Curiosity

[lowell holmes]

I 'm curious if many of you have a spiral racheting screwdriver and use it. I was digging around in my shop this morning and found mine. I was on a mission and came across mine.
Since the advent of battery powered drills I either use a cabinet maker's screwdriver or a battery powered drill. I think I may start using the Klein again. It is a kick to see the screw driven in by a full stroke on the screw driver.

I have a collection of three, a Stanley, Miller Falls, and Klein. The first two have worn and IIRC slipped a cog occasionally. I had to go to an electrical supply house to buy the Klein.

[Winton Applegate]

spiral racheting screwdriver

Well let me say this about that :
When I was a kid and discoverd these things I was fascinated by them ! I went wild and bought the smaller one that was in front of me on the spot.
I either special ordered or kept an eye out for the big honker and now have that one. Hey that was like a century ago so cut the memory some slack. In fact I think I unearthed it from the shelves and tables full of stuff at my favorite old time hardware store. Not positve though.
Over the years I collected all the bits and bobs that I could find to go with them.

Now to your question . . . do I use them . . . ?
Heck NO !
What? Are you crazy ?
I hate USING the bloody things. They pinch my fingers, the flat blades ( the only blade that one can get enough purchase on the screw with to actually screw it into a tight fit ) goes flying off the screw part way through a carefull push in and gouges the work.
The clicks in the ratchet are too far apart and so adds up to a lot of movement for not enough work.

Use them ? [sound of a very loose lipped strawberry].
They ARE cool though aren't they !

I think the best use for them is like in the movie The Blues Brothers where they whip one out to dismantle the controle panel in the elevator. Meaning: use it when you are only taking things apart that you don't care about and where all the damage inflicted to the finish is immaterial to the goal in mind.

[David Weaver]

I have one. I can't remember the make, but I bought it intentionally a few years ago. It's either stanley or millers falls.

When I was a kid, my dad had one that he kept outside (we had to often wire brush the rust off of it, but it always worked) and we used it heavily. My dad still refuses to spend money on a cordless drill.

[Bill Rhodus]

I have two in my traveling tool box with a #2 Phillips bit and a straight bit.

[Jim Koepke]

I used to use the Yankee #40 (iirc) push drill.

Haven't used any of these in a long time even though there are a hand full of the drills and one screw driver in my shop.


I had to go to an electrical supply house to buy the Klein.

Klein had a lot of their marketing aimed at people in the electrical trades.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

I use mine. They're the cat's PJs for installing the screws on electrical fittings (outlets, cover plates). I use them less so for woodworking, but do for the occasional hardware installation. I mostly use the smaller sizes. I own the great big jobber, but it's awkward to use for the kinds of screws that I tend to use the screwdriver for. And, yeah, I kill electrons with big/long screws; in fact, I've got several shelves of boxes of Torx-head structural screws that I use a lot.

[Judson Green]

I thought they were cool and bought some over the years but never used em and just a few months ago decided they'd look better in someone elses toolbox so I sold em. Will not be bringing anymore home.

[Jim Ritter]

Yes I use mine, I have several. I made an adapter for using a 1/4" bit inserts. I use it with hex end drill bits to drill small holes also.
Jim

[Stan Calow]

I have three or four Yankees from estate sales. I keep thinking I will use them but never do. I think they are cool.

[Winton Applegate]

to drill small holes

I have one of these (http://oldtoolheaven.com/driversdrills/push-drills.htm), page down to the #81, I have used that, with the nonspiraling straight flute bits quite a bit. It is a useful tool that has never failed me. Not even a broken bit.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I use the push drills all the time. The push drivers I really only use for removing and installing screws that have already been installed, or screws into softer woods with pilot holes - in general, I find they don't work as well for anything that requires the added force of threading into new wood; but I use them a lot for well fitted machine screws when I'm working on something like rack audio gear.

[Moses Yoder]

I probably have a couple dozen different Yankees and use them occasionally for jobs around the house. For my shop I have come to the conclusion that the expense of a rechargeable battery replacement does not make sense. RIght now I have one battery that works, my corded screwgun needs some work. So if the battery is dead and I have a couple screws to install I use either the Yankee for small screws or a brace for big ones. I bought the Lee Valley adapter made for the Yankee to use standard hex shank bits and magnetize them. I love my Yankees, have bought 5 or 6 this summer.

