Vintage drill bits in original package
- Thread starter gohunt
- Start date
FrankLee
Well-known member
I dunno, but I have quite a few. I usually pick them up when I see them... especially the tap drill sizes. They are so inexpensive at estate sales.
d42jeep
Well-known member
I don’t have many but have run across a few.
-Don
-Don
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
THAT is effing awesome. When I worked on the bridge we still had tooling from Coast in Oakland... so many of the cool mom and pop machine shops that built our nation and kept it running... lots of great history gone forever. (BTW,, Coast Tools in Oakland is now - best sit down - a Supercuts in an upper class neighborhood. Used to be blue collar light industrial, now it's where the wealthy kids go to get bespoke concierge pizza.... Grrr....) Sign of the times - my favorite BBQ house (Flints) went under because the people who supported it for a generation or 2 could no longer afford to live there. I know it happens everywhere, that one just hit close to home.
Sadly I watched a lot of the old school blue collar neighborhoods in the "east bay" (across the SFOBB from SF), and the family businesses that raised, fed, and clothed generations, generations of skill as machinists, ironworkers, foundry operators, stamp press men, industrial architects, welders, pipefiters, mechanics, riveters, and families who put it all on the line to start a business become yuppie retail outlets, Venmo and Grubhub centric areas... and ran out those generations who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty for a paycheck. Sorry... watching it happen kind of hurt. A lot. (Especially since I was one of those blue collar nuts who maintained huge bridges - I can still give you specs on torque for a 2 1/4" A325 bolt series, and the tightening sequence used...)
Sorry, got distracted!
Drill bits? Hell yeah. The ones I love are the larger sizes wrapped in waxed paper, cosmolined, and in woven cotton bags. Mostly WW2 and earlier, but yeah, those are great. AND... I can go to hardware stores here, the old old ones in little towns that have been run by the same family for a few generations, and still find stuff like that. Makes me a little nostalgic, and more than a little happy!
Sadly I watched a lot of the old school blue collar neighborhoods in the "east bay" (across the SFOBB from SF), and the family businesses that raised, fed, and clothed generations, generations of skill as machinists, ironworkers, foundry operators, stamp press men, industrial architects, welders, pipefiters, mechanics, riveters, and families who put it all on the line to start a business become yuppie retail outlets, Venmo and Grubhub centric areas... and ran out those generations who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty for a paycheck. Sorry... watching it happen kind of hurt. A lot. (Especially since I was one of those blue collar nuts who maintained huge bridges - I can still give you specs on torque for a 2 1/4" A325 bolt series, and the tightening sequence used...)
Sorry, got distracted!
Drill bits? Hell yeah. The ones I love are the larger sizes wrapped in waxed paper, cosmolined, and in woven cotton bags. Mostly WW2 and earlier, but yeah, those are great. AND... I can go to hardware stores here, the old old ones in little towns that have been run by the same family for a few generations, and still find stuff like that. Makes me a little nostalgic, and more than a little happy!
four.cycle
Well-known member
Chicago / Chicago-Latrobe Twist Drill Works, 411 W. Ontario St., Chicago, IL / see Greenfield Industries / twist drills, reamers, cutting tools /
Greenfield / Greenfield Industries, 2501 Davis Creek Rd., Seneca, SC 29678 / https://www.gfii.com/ / parent company of Bassett, Cle-Force, Cle-Line, Cleveland, and Chicago Latrobe / twist drills, cutting tools /
@d42jeep -
NOT sure on this one.... the "Coast Tool" in San Leandro may well be a completely different company ????
Coast / Coast Tool Co., 6046 College Ave., Oakland, CA (2099 Edison Ave., San Leandro, CA) / twist drill / est. 1945 /
Greenfield / Greenfield Industries, 2501 Davis Creek Rd., Seneca, SC 29678 / https://www.gfii.com/ / parent company of Bassett, Cle-Force, Cle-Line, Cleveland, and Chicago Latrobe / twist drills, cutting tools /
@d42jeep -
NOT sure on this one.... the "Coast Tool" in San Leandro may well be a completely different company ????
Coast / Coast Tool Co., 6046 College Ave., Oakland, CA (2099 Edison Ave., San Leandro, CA) / twist drill / est. 1945 /
RTM
Well-known member
I buy any of those I can find. I probably have 15 different sizes at home.
As four cycle hinted to that by looking at addresses and zip codes and things like you can pin them down but I would say most those are 40s and '50s at a quick glance.
