Teach me about hand drills.

[Andrew Gibson]

I have the usual electric and cordless drills but I have never used a hand drill. I have a couple of bit braces that belonged to my grandfather and a cigar box fill of auger bits that I picked up at a flea market for a couple bucks, but never have used them over the electric drills.

I keep running across bits and peaces about hand drills and realised I know very little about them, who made/makes good ones. What to look for when buying an old one, etc.

If anyone wants to share some knowledge on the subject or can point me in the right direction to some quality info that would be great.

I know they are a simple machine, and it's time I looked into one or two of them so when I run across a gloat worthy deal I realise it.

[Jim Koepke]

Andrew,

I thought this was in the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQ section, but it is not:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=131238

There is a little more in this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=135061

When one wants to make a hole that is at an angle or perpendicular to the surface a bevel gauge or squares can help when used as a guide. Check Bob Smalser's post on this, he shows the use of bevel gauges when making the mortises for some stool legs:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=13090

That should keep you busy for a while.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

Forgot to mention a good place to learn about the braces:

http://www.georgesbasement.com/

jim

[Bill Houghton]

Jim's offered some good resources for braces. I'm aware of two other drill types that are good to have:

1. Push drills are optimized for holes for installing hardware - screw holes, in other words. I'm not aware of any good, comprehensive online resource for this; you might Google "push drills," and wander around there. I consider these one of the highlights of late 19th/early 20th century technology; what they do, they do really well. There seem to be two major shank types out there: the Yankee type you find on North Bros. (or, later, Stanley - Stanley acquired North Bros. after World War II) drills, which have two notches in the shank, one at the end to provide positive driving force and another, rounded one partway up the shank for a ball that locks the bit into the chuck; and a type used on Goodell-Pratt, at least some Millers-Falls, and other (including Craftsman and Dunlap) drills, which are cruciform, with four grooves. The latter type are really hard to find (if I ever stumble over a supply of them, I've got three or four push drills waiting), so you should look for North Bros/Stanley drills with bits. The bits are properly straight-fluted, not twist, and sharpened nearly flat at the tip.

Stepping away from woodworking, if you find yourself installing blinds, curtains, etc. in your house or apartment, these are dynamite: they'll fit in your jeans pocket, weigh very little, and won't fall off the ladder like a cordless drill can. And, in the time it would take you to reach down for a cordless drill, align it, and turn it on, you'll have drilled a hardware-screw hole with a push drill.

2. Eggbeater* drills, which fill the interval between push drills (which, although they take bits up to 11/64", really prefer holes 1/8" and smaller) and braces. There are lots of makes, and lots of opinions. I happen to like the Stanley 610 (nice if you have kids or grandkids around, as the gears are completely shielded), which has great thrust and other bearings; and the North Bros Yankee drills, which use the same kind of ratcheting mechanism as the Yankee screwdrivers to offer right and left ratcheting, double ratcheting (the bit turns to the right no matter which way the handle turns, which is too cool to believe and actually quite useful), and locking, nice to get the bit firmly in the chuck. These are less common than the Millers-Falls No. 2, which a lot of people think is the bees' knees, but which I don't like as much because my two examples have very floppy handles. Randy Roeder's Millers-Falls site (http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill.htm) is a good site, and you can generalize from his discussions to other makes. Aside from my two favorites, look for: cast iron construction, two pinion gears (the back one just keeps the gear wheel aligned, but makes a difference in efficient power transmission), firmly attached everything, little or no play in the spindle, and a chuck that works smoothly (though these can be refurbished easily enough if all parts are present - but, as a beginner, how will you know? So look for a complete and working chuck).

Eggbeater drills come in several sizes, from kinda little to kinda big. Optimally, you want a kinda little one and a kinda big one. The larger ones will drive larger bits. There are also breast drills (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/breast+drill), which, for wood, overlap the function of braces and aren't necessary, which doesn't explain why I own five (one's from my uncle, and, for the others, all I can say is, "They weren't expensive." :o).

