'Buck Rogers' drill, repaint or polish? *NEW PIC*

[Peter Pedisich]

Hi,

I have a Millers Falls 'Buck Rogers' eggbeater (photo of my drill below) and the paint is flaking off pretty much wherever there is paint. Would it be terrible if I were to strip the paint and polish the aluminum case?
I'm not a collector, I just wish to use it and enjoy it, but at the same time I don't wish to do something foolish that I'll regret later...or I should say I don't want to do something foolish this time.
I'm sure if it was a collectible, I would be hurting it's value by stripping and polishing it, but it's just an eggbeater drill from the '50's, right?

Thanks for any insight,


Pete

[george wilson]

I advise you to do some research first and find out how rare and valuable the drill might be. I don't know about these myself. Any refinished vintage or antique item is worth less than it would have been in its original finish. Your drill doesn't look bad the way it is.

[Jim Koepke]

The look does not appeal to me, that doesn't mean a collector wouldn't pay a lot for it just the way it is.

I like the look of my MF #2s. I have thought of giving them a paint job, but that can be done another day. Once done, it can not be undone. The old #2s are almost as common as dirt so a paint job isn't likely to hurt it.

jtk

[Mike Holbrook]

Yours is in better shape than the one I got in a multi drill deal. I don't think I would do much to it. There are other Buck Rodgers items, you could try to get them all and sell them or just enjoy the set. Most of the drills of that type I have seen were sold as parts of groups of tools. I guess the market for them individually is not that great at the moment.

[Brian Ward]

Hey, uh, isn't that the photo I took of my Millers Falls #104 for this post (http://www.galoototron.com/2006/12/09/frivolous-purchase-1/) on my blog a little more than five years ago? If so, I don't think it's an accurate representation of yours.

I think it's a pretty good drill; it's a very smooth mechanism when cared for. If you plan to use it, you may not even want to bother with trying to refinish it in any way. I don't really use mine much, but that's only because I have a pair of MF #2s and a pair of #5s.

As for its collector value, it hasn't been an incredibly hot item in the past, but the design is unique and was designed by the noted industrial designer Francesco Collura.

[Peter Pedisich]

Brian,

Yes, that appears to be yours, I just used google images to get a pic, since I did not take one of mine. Mine is not in the condition of yours, at least a full step behind, I would think. On mine the paint is flaking. But the rest is very similar.
I will certainly remove the photo if you wish, just let me know.
In any event, I've decided to just clean the inner workings and oil, leaving it as is.

Pete

[Brian Ward]

I don't particularly care if you use the image, but in the future, a little attribution would be nice (this pretty much applies to any original image you find on the web). Not that the photo is a particularly good one...

[Peter Pedisich]

Brian,

Yes, you are absolutely right. I just rushed to do it, but I've replaced it with a pic of my drill, and you can see it's pretty rough - although it functions fine.
By the way, you have a great site...really like the saw handles you have made, nice workmanship.

Pete

[Brian Ward]

Hey, no problem. Your drill doesn't actually look all that bad to me, believe it or not. I just dug mine out of the box it was hiding in--I'd forgotten how smooth those things are.

Glad you like the site. If you haven't tried your own saw handles yet, try it yourself, on some cheap wood if you like. It' s a lot of fun.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Hi,

I have a Millers Falls 'Buck Rogers' eggbeater (photo of my drill below) and the paint is flaking off pretty much wherever there is paint. Would it be terrible if I were to strip the paint and polish the aluminum case?
I'm not a collector, I just wish to use it and enjoy it, but at the same time I don't wish to do something foolish that I'll regret later...or I should say I don't want to do something foolish this time.
I'm sure if it was a collectible, I would be hurting it's value by stripping and polishing it, but it's just an eggbeater drill from the '50's, right?

Thanks for any insight,


Pete

Amount of paint peeling doesn't look that bad. Leave it as is and use it. There is a bit of collector interest in the MF "Buck Rogers" tools, so you won't have much of a problem selling it.