Are there any push drills for modern bits?

[Adam Woznicki]

I'm trying to find a push drill for regular round shank drill bits.

I like the idea of a push drill, but I don't want to be searching for special bits every time I brake one.


If there aren't any, then I think I can cannibalize the chuck from a egg beater drill to work with a Yankee push screw driver. Has anyone done this?

[Mike Holbrook]

I am new to the "push" drills. I have been researching "driver" drills, bought a couple old Millers Falls models I just started playing with. You can actually find some things for these at: Lee Valley and Highland Hardware. A keyless chuck can be modified to fit and there are hex adapters available that might work for you.


http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/s...e&category=217

[Bill Houghton]

Proper push drill bits, which are straight fluted, are optimized for the reciprocating action - twist one way, then the other - of a push drill.

I've never seen a push drill with a variably sized chuck, which is what you'd need to meet your goal of not needing special bits.

Best, if you want a push drill, is to get one and get an extra set of bits or two. Garrett Wade (http://www.garrettwade.com/) is selling new ones, although you can spend less and get a couple of sets of originals.

You'd be surprised, though, how sturdy the bits are in use. I've broken just one in years of using a push drill regularly.

[Gary Herrmann]

The Goodell Pratt and Miller Falls push drills that have the chuck jaws that look like an X when you look at them, are quite good at gripping round shank bits up to around 1/8" in diameter. A GP model would be the 185, MF would be a 188. There are others, these are just what I can recall.

[John Powers]

Are you looking to use a spiral bit? If so, I think the eggbeater is the way to go. the push drills, I have a MF and Stanley, are for the fluted bits only I think. I picked up the MF for $1.00 at a flea and the seller had no idea the handle was full of bits. they're out there. An elegant tool for my money.

[Mike Holbrook]

So the main difference between the screwdriver and drilling push/Yankee devices is the chuck then? If this is the case the Yankee type screwdriver can be adapted to hex etc. bits fairly easily and push drills can not? I am wondering if there is a significant advantage to the straight shaft bits when using a push mechanism? The straight bits I have appear to cut in both directions, which might help. It would seem like one would have to reverse the ratchet action to be able to make the bit drill in both directions though.

I know there are/were cross over devices. I have a Stanley device marked 233H (68-233) that I picked up somewhere not long ago that has 4 "bits" in the handle. One is a flat head screwdriver, another is a phillips head screwdriver, the other two are straight shaft drill bits that work in the same device. I just checked the shafts on these bits and they seem to fit the Millers Falls #670 Spiral Ratchet Screwdriver I just got on Ebay. I do see on the Millers Falls site that there are single and double spiral shafts. I can see that the shaft of the Stanley device has a more complicated shaft design than the MF Screwdriver.

[Richard Niemiec]

Yankee push drills (as opposed to the Yankee push screwdrivers) work best with the fluted bits, and are not "convertible" in my experience. Twist bits would not work well; besides, I pass on several of these every month, some with partial bits, others will a full set of bits; they are not rare. They are great tools, and anyone who has used one knows why we like them. I have seen later models (plastic handle) of the push drills with specialized shank twist bits, I bought one once, and promptly gave it away as the twist bits aren't designed to easily rotate back and forth; totally unsatisfactory once you have used the original design.

If you are set on using twist bits, get an eggbeater, which is designed for twist bits.

[Bill Houghton]

So the main difference between the screwdriver and drilling push/Yankee devices is the chuck then? If this is the case the Yankee type screwdriver can be adapted to hex etc. bits fairly easily and push drills can not? I am wondering if there is a significant advantage to the straight shaft bits when using a push mechanism? The straight bits I have appear to cut in both directions, which might help. It would seem like one would have to reverse the ratchet action to be able to make the bit drill in both directions though.

The spiral screwdrivers and most of the spiral push drills differ in two ways:

1. The screwdrivers can be set to ratchet in both directions (I've seen a very few that didn't, but they're so uncommon we can ignore them), so you can install or remove screws. Push drills lack this reversibility; most of them don't ratchet: you push, they turn, you let up the pressure, they turn in the opposite direction. This seems to clear the sawdust from the drilling operation.

2. The spiral on screwdrivers is designed for higher torque than the drills, for the obvious reason that it takes more grunt to drive a screw than it does to drill a hole. In my limited experience, spiral screwdrivers make lousy push drills, even though you can find bits for them.

In a right world, you want both: the drill to drill the holes, the screwdriver to put the screws in them.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks Bill, I missed the fact that the "drilling device" I have rotates the opposite way when the spring pushes it back out. I only have a cheap and mostly useless plastic handle Stanley. Since it came with screw driver bits and drills in the handle I was a little confused.

The Millers Falls # 61 screwdriver I originally bought does not have a autoreturn spring. I read a post here in which the poster suggested that the automatic return springs in screwdrivers cause problems. I just got a MF #670 screwdriver that came with the spring. I took the spring out of it right after I got it. So all my experience is with springless screwdrivers.

I recently purchased a couple old hand drills and a brace. I am wondering where/when one might want to use a push drill instead of a hand drill or brace? I do not have enough experience with any of these devises to have personal preferences yet. I have been researching bits to use in my new tools though.

[Gary Herrmann]

Pushdrills are great for small holes like for hinges on boxes. Miller Falls 185s use yankee bits, store the bits in the handles and have sizing holes so you can verify bit size. My personal favorite.

The fluted bits are also extremely easy to file. Just sharpen the tip with a file. You can put a point on them or not.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks Gary,

I imagine I will end up with a push drill as I slide down this slippery path.

I think I have to ease up on Ebay for a while though. I just won a Millers Falls #2 Hand Drill. The one with the roller on the edge of the large gear. I still have a bid out on a MF Screwdriver too. I think restoring the drills and screwdrivers I have will keep me occupied for a while. The first item I won on Ebay was a small crank drill, Stanley #610, 100 Plus which can use the small drill bits I have.

Now I guess I need to go put a few of these tools to use on my latest dog kennel project.

[Bill Houghton]

I am wondering where/when one might want to use a push drill instead of a hand drill or brace?

Push drills are designed, in my opinion, for hardware installation - that is, making holes into which to put screws of the sizes used in hinges, strike plates, etc.

Their advantages over hand drills are several: a) they're quick to load, especially with the bits right there in the handle; b) they can be used one-handed while holding the stock being drilled in the other hand; c) they fit into corners and other tight spots; d) there's no bits sticking out to ding your stock.

If you need a hole in hard wood larger than about the mid-size bit on a push drill, up to 3/16" or so, an eggbeater type drill is better - push drills have trouble with their larger bits. If you need a hole of 1/4" or up, a brace becomes your friend (note: with some of the larger eggbeater drills, you can go up as high as, say, 5/16" without problems).

Push drills have another advantage: if you, or your sweetie, regularly gets the impulse to put up new blinds, you can put the push drill in your jeans pocket, along with a screwdriver, awl to mark where the holes go, and tape measure, and do all the hardware installation for the blinds without getting off the ladder. I say this based on extensive research and personal experience.

[Richard Niemiec]

Push drills have another advantage: if you, or your sweetie, regularly gets the impulse to put up new blinds, you can put the push drill in your jeans pocket, along with a screwdriver, awl to mark where the holes go, and tape measure, and do all the hardware installation for the blinds without getting off the ladder. I say this based on extensive research and personal experience.

Ditto. For hanging curtains and such, it is the original cordless drill and my default tool for this task.