A tip on eggbeater drills: when tightening the bit in the chuck, get it finger-tight, then orient the crank handle so you can pull it toward you or down, put the drill against your body in a way that holds it firmly with the crank handle accessible (cradling it along one arm with the back handle against your elbow or belly is best), grip the chuck with the hand on the drill-cradling arm, and use the other hand to pull the crank handle down/in firmly. This gives way better grip than trying to hold the crank handle still and twist the chuck. Note that, if you do score a Yankee drill, this won't be as important, since you can lock the spindle and tighten the chuck as much as your grip permits.

*I find it necessary to point out what an eggbeater is: http://www.amazon.com/chefgadget-Egg-Beater-Stainless-Steel/dp/B001SRCHFU, because I worked with a student employee once who, when I sent her (gender isn't really relevant here) to get the drill from my toolkit in the office, couldn't find it, even after I told her "eggbeater drill."

[Eric Brown]

There are several things effecting how well a brace works. In simple terms the sweep of the brace determines the mechanical advantage. For instance, a 3" handle offset makes a 6" diameter circle (or sweep) in it's swing. A 12" sweep makes a 12" diameter circle, etc.. While the 12" sweep makes the work twice as easy as the 6", it also takes longer to go around the greater distance.

Another thing effecting the effort of boring is the diameter, depth of hole, and style of bit. Smaller bits require less effort. Some styles are strong and resist clogging when boring deep holes, (like the Irwin and Ford), some make smoother holes (Forstner), some work better in softer woods than harder woods (Russell Jennings). Some are good for reboring holes larger (Cook) or boring at angles (Cook and Spoon). Most auger bits have a lead screw, the exceptions being the spoon and some ship augers. Most auger bits do not do well boring end grain. Sometimes, bits with lead screw may follow the grain.

Like other cutters, sharp always works easier. Wax helps at the start of the cut, but wears off before boring gets deep.

My personal "go to" braces are the ball-bearing chucked 4" & 5" braces and the Ford style bits.

An excellent reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=8dwOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA688&lpg=PA688&dq=ford+auger+bit&source=bl&ots=dxX_YKnO2e&sig=_Qq8GXrrazIstFD0QHIR2zO_tA8&hl=en&ei=KyOJS6r3FYbflAeEx6XQAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCMQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=ford%20auger%20bit&f=false

Enjoy. Eric

[Bob Jones]

So, how do the Lee Valley brace and egg beater drill compare to the better antiques?

[Eric Brown]

The newer braces don't compare to the best of the old ones. For instance, the Peck-Stow and Wilcox "Samson" ballbearing model not only has bearings in the head, but also at the chuck. In an earlier post by Jim, he linked to Georges basement. Look at it and see exploded views of the Stanley 2101 series. At the end of the chuck where it presses the jaws together is a ring with bearings. This allows a much tighter grip to be made on a bit. While I like the PS&W brace, I like the 2101 style better for several reasons. It has a much smoother ratchet with much finer teeth. It also has a closed ratchet mechanism to keep dirt out. Note that the 2101 series was made by North, then Yankee and then by Stanley after buying the others. Many of these braces are stamped "Bell" (for Ma Bell) and were made for heavy duty use. One thing to watch for is the way to reverse the ratchet. The better ones have a pin that slides up and down. Later the pin was changed to a rotating plastic ring and coarser ratchet. Also note that the better braces have universal jaws (usually 2) that hold round, square or even tapered bits.

One additional thought is the braces without chucks. I personally don't know about the wooden ones (like Ultimatum), but the Fray Spofford or the Taylor styles only handle the square shanked bits. However, they also have good balance, quick bit changes and reduce bit wobble a lot. Ratchets are usually only used when in tight areas and sometimes only add weight. (Wich may be good or bad depending).

One more thing: Plastic handles. Most of the new braces have lightweight plastic handles that feel like plastic. The 2101 braces typically also have plastic handles but the plastic is very heavy and dense.

