Yankee driver..

[steven c newman]

Rust Hunt this morning..
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Little drills: Morse USA 1/8" and an ETNA 5/32"
Yankee No. 35....has 6 patent dates, Walnut handle
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Might need a little clean up.....has no spring ...
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and the ends of the drills..
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Spent a dollar a piece....not too bad a day?:confused:

[Mike Baker 2]

Cool. I saw a couple of those little drills this morning, but I have a brace and a hand drill (egg beater?), and didn't see that I would have any use for those. The brace and the hand drill will cover pretty much anything I need to do.
Nice finds, though.
I can't seem to stay away from the flea markets and antiques places. I have several tools I need to actually refurbish and set up, but I can't stop buying them. Since I'm just starting, I grab pretty much anything i think I might need, if I have the cash.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Some of the Yankee style came without springs I think, and some people took them out on the ones that have them. I have a Stanley and a Millers Falls. One with a spring, one without. I prefer the one without.

[Bill Houghton]

Some of the Yankee style came without springs...
Yep. Some carpenters preferred the springs, some didn't; so North Bros. and later Stanley (after buying North Bros.) offered them both ways. See here for some information: http://www.oldtoolsnstuff.com/yankeescrewdriverpage.htm

[Mike Baker 2]

Cool link.

[Pat Barry]

Interesting steven, I bought one of those today myself for $3.50. Mine is a Wards Master Quality (very hard to read) with a Yankee #2 Phillips bit. Pretty clean and functional to boot.
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[James Pallas]

I learmed about the spring business early on in my adventure, also about holding the bit end of the driver. With a spring if it slips off of the screw you will get a chisel cut in your finished work and a good a$$ chewing from the master. Maybe even worse then the one you got for cutting a 3" piece from a 10ft walnut board. DAMHIK this.
Jim

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Yep. Some carpenters preferred the springs, some didn't; so North Bros. and later Stanley (after buying North Bros.) offered them both ways. See here for some information: http://www.oldtoolsnstuff.com/yankeescrewdriverpage.htm

Thanks for posting that link. Mine with the spring is a Millers Falls (No. 620A). Interesting they have not run across one with a spring return.

ETA: I see old tool heaven has a lot of information on them. I go there all the time for Millers Falls stuff, I have never noticed the section on screw driver's before. I was wondering if somebody modified mine to add the spring perhaps, but I see that is the original design.

[Rick Malakoff]

Here's my contribution

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"Yankee'' North Bros No 30A Pat Dec. 11 23. No spring but the body is either copper or brass.

[Bill Houghton]

Or possibly copper plating on steel, preparatory to chrome plating.

[Jim Koepke]

and the ends of the drills..

I am actually starting to accumulate quite a set of those brace enabled twist drills. Most recently picked up a 5/8" bit that is about 2 feet long.

They can be handy at times. Especially in the larger sizes. Anything that is bigger than 1/4" can be a bit of work in an eggbeater.

jtk

[Kevin Jenness]

A Yankee screwdriver was my first cordless power tool. One of the fellows I worked for called it a "project destroyer".

[Rick Malakoff]

A Yankee screwdriver was my first cordless power tool. One of the fellows I worked for called it a "project destroyer".
Old Swedish guy I worked with called them screw undrivers and to him hammers were screw drivers!

[steven c newman]

Happen to have a few other Yankee drivers...
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Just these were from the red painted handle times.....have to be careful when you release the 135......BIG spring inside it, almost as long as a walking stick.....
I'll have to dig out the shorter one.....to see which number it is..middle two are 130s.
You can make your own bits for these...
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These used to be for my corded drivers. Regrind the hex ends to match the Yankee style ends.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Old Swedish guy I worked called them screw undrivers and to him hammers were screw drivers!

I remember when I was a kid my dad was working with a man who put screws in with a hammer. Dad asked him about the slots for the screwdriver, and was told "those are for taking them out."

[Kevin Jenness]

"Tool for the Job" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwGrC0KicSo

[steven c newman]

Been using mine..
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To drive a few screws. Brace has a countersink bit. Square to check things stay square..
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Much easier, when I don't have to fiddle around with a battery-powered drill. Pilot holds were with a drill bit in an eggbeater drill.
Had a Phillips #2 bit in the yankee....worked as fast as a corded drill.

[steven c newman]

The Yankee above was a #130A. I looked in the tote yesterday, and found that I have another #35
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A Stanley made No. 35A ( with spring), no patent dates, though. Slight size differences..
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Stanley was a hair bigger, is all. I think I paid a dollar more for the Stanley one....