As four cycle hinted to that by looking at addresses and zip codes and things like you can pin them down but I would say most those are 40s and '50s at a quick glance.
bmwrd0
Well-known member
Piedmont. Not a place I would expect a machine shop any more. It would be like coming from Beverly Hills.
Anyhoo, I pick the drill bit envelopes when I see them, usually have good quality bits in them, and are dirt cheap.
Anyhoo, I pick the drill bit envelopes when I see them, usually have good quality bits in them, and are dirt cheap.
four.cycle
Well-known member
bmwrd0 said:
speaking of that.... CALCO socket set from Beverly Hills
results of Private Lugnutz's secret internet sleuthing
American Iron
Well-known member
Stubby1743
Well-known member
I thought that a couple of the packets in the first post looked familiar and so I looked through a tin of new old stock imperial drills that I have.
Look what I found! There can't be many people in the UK with this sort of stuff.
Look what I found! There can't be many people in the UK with this sort of stuff.
Wow, hard to believe you came up with two packs just like the one I have! Nice!I thought that a couple of the packets in the first post looked familiar and so I looked through a tin of new old stock imperial drills that I have.
Look what I found! There can't be many people in the UK with this sort of stuff.
d42jeep
Well-known member
Here are some Morse drill bits that were included with a recent Kennedy toolbox find.
-Don
-Don
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
I guess this all begs the question, do you use them, or are you saving them for something special?
d42jeep
Well-known member
I just got the Morse examples. I would certainly use them if a project called for one. I may store them in my Gerstner box.
-Don
-Don
If I REALLY needed one I’d sure use it.
Stubby1743
Well-known member
I'd certainly use mine if needed, but 99% of my drilling these days is with metric drills.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Translated, I'll save them forever, and when I'm gone, my mindless SIL will sell them for a nickel at a yard sale, or just chuck them out cause they serve no purpose to him.
****, puppy, just use the damned things and get some joy out of them.
Garage and estate sales in Detroit were great places to find misc packages of drill bits.
These are from Scotland. Don’t know if there are vintage but packaging looks old
I’m sure someone with more machining experience than I can explain what these bits were used for
These are from Scotland. Don’t know if there are vintage but packaging looks old
I’m sure someone with more machining experience than I can explain what these bits were used for
I have had this for over forty years.
Found it behind a built in cabinet at the dealership where I was working.
close up of the label
One of the old timers I was working with at the time said it was used for putting spotlights on the A pillar of car in the 50’s
Found it behind a built in cabinet at the dealership where I was working.
close up of the label
One of the old timers I was working with at the time said it was used for putting spotlights on the A pillar of car in the 50’s
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Drilling holes.Garage and estate sales in Detroit were great places to find misc packages of drill bits.
These are from Scotland. Don’t know if there are vintage but packaging looks old
I’m sure someone with more machining experience than I can explain what these bits were used for
Solid carbide no less!Here are some Morse drill bits that were included with a recent Kennedy toolbox find.
-Don
d42jeep
Well-known member
These might qualify for this thread. I got some bits out for an early Yankee push drill.
-Don
-Don
Now that is awesome!I have had this for over forty years.
Found it behind a built in cabinet at the dealership where I was working.
close up of the label
One of the old timers I was working with at the time said it was used for putting spotlights on the A pillar of car in the 50’s
Oregon rock crusher
Well-known member
RTM
Well-known member
Years ago I bought a pallet of tools at an auction for some planes that were on the pallet. I had noticed there were a bunch of drill bits but didn't pay much attention. When I got the pallet home and started sorting everything, found out I had a complete set of fractional drill bits new in the packaging from 1/8" up to 1/2". The makers are mostly Cleveland Twist Drill and Pratt & Whitney. The are all very nice drill bits. They probably came from one of the aircraft manufacturers that used to be in San Diego (Consolidated Vultee which became Convair or Ryan).
B Halverson
Well-known member
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I went to an old industrial supply house in my town that was cleaning out it's old stock and bought 100 or more packs of NOS Cleveland Twist drills in different sizes for very little money, it happens. Also got a few thousand NOS hand files from the same place, and boxes of NOS hickory tool handles, carbide burrs, reamers etc.. If you are interested in tools long enough and keep your eyes open sooner or later you run across everything, especially since most of the population doesn't want anything to do with hand tools anymore, all they want is a "smart" phone and a video game console.