[Tom Vanzant]

I used a Yankee screwdriver back in the late 1950s to drive two little screws that retained each perforating cartridge...(1.5oz of Cyclonite, civilian-grade C4) into a perforating gun used to perforate oil/gas wells. It sure beat turning them in manually.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

. . . So if the battery is dead and I have a couple screws to install I use either the Yankee for small screws or a brace for big ones. . . ..

Now that someone mentions it, (and I can't believe I didn't think to mention it earlier) I love my brace for screwing jobs - a big one is handy for something that needs some torque (my 12" brace with a hex adaptor was great when I was putting screws into hardie-backer cement board) but for pretty much any other job screwing fasteners into wood, particularly repetitive ones, or long screws, my six inch brace is my go-to tool. A short swing brace like that, I can put wood screws in faster than pretty much anything else I own. I'm are a nice driver could top it for speed, but the touch on a short swing brace like this is fantastic - I know by feel exactly when the thing is going to bottom out. If I was doing a hundred screws in a drywall job, I might want a nice driver with a clutch stop, but since I don't have one of those, the old brace is great, almost as fast, and I know by feel before I'm going to strip out the screw or when it's perfectly in place.

A hex adaptor pretty much lives in that brace six-inch Stanly/Fray brace. (I only wish the LV hex adaptor was a little snugger, and the magnet actually held the bits better.)

[Winton Applegate]

(I only wish the . . . hex adaptor was a little snugger, and the magnet actually held the bits better.)

I know what you mean. I am fighting that every day at work. Why they can't make one a person needs pliers to put out the bits with I don't know.

I too use a short swing "brace" . . . to do a specific task most days; six #25 torx screws. My "brace" is actually a 1/4" speeder for turing sockets (http://www.amazon.com/Armstrong-10-935-4-Inch-Drive-Speeder/dp/B00004WAC1/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1408509400&sr=8-12&keywords=socket+speeder). Perfect ! ! ! !

We went through three screw guns at work. Finally I gave up farting around with all the charging and just use the simple speeder. It is all I need. Unless a person is always up on a ladder $200 screw guns and $80 to $100 batteries start to look expensive. Until just recently I used the Dewalt screw gun batteries for my bicycle lights. They recharged in 45 minutes and made the nearest bicycle manufacturers offering look silly. Finally Finally bicycle lighting has caught up to rechargeable construction tool technology.

A person was showing me this (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Rechargeable-HeadLight-headLamp-improved/dp/B0087B9QU4/ref=sr_1_112?ie=UTF8&qid=1408508999&sr=8-112&keywords=bicycle+light+rechargeable) the other day and it is about like an air plane in brightness.

I bought this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00439OG7C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) a couple of years ago and it is perfectly bright. I use it on #3 of five brightness settings if that tells you any thing. Recharges quick, lasts a long time and weighs nothing.

[Mike Holbrook]

I have a few old Yankees that I picked up cheap. I like them for screws that are light duty and medium to long in length. Door knobs are a great example, lots of small threads that are a pain to do by hand but tend to get ripped up by electric drills. I find them worth their small cost just for tightening all those small, long screws in door knobs which constantly need adjustment.

As mentioned above Lee Valley, Highland Woodworking and a few other places offer quick change adapters that make it easy to use modern 1/4" bits and drills with Yankees. The same adapters can be used with braces too, increasing the effectiveness and range of modern bits and drills one can use with these old school screwing & drilling devices.

[Joe Tilson]

Got the bug, just can't pass one up:295280295281
My wife says the same thing Chris's does, to much incoming and not enough out going.
Yes, I do use them from time to time.

[Al Launier]

Also have one, that I'd totally forgotten about. It's a dust covered Craftsman No. 9 3103 with a purplish handle & a Phillips bit. Can't remember when I last used it.

[lowell holmes]

IIRC,

Boat builders and electricians used them a lot. The boat builders has screws by the boxes full to set.