Advice on Neander Drills

[Michael Ray Smith]

I'm considering taking another step in the Neander direction and getting one or more hand drills -- probably vintage, just because I enjoy those sorts of things. I have my dad's old Craftsman brace that I remember him using on occasion back in the 60's, but I'm happy to just put it up on a shelf as a keepsake, if it's not the best working choice.

So, any advice for the best choices for hand drills? What's the most useful type: Brace? Eggbeater? Push drill? Desirable features? Best brands?

[Archie England]

I'm considering taking another step in the Neander direction and getting one or more hand drills -- probably vintage, just because I enjoy those sorts of things. I have my dad's old Craftsman brace that I remember him using on occasion back in the 60's, but I'm happy to just put it up on a shelf as a keepsake, if it's not the best working choice.

So, any advice for the best choices for hand drills? What's the most useful type: Brace? Eggbeater? Push drill? Desirable features? Best brands?

A Push Drill with several bits is a great investment!! Easy to use, great starter for screws or pilot holes. Millers Falls, Yankee, and some older Craftsman are great users.

For eggbeaters--Goodell Pratts and Millers Falls, especially the #2 series and some #5s, are super to use. I've got a Craftsman and a Dunlap that are great users, as well. The Stanley's, to me, are not so great. I've got the 624 in pristine shape, but it's just not the quality of the older Millers Falls.

On the push drills, pay a little more to get one clean and ready to go. The $25 + is pretty solid for price.
On eggbeaters, the better ones go for $50 or more. Be extremely careful and picky about whom you buy from!!!! Chuck problems abound here and can really make buying cheap, unseen drills a problem.

My 2 cents!

[Sean Richards]

Push drills are nice - you can pick them up cheap if you are patient. North Bros. Yankee No. 41 is a classic example and I like mine. Replacement bits are available from Garret-Wade.

You can pay ridiculous amounts of money for the 'popular' eggbeaters - I have an English made Stanley that works just fine - cost all of $5 USD.

Braces can cost you silly money as well - as long as the jaws are OK any old brace will be good. I like the non-ratcheting ones for furniture work.

[Steve Branam]

I'm partial to Spofford braces when I don't need ratcheting action. They're nearly 150 years old, dead simple, and generally less than $40 dollars. As long as they're not bent, they work amazingly well, partly because they're much lighter than ratcheting braces. I have both 8" and 12" sweeps. The 8 is my main workhorse, fine for all but the heaviest boring, at which point the extra leverage of the 12 kicks in.

I also have a Yankee #41 push drill and a Millers Falls #2 eggbeater (available for $5-15). If you get a #2, put a couple drops of 3-in-1 oil in the oil holes and work it back and forth, you'll be amazed at the difference it makes. It should be smooth enough that if you turn it slowly side to side, the weight of the handle will spin it. That means it has fast, smooth action. In use with decent bits, you crank it at steady speed and apply light pressure on the handle. You shouldn't need to put a lot of force on it; rotation speed does the work.

[Joel Goodman]

Get a few eggbeaters -- one of the nice things is to have a bit chucked in one eggbeater and a countersink in another. For braces a smaller one 6 or 8 inch throw is nice for quicker action, a big 12 inch for the big bits. 10 inch is the "standard" most common general purpose size. Some chucks hold all bits, some only the square shank type. The all seem to hold the hex screwdriver bits made for power drills and screwdrivers. Which is handy as nothing but nothing can persuade a stubborn screw like a brace with a screwdriver bit. These are really handy tools in the shop and around the house. For eggbeaters I have some small Stanleys and a wonderful Millers Falls #2. For Braces I have 2 Stanley 923s which are nice and a Bell Systems that's a tank. The great thing about these simple tools is how well they do the job!

[Mike Holbrook]

Archie gave you a nice summary of drill types and good models to get. I have accumulated a few of each type and have had great fun working the auctions to find them. They can all be useful for a variety of uses as the other posters have pointed out.

There are two drills I like that you can find if you are patient. I am talking about the North Bros./Yankee 1545 and 1530. The 1530 is fairly easy to find and not many people know what they are so demand is usually low. The 1545 is a very similar drill but about twice as big. 1545's are much harder to find and bidding can get heated. I got lucky one day and got both in almost new condition and a third drill all for about $50. The 1530 handles most of my smaller bits & drills and the 1545 gets used for the bigger work right up to jobs usually reserved for braces. With a bit adapter or two from Lee Valley or Highland Woodworking these two can handle much of what people usually use small cordless electric drills for.

These little engineering marvels ratchet in either direction, both directions, free wheel or lock all at the flick of a single small switch. The 1545 even has two speeds. At some point Stanley bought North Brothers so you may find these drills listed as Stanley/Yankee drills, the same drills & #'s.

[Eric Brown]

Michael, others are giving you good advice, but I would recommend that you determine what you wish to accomplish with them first. For instance, if you are primarily drilling small holes, then the push or egg beater styles are good. If you are going to use countersinks, Forstners or spoon bits, then smaller braces will work. You can typically handle bits up to about 1" with a 10" brace (unless boring very hard wood). Larger bits or very hard wood may require larger braces or even tee handles.

