-Chris

Did he pipe through the side of a house? Brick, block, erc.

akasrick

 

[RTM]

I’m wondering if that was set up for Rawl drill bits to drill holes for Rawlplugs, an early concrete anchor. Everything seems way too small for most star drills I’ve seen, but the taper on the Rawl drills makes me wonder. Of course I can’t find a picture right now, I wonder where the drills are..

 

[cjlindem]

Did he pipe through the side of a house? Brick, block, erc.

akasrick

Possibly at some time. He was retired by the time I was around, but his job had been shop's carpenter at a factory. Or sometimes referred to as a Millwright. There are a lot of chisels both woodworking and masonry among the tools.

 

[cjlindem]

Thanks everybody for the replies. I agree that the tool does bear some resemblance to a Morse Taper and also to some Rawlplugs bits as well.

I found some little cardboard tube-looking things in one of the toolboxes and while looking up Rawlplugs, I realized that's what they are.

-Chris