Eric

[Russell Sansom]

I'll throw in my experience: I keep two small eggbeaters. In one is the smaller drill used for the pilot hole. This bit perfectly aligns the two boards that are going to be screwed together. In the second drill is a larger bit which is, if possible, exactly the diameter as the screw shaft where it meets the head. This way, I can back drill the connected board so the screw won't bind without having to swap bits in and out of a single egg beater.

In these days of tapered bits, perhaps you wouldn't need to swap bits. But I've worked this way for so long now, it's become trusted habit. And, most of the tapered bits I've seen have such coarse threads ( in order to expel chips ) that I don't think they'd work well in a typical low-torque egg beater.
I keep my two little drills hinging upside-down from their chucks on forked holders in their own cabinet. This way I can leave the bits chucked, ready for action.

One more thing. I've found that some kind of sense-of-depth is necessary. Both your hands are busy, so it's easy to get distracted. Shop-made soda-straw equivalents work well on small bits ( a drilled-out dowel, cut to length) . Otherwise you risk punching right through the wall of your wife's new, delicate jewelry box when you're drilling for the hinges. Etc.

[Bill Houghton]

It's true that some of the top of the line braces are smooth and nifty. I've stumbled over a few of these name braces.

It's also true that, at the bottom end, a lot of braces are ready to be turned into raw material for something better.

But in between are thousands, probably tens of thousands, of braces that drilled millions of holes quite adequately and are still ready to drill more. In this area, which (somewhat to my surprise*) is middling rich in old tools, I can on any given weekend day during garage sale season pick up two or three perfectly adequate braces in decent shape for $1-3 each; you may have a richer or poorer supply there, but it's hard for me to imagine a part of the country, except maybe Manhattan, where you couldn't find a brace or two at garage or rummage sales.

As with eggbeater drills, the street tests are primarily tolerable smoothness of operation of each part, decent condition of the jaws (look for sharpish corners on the jaws where the bit goes in, although my first brace looked like it had been reamed out very poorly, and still worked fine), general condition, and the absence of plastic parts (with the exception of some of the premium plastics, like the Millers-Falls braces, which are rare as hen's teeth, at least around here).

My point: don't feel you can't possibly drill good holes unless you own a top-of-the-line brace. You can get by fine with a sound middle-of-the-road one. To refer back to my post's title, you don't need a Mercedes to get to work every day; you just need sound, reliable transportation (this metaphor breaks down, of course, if you take public transit; but you can then pat yourself on the back for your environmental virtue).

The harder problem, and the more important one, is finding good auger bits, straight, not worn out or sharpened to death, and affordably priced.

*Why am I surprised? The town in which I live, now about 7,000 people, had 1,800 in 1942, and the surrounding area was, if anything, even less populated; and yet, there are a lot of tools around compared to what I hear from friends in other parts of the country where there were more people in the first half of the 20th century, when hand tools were how things got done.

[Andrew Gibson]

Thanks for all the info all! Looks like I have a good amount of reading to do, and I should have a good idea of what to look for.

[Jim Koepke]

On thing about braces, when I am looking at them I always check the angular play between the chuck and the crank. Everyone that I have handled has a little wobble. If in my opinion it has a lot, I do not give it any more consideration unless I am looking for parts. With braces so common, there has been not yet been a need for parts.

One thought on Bills comment about there being a lot of braces at the yard sales and garage sales in his area. It may have been that people who moved into his area already had hand tools in there possessions when they moved into Sebastopol. Also, many of them may have been employed in the building and other trades around Santa Rosa.

jim

[Bob Jones]

Thanks for the info. No old tools in /my area that I know of. My antiques were all bougt online. I am really liking new tools these days, because I would rather spend more time working with tools than working on tools.

[Joel Goodman]

Another note: Some braces take only square shanked bits and some take both round and square bits. I have a pair of Stanley 923's which take both. Which leads me to sizes -- mine are a 6" and 12" throw -- ie the radius of the circle the handle would trace is 6" or 12". 10" is the most common, and best general purpose brace. 6" is handy for small stuff or tight spaces; the 12" has a lot of power. By the way nothing is better at getting out a stubborn stuck screw than a brace with a screwdriver bit! And unlike planes there are many old braces out there that are ready to go.