You might consider buying over a long time so you can get a better deal. Also, get the bits first. They are harder to find in good complete sets. The drills and braces are easy to find.

Most of us find that we "need" all the above. You might also need to learn to sharpen them. Dull bits don't work so well.


Enjoy. Eric

[Mike Holbrook]

Here are the two North Bros/Stanley/Yankee Drills I mentioned above. They have about as wide a range of use as any hand drill, unless you want to throw braces in the mix, IMHO.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16891057@N05/6770666667/in/photostream/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16891057@N05/6770669067/in/photostream/lightbox/

[Michael Ray Smith]

Michael, others are giving you good advice, but I would recommend that you determine what you wish to accomplish with them first. For instance, if you are primarily drilling small holes, then the push or egg beater styles are good. If you are going to use countersinks, Forstners or spoon bits, then smaller braces will work. You can typically handle bits up to about 1" with a 10" brace (unless boring very hard wood). Larger bits or very hard wood may require larger braces or even tee handles.

You might consider buying over a long time so you can get a better deal. Also, get the bits first. They are harder to find in good complete sets. The drills and braces are easy to find.

Most of us find that we "need" all the above. You might also need to learn to sharpen them. Dull bits don't work so well.


Enjoy. Eric

That's just great - ANOTHER thing I have to sharpen!! :-)

But speaking of bits, which drills will take the "modern" bits with round shanks that I now use with my electric hand drill?

[Mike Holbrook]

If you want something to hold the round shanks that have no special connector I would suggest finding a drill chuck with three jaw pieces. These are typically a little more recent designs: Millers Falls #2, 5, #980, Stanley 610 is popular small one for smallish bits and the two North Bros., I mention above. Many of the older braces have two jaws which is why so many people buy the old auger bit sets for them. If you want to be able to deal with older style chucks & jaws it gets more complicated fast.

The chucks and jaws in braces changed about every 5 minuets over a hundred or so years, only a slight exaggeration. The chucks & jaws in the egg beaters and push driver/drills did not change quite so much. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to deal with this, looking for specialized bits/drills. I finally gave up and just bought quick change adapters that I use in most of my drills/braces. They are just as handy in hand drills as they are in electric drills/screwdrivers. With the adapters I have I can use the same hex bits, drills, sockets...that I have for my electric drills in all my push drill drivers,egg beaters & braces. There are two major categories of these adapters.


The push drills/drivers use their own specialized bit holders, fortunately there are quick change adapters available for these. You should also know that these drills/drivers also came in three main sizes, again there are QR adapters available for both sizes. The medium & large size pushers are the ones most people use. I am going to help you find these at LV since it took me forever to find them and I have to hunt for long periods every time I look them up again: Index>Screwdrivers & bits> Hex Adapter for Yankee Screwdrivers. These work in my Miller Falls push screwdrivers although they are made to fit the Yankee products which are sized just a little differently.

The braces & most egg beaters can usually hold more standard Quick Release type adapters. I keep a few with different base designs, just in case one of my egg beaters or braces does not like one. LV also carries some bits & drivers with the old style tapered square attachments. Braces were not available with three jaws until very recently and some of the ones still manufactured do not have them, which explains why people often buy old auger bits to use with these tools. An old brace armed with an auger bit is a powerful tool that can drill holes larger than the egg beaters or push devices. These tools in competent hands can do precise work with less risk to precious wood.

[John Powers]

If you were in south jersey I'd say stop by and get a free Stanley brace and a mf egg beater. No free push drill. Thats the only one I use. Fluted bits are good for pilot holes.

[lowell holmes]

The old braces that are available will probably do the job. I have two, one a Stanley that is more modern, it has plastic parts. The one I use most is a Stanley Bell, the old phone company brace. The jaws on it are superior to the newer one.

Drill bits are another issue. I have a set of 1960's vintage Irwin bits that are good. I had to replace the 1" bit in the set. The brace and bits were my Father's. I am fortunate to have these bits.

Some of the old bits he had other than the Irwins are hopeless. They can be sharpened, but the screws are not good. I don't know how to fix that.

Maybe some of the Creekers can speak about the bits. I've never heard anyone speak of good current bits for the braces.

After posting this, I went to Traditional Woodworker and they have an interesting assortment of auger bits.

[Jim Matthews]

I find that my eggbeater is excellent up to 5/16" - beyond that it's difficult to hold the work down. It's an old Footprint in bright blue so I can find it any place in my shop.
I use a brace for boring larger holes, as the leverage is superior. Mine is a mid-60's Craftsman with a ratchet feature, so I can keep the handle in my "power band", pulling toward me.

If I really want to dig into hardwoods, I have a chest drill, but it is genuinely uncomfortable to use (the bulk of that problem is with me).

I would recommend the simplest mechanism, in any case, as these weigh less and are easier to keep straight.

jim
wpt, ma

[Mark Dorman]

You might checkout the Old Tool Heaven site it explaines all the jaw types. I like the hold all chucks I have.