Restoring a Millers Falls 980 Hand Drill

[Mike Holbrook]

I ran a thread on Breast & large multi speed hand drills. I found a MF 980 on Ebay that fit my needs and won the bid. I was interested in trying my hand at restoring a drill and the MF 980 looked like a good project. When I got the drill earlier today I discovered large deposits of gunk accumulated in all the moving parts. The "knurled ring shifter," which I believe changes the speed seems to be frozen at present. The wood has no damage that a good sanding and wood treatment want repair. The main gear and the two pinions have all their teeth and only seem to suffer from caked on gunk.

So I removed the large gear, the large gear handle, the other side handle and the chuck. I submerged the metal parts in kerosene for a few hours then started brushing with a stiff nylon brush. I used a brass bristle brush where the accumulation of gunk was heavy and difficult. I put the drill back together after the major gunk had been removed to see if the ring shifter would work. Although the knurled ring shifter seems to jiggle a little, so far it want turn. Although the shifter is relatively clean at this point I am unable to see any markings indicating speed settings. I have tried WD-40 and some Goof Off but so far the shifter seems to be locked. I have not tried Mineral Spirits yet, maybe tomorrow.

Here is info. on the drill. Mine appears to be from 1925-1931, as it has a solid handle but still retains the Millers Fallls label.

http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill5.htm

I plan to spend another day brushing and soaking the parts. When I feel I have reached the limits of hand brushing I am planing on cranking up the Dremel with some brass brushes. After I think I have restored as much function as I can I plan to re-paint the painted areas and refinish the wood. My goal is not to make a show piece but to recover as much function and maintainability as is practical for a functional tool.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Keith Young]

This link is on restoring the Millers Falls #2. Might be some info there.
http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS/boringTools/millersF/tools/No2HD/No2-1903-Anatomy/mfHD-No2-1903-Anatomy-01.asp

Good luck

Keith

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks Keith,
I have been to the WK site and just checked it out again. He does not provide much information concerning how he achieves his results. There were some suggestions on my other thread that I wanted to follow up on.

My main issue at the moment is the speed shifting device being stuck. There was a suggestion to use hose clamp(s) and carburetor fluid to free up a frozen ratchet selector sleeve on a #97 breast drill, thanks Joe. The speed shifting device on my drill is similar in appearance and location to the ratchet selector on a #97.

A problem I am facing has to do with how to use the speed shifting knurled knob. There are no letters to indicate which way to turn the device to achieve which speed. Without any sort of markings I am also unsure which way the knob should be turned to change to the other speed. I am assuming that turning the knob should change the drill speed, which is the implication in the Millers Falls information on this drill I found at:
http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill3.htm

I am continuing to soak the entire enclosed drill assembly in kerosene, periodically scrubbing it with a brass bristle brush & a dremel tool with brass brush. I have tried some WD-40 and Goof Off on the frozen parts too. The knurled knob is wiggling a little but so far I can not move it far enough to change drill speeds. I'm not sure if the knob is locked or if the gear in the enclosed assembly is the problem. The top gear in the assembly is moving just fine. I am thinking about picking up paint stripper, carburetor fluid, hose clamps and some Rustoleum enamel today. I am hoping that patience will prevail.

Mitch

[Bob Easton]

I don't have a MF 2 speed drill like that Mike. But, I do have a Goodell-Pratt 5 1/2 two speed drill. The shifter mechanisms are externally different, but internally I imagine they are similar. Inside the sleeve is a tubular sleeve that rides over a central shaft. Both ends of the sleeve are cut so two ears protrude. These mesh with slots in the pinions. Slide the sleeve one way to engage one pinion, the other to engage the other.

The GP drill does this with a little wheel with a toggle peg meshed to the internal sleeve. The motion is linear. From the pictures, I'm guessing the toggle peg is on the inside of the knurled knob and the motion is spiral.

Before you removed the large wheel, would the drill operate? With the large wheel off, can you turn either of the pinions? One should be engaged with the chuck, the other should spin freely. Turning the knurled knob (when it is working correctly) will slide the inner sleeve to engage the other pinion.

Dis-assembly of the selector may be the only way to determine what is wrong. I can't tell from the picture how it comes apart. I tore down and rebuilt my GP recently, and documented part of it at this blog entry (http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/?p=807). I do have some pictures of the insides of that assembly, but did not include them in the blog entry. I'll add those pictures to the blog entry.

[Mike Holbrook]

Hi again Bob,

Here are original and current state of restoration pictures:
130776

130777

Simple iPhone pictures are not bad, not great, but they tell the story.

Your pictures and information are greatly appreciated!

My drill operates fine, except for being stuck on one pinion/gear. Like you surmised, one pinion is engaged to the knurled knob and the other spins freely. The pinion nearest the chuck is the one engaged on my drill. The pinion near the handle spins freely. The engaged pinion spins very well too, it just spins in unison with the knurled knob. I can get the locked pinion to wiggle separately from the speed changing knob, but so far I can not get it to disengage.

The pictures are very helpful. I was wondering if there was a way to get the mechanism apart. The technique of using the cable ties to hold the "changer" in position is inspirational. I will be giving your technique a try shortly and I will report back.

[Mike Holbrook]

Yeeeha!

I pulled my frame out of the kerosene soak to try Bob's suggestion of removing the "shaft" from the frame. I noticed that the knurled shifting knob seemed to have a little more play so I started jiggling it. Things seemed to be freeing up. I decided to put the drill back together so I could hold the shifter knob steady better. I finally felt something that felt like it slipped a little, more WD-40 in the oil holes and it moved some more. A very noticeable amount of dark crud seemed to be exiting with the WD-40 so I continued to jiggle and run more WD-40 into the shifter knob. It got better and better eventually clicking in & out of position with a little extra turn which seems to lock it in either speed.

So now I have a functional shifting knob that I think will get even better as it soaks in WD-40. There is a distinct slide and click to the mechanism now that makes me think I will be able to recover the shifter to full operational condition. Yes, I am a very happy camper. It seems that persistence is a very valuable asset in one of these projects. My drill has been soaking for around a week now.

I did find something else to worry about though. One of the teeth in the gears appears to be much thinner. I guess this would be due to wear since I can not think of any functional purpose it might serve. I am wondering how much problem this single flimsy tooth (top tooth in picture below) might cause?

130781

Restore on,
Mike

[Bob Easton]

Good!!! Yes, it sounds like you're on your way to a functional shifter.

That thin tooth does look worrisome. It is on the slow speed pinion. Maybe someone really cranked that one with a lot of torque once upon a time? It probably won't be a problem if you keep it in mind and avoid heavy torque when in slow speed. If you get to the point of needing more torque than normal spinning will provide, change to a brace.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am starting to reconsider how much time I want to spend refurbishing the MF980. I discovered some more thin teeth on the pinion that would work opposite the other thin tooth. It appears that someone applied enough pressure on the lower gear setting to damage several teeth. It may not be wise to expend too much energy on a drill that may not last and have limited utility.

I may have to find another drill more worthy of this degree of attention.

Mike