Educate me on hand drills

[Derrell W Sloan]

I would like to get a good hand drill but I really don't know much about them. I am leaning towards getting an older one off ebay but I don't know which older brands are good and which to stay away from or what to look for. I have also noticed that there are lots of different model numbers of old hand drills. Anyone have a favorite to recommend? Or would I be better off getting a new one and if so from where? In addition to my use, I also think my younger kids would love to use one as well. Any advice would be appreciated

[Jim Koepke]

Darrell,

Your profile doesn't list your location. If you are in my area, you are welcome to come by and try the ones in my shop.

Mostly I use my Millers Falls #2 egg beater style for small holes and the larger holes get drilled with various braces and auger bits.

I am very satisfied with my Millers Falls egg beater and actually have two of them. There are a few Stanley and an old damaged Yankee that just collect dust.

jtk

[Derrell W Sloan]

Thanks for the invite Jim. I'd take you up on it but I live in Texas. I just stumbled across an interesting web site, http://oldtoolheaven.com. On it I found some info from a fella who should be the authority on Miller Falls drills:

n February 1956, Joe Guilbault, a veteran of fifty years in the Millers Falls hand drill department, was interviewed for the firm's employee magazine, Dyno-mite. During his long tenure, Guilbault worked on sixty-one different hand drill models, fitting the gears on more drills than perhaps anyone in the history of the company. Asked if he has a favorite among all the models, Guilbault replied, "The number two, that is it. The best hand drill in all the world. The number five, too. I like two and five best."

Based on this and Jims input I think I'll keep my eyes open for a Miller Falls #2.

[Pam Niedermayer]

There's a LN event in Austin next weekend, the 7th & 8th, and Dowd Tools from the Dallas area will be there, presumably with old tools galore to sell. Should be lots of fun. I might even go, it's being held at a lumber yard.

Pam

[Joshua Clark]

The Millers Falls No. 2 is probably the most common eggbeater drill you'll find. It's a fine drill to use- good for small and medium size jobs. It'll take a bit up to 1/4 in. which is about as large as you want to go with an eggbeater. There's not too much that can go wrong with them- make sure the gears turn freely and the chuck tightens and loosens properly. The earlier models are very nice looking.

The No. 5 is also very common- a bit smaller, taking a 3/16 in. and the later ones up to 1/4in. bit. It's also a fine drill, just a bit smaller. Same caveats apply as the No. 2.

Millers Falls is the most common manufacturer you'll see. Other quality makers include Goodell Pratt, North Brothers and Stanley. If you want to spend a little less, Craftsman drills were made by Millers Falls and are of excellent quality. There were an almost infinite number of models and variations produced over the past 130 years. Some of the North Brothers models had an especially high level of gizmosity. The 1530 is a great example of this.

Eggbeaters are very common- you won't have a problem finding a good one. Why stop at one though? :)

Josh

[Bob Jones]

I bought a no. 2 Mf earlier this year. I liked it so much that I bought 3 more different kinds to play with. They are a real blast. My 1530 just came in the mail today. A little wd40 and I think it will be ready to get back to work!

[Derrell W Sloan]

Pam thanks for the heads up on the LN event- I live in Austin. A few weeks ago the folks from Dowd tools (at least I think it was them) had a show at the Ginger man pub down town. I hope their showing at the LN event will be better than what I saw there, it was pretty sad.

[Brian Ashton]

The batteries for hand drills never get tired or die... I have two and wouldn't trade them for anything. The ones that are multiple speeds are an added bonus.

The caveat to this is I don't do woodwork for a living anymore. I love the silence of hand tools...

[Jim Koepke]

There is a lot of information available on the Millers Falls #2.

Here is just on article:

http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS-borTools/MillersFalls/tools/No2HD/No2-1903-Anatomy/mfHD-No2-1903-Anatomy-01.asp

jtk

[russell lusthaus]

Ditto on what Brian said - silence is golden. I dont think you can go wrong with any type of the egg beater styles mentioned. Bring a can of WD-40 with you if you go in person to clean them up and see if they still work well.

[art san jr]

Like they said, the MF #2 is the most common and is hard to beat. Readily available, everybody should own one, like a right of passage.
Just do not get a modern contraption, they don't make 'em like they used to, and why bother, the MF is so superior to the modern. DAMHIK.

Art.

Best Wishes for THE NEW YEAR.

[Don Dorn]

I looked for a Miller Falls when searching for one, but bought a Military surplus Sogard that has a 3/8 capacity. I love it and have two ready to go with one with an 1/8" bit and and one for a pilot and countersink. I had a #1 sized once and didn't care for it as I think it's harder to generate the speed necessary. The MF or the Sogard turns the bit fast and is so handy, my battery drills hardley see any action other than driving pocket screws. I think the Sogard is a good user quality drill and turns effortlessly but not as spit and polish as a MF.

[Joel Goodman]

Whatever you get you'll end up with several. They're inexpensive and it's handy to have one for the countersink and one or two for the bits. I have two small Stanley's and a larger Stanley and MF. The MF is the nicest one I have. They're addictive so beware!

[Pam Niedermayer]

Pam thanks for the heads up on the LN event- I live in Austin. A few weeks ago the folks from Dowd tools (at least I think it was them) had a show at the Ginger man pub down town. I hope their showing at the LN event will be better than what I saw there, it was pretty sad.

I didn't attend the Ginger show, sorry to hear it was poor. It's not that I actually need anything much these days, which is a good thing since none of the tool sellers seem to have acknowledged the recession. In fact, I may start selling extras any day now.

