Outlawmws
Well-known member
Duty fulfilled Don!
It looks like RTM has a couple of these HUOT fractional indIcies but this one I spotted at yesterday’s Berkeley estate sale was the first I’d seen in person. It came with some bits which I made sure were sharp and added a few others. Looks like I need to find some larger bits at an upcoming sale in order to finish filling it up.Hey all, while kicking around PDX area last Saturday, I found a Huot drill bit index, in fractional sizes. Was quite pleased, cuz I think I have three in numbered sizes, and I don't need that many. Not terribly spectacular in this thread, either by shape or manufacturer, or maybe even not very vintage.
![]()




Yup, mine is here. Linked in this thread tooI think that General was supplying this style of index to Sears, if I remember correctly.
You remember correctly!I think that General was supplying this style of index to Sears, if I remember correctly.
I have both styles, Craftsman and GeneralYup, mine is here.
I like those, not as fancy as the cool ornate cast ones, but they work out well mounted to a machine. I have a couple, one mounted on a Delta 17" drill press, another mounted on one of my lathes.It looks like RTM has a couple of these HUOT fractional indIcies but this one I spotted at yesterday’s Berkeley estate sale was the first I’d seen in person. It came with some bits which I made sure were sharp and added a few others. Looks like I need to find some larger bits at an upcoming sale in order to finish filling it up.
-Don
As found
Cleaned up
Added some bits to the ones it came with.
It‘s not fancy but another for the collection.![]()
It's the fancy cast ones like that Cleveland that make an interesting collection.
Hooah! First thing this here lowly buck private noticed! (For the uninitiated, that's a Staff Sergeant in the US Army or Marine Corps.)I like the logo on your New York index
It'd be awesome to scare up a drill bit that was marked that way.Oh sure, there are plenty of nice vintage drill bit indices posted here - but how many of them have a spot for your 14/32” size drill bit?
What?Interesting--at least you don't have to go through the exercise of converting fractions.
Tom B.
It looks like RTM has a couple of these HUOT fractional indIcies but this one I spotted at yesterday’s Berkeley estate sale was the first I’d seen in person. It came with some bits which I made sure were sharp and added a few others. Looks like I need to find some larger bits at an upcoming sale in order to finish filling it up.
-Don
As found
Cleaned up
Added some bits to the ones it came with.
It‘s not fancy but another for the collection.![]()

A very nice contribution to the ever-swelling ranks of Morse/Ajax/et al folding triangular indexes and the kind of design that invokes the "elegant" adjective from engineers, this one included, for its balance of function, beauty, and efficiency.a Morse letter 1906 PAT.
While I love all the cool vintage drill indices, those stamped sheet metal stands are great for mounting to machines. I have one attached to one of my drill presses, and another mounted on the headstock of one of my lathes.
remarkably similar, yes.I found an Ajax, identical to the Morse,
I don't remember seeing any patent info before, Outlaw.I believe this was discussed and the patent assignee was the most likely MFG for all IIR

If it's been posted before, sorry, I missed it.
Gotcha. I was just making sure we were talking about the same prior discussion, hence my reiteration and summary in case I had missed a different one. Ajax Mfg still seems very plausible to me. Knowing who owned the patent is neat, and it may help solve this one completely, eventually, but since it was unassigned, we're still left postulating.I may not have remembered right -which was why I qualified: "IIR" - I thought I remembered us coming to a conclusion of who was the MFG, but not exactly who.

The black blobs were removed with a thumbnail. 












Since we don't seem to have an "extractor indexes" thread, and they go with drills: