GLOAT - Millers Falls no97

[Mike Olson]

So I hit my first Estate sale of the year yesterday.
I found an old breast drill hanging in an unlit corner of the basement and I picket it up to look at it. Turned it around and went Whoa when I saw all the gears. I bought it for $15 and left happy. Did a little searching online about it and was impressed with this thing. The Continuous Motion gearing is really cool.

Here are some Before-After shots. Cleanup was with a toothbrush dipped in Acetone then a Baking soda/water paste scrub with a towel. Applied a coat of paste wax and bingo, i've got a great new user. I'll be selling my old breast drill shortly.
Here is how it looked when I first got it, and then with it all cleaned up.
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Took it all apart, then an after shot of it cleaned up.
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Here is the Before and after shot of the MF No97 stamp
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[Don Orr]

Score ! Nice cleanup.

[Johnny Kleso]

Looks more dirty than rusty which I guess is good :)

I'm not sure Dupli-Color Motor Paint has a matching color but I use it for hand planes and is super strong like japanning..
You will have to remove old paint 100% or it might peel up.. Its is easy to find at most auto stores

[Dan Andrews]

Thanks for great pics Mike. I have not seen a #97 in person. Nice cleanup. Personaly, I would not remove any old finnish or repaint anything. With as much original finish it does have, plus the decal, for a user or collector drill I vote keep original. Fascinating gear arrangement.
$15. and no shipping charges- gloat worthy!

[john brenton]

One of my first tools was a mohawk breast drill and I have not found a use for it yet.

[Jim Koepke]

One of my first tools was a mohawk breast drill and I have not found a use for it yet.

When you have one of those everything looks like it would be better with a few holes.

Nice find.

jtk

[Marv Werner]

Mike,

I have six or seven of those No.97,s. Mother of all breast drills. My favorite. I used to collect them.

I'm with Dan, clean it, oil it, make it work smoothly, but best to not paint it if you ever want to sell it. A good 97 like that will sell on eBay between 50 and 90 dollars, however, I don't see the side handle or the extra large removable breast plate.

Acetone is way too harsh for cleaning a drill like that. Better to use a mild solvent like mineral spirits.

Does the shifting mechanism work smoothly? Sometimes they are difficult to swift from one position to the other.

For fifteen dollars, you just can't go wrong even if it doesn't have a side handle or large breast plate.

[Dan Andrews]

John-- Breast drills are great for drilling metal. Also I like the breast drill for bits over 1/4" which can be hard to use in hand drills. They work great in wood with twist drills in the 1/4" to 1/2" range. If you have the 2 jaw model you will need twist drills with the square tang of course. And the 3 jaw chuck allows you to use your round shank twist drills. Can you get by without a breast drill?... you bet, but for the few bucks they typically sell for why not have one. If you get it the habbit of using one when appropriate I think you will find it does have a useful place in the wood shop.:)

Jim-- You bet! I seemed to determine that my projects needed lots of ventilation holes one I got a breast drill.:D

Marv-- Do any other models of MF breast drills use the same side handle as the #97? buying a rough drill with the correct side handle might be the least expensive way to resore this 97 if Mike wants to resore it to original.:)

[Gary Herrmann]

Very nice score and cleanup. I've got one of those. It's a beast. Find a matching bolt size and turn or shape yourself a side handle for it. Checking the gear mechanism is a good idea. Mine was stiff when I first got it. I wouldn't want to take the mechanism apart on one of those.



Mike,
I have six or seven of those No.97,s. Mother of all breast drills. My favorite. I used to collect them.



I think I like the selector on the NB 1545 better than these though. It seems more intuitive to me.


Marv, 6 or 7? I call foul. That requires pics.

[Marv Werner]

Dan,

Yes, MF made a number of breast drills that use the same side handle. This specific handle was made with a handy screw driver blade at the end. Other breast drills with this handle are, the #99, #100, #2100, #200, #87. These drills are shown in the 1925 catalog. There might be others that showed up in later years.

Other large MF breast drills use the same handle and screw size, but don't have the screw driver blade.

After getting into collecting these old drills, I stopped buying any that didn't have the side handle. But for only 15$ I'd probably go for it anyway.

Dan, you need a MF No.97. You will just love that big breast plate.... :D

[Mike Olson]

This one replaced a MF 12 that I was using and the side handle does fit the 97 but I don't think I'll take it as the wood is different and I plan on selling the 12 and would feel bad about keeping the handle. I'll just make a new one.
As for the uses of a Breast Drill. I leave my pocket hole drill bit chucked into it. Every time i need to hang some new tool I pull it out. I used it a couple times to drill 1/4" holes in metal and also to drill out the rivets when replacing the power door lock in my burb.