Pam

[Andrew Gibson]

I picked up a millers falls #5. It's a great drill and I would recomend a #5 if you come across a nice one.

[Marv Werner]

175713Did someone mention "addictive"?? :D

175710175711175712http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/pencil.png

[Joshua Clark]

I see a couple of Millers Falls No. 97s in there, Marv. The 97 is probably my favorite manufactured tool ever made. It has an amazing amount of engineering in that little transmission. Nice display!

Josh

[Marv Werner]

Josh, the No.97 is my favorite also. I call it the Mother of all breast drills. I like big breast....plates

[Bill Houghton]

I differ from others on the subject of the Millers Falls No. 2. I have two - one from my father, one from a garage sale - and both of them have such floppy handles (back handle, this is) that they're unusable, wobbling all over the place. Perhaps these are late models, but I would never buy a No. 2 unless I could hold it in my hands to confirm that the handle's tight.

I have a mid-size North Bros. drill, using the same multi-purpose ratchet that other North Bros. drills (like the 1530) use, that I like; and I love the Stanley No. 610, which has all sorts of thrust bearings and fancies that make up for the die-cast frame. I picked up a Millers Falls No. 70 last Fall, but haven't had time to clean it up and test it out yet.

[Jim Koepke]

I differ from others on the subject of the Millers Falls No. 2. I have two - one from my father, one from a garage sale - and both of them have such floppy handles (back handle, this is) that they're unusable, wobbling all over the place. Perhaps these are late models, but I would never buy a No. 2 unless I could hold it in my hands to confirm that the handle's tight.


Bill,

This is a common problem with the Millers Falls #2. There is a pin through the ferrule. Remove this pin and the handle can be unscrewed. Depending on the age of the drill one can either make a new ferrule from some copper tubing or as in my case just use some shavings in strategic places to prevent the rocking.

Searching for information on this it looks like mine did not get any pictures taken when it was done.

This article explains some of the things to do to restore a Millers Falls #2

http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS-borTools/MillersFalls/tools/No2HD/No2-1903-Anatomy/mfHD-No2-1903-Anatomy-01.asp

That may have been why I didn't bother to photograph my restorations.

One of mine is used all the time and the handle is still solid since its repair.

jtk

[Dan Andrews]

175797Unfortunately it is the beautiful old rosewood head hand drills that get loose heads for disintigrating threads. I disassemble, apply Gorilla Glue, reassemble quickly, tighten a hose clamp on the outside so the expanding glue doesn't split the wood. I have done several and it has worked out well.

The hand drills I use the most are MF 1980 ratcheting 2 speed with 3/8" chuck, MF# 2 and a small Goodell Pratt which holds very small bits particularly well.

I dito what someone above recommended as good brands.

[Johnny Kleso]

Marv,
I love that you use a tool as a stand for your drills...
Cleave way to display your drills...

[Derrell W Sloan]

Thanks for all the info folks. I got a Miller Falls #2 off of ebay for $20 (and that included shipping). It looks like it will need a good cleaning but the seller said it was in good working condition. For $20 I figured I couldn't go wrong. Now for a good brace .....

[Marv Werner]

Hi Johnny,

Thanks. The bases are 4" dia. concaved grinding wheels. They have large center holes. To deal with that, I used two large fender washers, a 1/4-20 bolt and nut. The bolt is long enough for the drill chuck to clamp onto.

The other bases that are on the eggbeater drills are black anodized steel cones that I got from a job I did while in business. I machined the part that the drill clamps onto that is Loctited into the hole that was already in the steel cone.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I recently took in a early 70's MF #2 from eBay, unused and boxed as a gift from a few friends of mine that knew I was looking for another one after not seeing any I liked recently. (it was military surplus, I imagine there is a chance this may have come from the same place as Don Dorn's Sogard - seems like a few MF and Sogard drills from military surplus have shown up on eBay and a few places lately)

The finish was not nearly as smooth and pretty as the older one's I've had an used, but that was just cosmetic. I was really disappointed with the chuck, however - (which is why I started rambling on here) I know enough to check the chuck for missing parts when I buy used, but if you're looking around, at least if it's a later era drill, (which I've been seeing more of recently, for whatever reason) might be a good idea to bring a drill bit and make sure the bit centers well. This one did not; it was remedied with a fair bit of fettling. The big problem with this one was that there was some nubs on the bottom of one of the jaw pieces that made it mate poorly with the thrust washer, so one jaw pushed out further than the others. The result was a bit that was terribly un-centered and walked around as the drill was spun. The inside of the chuck also benefited from some smoothing out. It still doesn't play as well as most of the others I've used. I don't think I would have picked a newer model like this on my own, but sometimes the "ooh, shiny!" part of my brain takes over when looking at old tools, so who knows.

I also like this other article at WK Fine tools for tuning a number 2. It's a different one than was linked above.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/tRestore/miscTools/tuningEggbeater/restEB1.asp

sorry if this was a bit rambling...

[Bill Houghton]

...but sometimes the "ooh, shiny!" part of my brain takes over when looking at old tools...

That may be the quote of the day.

[Derrell W Sloan]

Thanks for the info folks. I picked up a Miller Falls #2 for $20. It needs a little cleaning but hopefully it will be a good user and for that price if nothing else the kids will like it.

[Johnny Kleso]

Here are some of my drills.
176119
176121

The big Yankee is a two speed and pretty sweet
The two Yankee/Stanley's in the lower pic are 100 Plus models made for Stanley's 100th year

[Mark Wyatt]

Here are the catalog pages on the Miller Falls #2 and #5 from the 1959 catalog.