[Bill Houghton]

[my braces] are a 6" and 12" throw -- ie the radius of the circle the handle would trace is 6" or 12".

I believe it's the diameter of the circle that the handle traces, rather than the radius. A brace on which the handle was offset 12" from the chuck would be awkward for most of us to use.

So, take the measurement from the chuck center to the center of the cranking handle, and double it to get the throw.

[Joel Goodman]

Bill you are so right -- a 12" throw brace has a 6" measurement from the center of the chuck to the handle -- so to speak. Sometimes the typing gets ahead of the brain. I do find the 12" helps with the larger holes --extra torque. With double that I could really drill a big hole!

[Jules Martin]

So, how do the Lee Valley brace and egg beater drill compare to the better antiques?

The little German-made eggbeater from LV is the only thing I've ever sent back to them. It was rickety and hard to turn with that annoying gear tooth vibration. It's so not worth the money that I rather think no-one there has ever taken one out of the box.

[Mark Kosmowski]

Is a push drill the same as a pin vise? If not, how are these two tools different?

Thanks!

[Jerome Hanby]

*I find it necessary to point out what an eggbeater is: http://www.amazon.com/chefgadget-Egg-Beater-Stainless-Steel/dp/B001SRCHFU, because I worked with a student employee once who, when I sent her (gender isn't really relevant here) to get the drill from my toolkit in the office, couldn't find it, even after I told her "eggbeater drill."

Those make big holes, but it takes forever :eek:

[Bill Houghton]

Is a push drill the same as a pin vise? If not, how are these two tools different?

A pin vise holds pins or really small drill bits, like No. 61 or smaller. The only turning motion imparted to the bit is you spinning the vise in your fingers. It's also useful for holding small, pin-like things - jewelry wire or that sort of thing - and is often sold as a jeweler's tool. See http://www.micromark.com/PIN-VISE-and-DRILL-BIT-SET,7804.html for an example.

As a drill, a pin vise would mainly be useful for jewelry or other very, very small work.

Push drills use drill bits specifically made for the push drill, in larger sizes than pin vises will generally hold. For an example, see http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=69P01.01&bhcd2=1270690603. Pushing down on the handle causes the bit to turn, and letting go (on most models) causes the bit to turn backwards, clearing the sawdust. That's why it's called a push drill. Bits range from 1/16" (the max size in most pin vises, and about the smallest useful size for woodworking and similar hardware screws) up to 11/64" or so (just shy of 3/16", in other words).

You might want to stop by your local library and see what kind of books they have on basic tools.

[Dan Andrews]

Two additional things to consider when buying an eggbeater:

A longer chuck usually found on the better quality drills, provides longer jaw contact with the bit and therefore is less likely to slip.

Many of the old eggbeaters have a cap on the end of the head, and a hollow handle to store bits in. The problem with these is that as you grip the head to stop the drill from turning, you are unscrewing the cap inadvertantly. If a drill is for use and does not have great collector value you can just glue the cap on. Don't forget to take the bits out first. LOL

The best eggbeater that I have ever used is a Millers Falls # 2B. It meats both of the above criteria of long chuck and solid head. Smooth as silk and lots of torque. (I have about 40 hand ((eggbeater)) drills, so I have had the opportunity to try quite a variety).

The Brace I am now using most frequently is a Millers Falls 10" Lion Chuck model that has the ball bearings in the chuck and universal jaws. It tightens down on any bit very well. I have been using it for the past couple days to work on my dock.
Although it doesn't have the ball bearing in the chuck, the Stanley 923 with a universal chuck is a high quality brace also.

[Mark Kosmowski]

Thanks for the link to see what a push drill looked like, Bill. I've used pin vises before for drilling, but had never even heard of a push drill before this thread. The basic tool books I have read did not discuss push drills. Your description of a push made me think of a big pin vise, so I decided to ask. Having asked, my ignorance was lifted.

Again, thank you.