Some folks love the Yankee push drills (Stanley #41). Mine have been used very little in the past decade. At one time as a telephone installer they were used almost daily. The biggest problem with them is the nut holding the top of the handle holding the bits tends to strip out after a while.
Here is something written earlier about them:
My current project (This was an articulated gate project back in 2018) had me installing hinges today which made me think about the "YANKEE" drill. One of mine is a modern late 1960s to early 1970s model. Another one is a Wards Master with a hole in the cap holding the bits. They are released by spinning the top to the position of the desired bit. There are number designations for the bits around the outside. The holder mechanism has a cross instead of the design used on the Yankee/Stanley models.
So today it came back to me why mine are not used very often. In softwood the small bit tends to stick, having resistance when pulling it out. This is my older "YANKEE" in use:
Attachment 384312
The marking on this one is rather worn, but with the help of a magnifier it wasn't too difficult to read:
"YANKEE"
North Brothers
Patent 97 & 98
I do not recall all of the patent information, just the years.
The chuck is tightened by a threaded shroud instead of the later spring type.
The awl laying on the bench next to where the drill is being used is my preferred tool for small screw holes:
Attachment 384313
The shaft on this isn't round, it is more like a flattened ellipse.
It is easy to hold and spin to bore a hole.
Attachment 384314
It is also easy to keep the hole fairly well centered:
Attachment 384315
It is easy to see the top left hole was done with the drill.
In hardwoods this may be a totally different story. Though when it comes to drilling one of the things an egg beater has going for it is when you want to withdraw the bit you can pull it while turning it or crank it backwards.
(and)
Today by error the Craftsman version of this drill was brought into the house to install some hinges. Ended up using an awl that was brought along.
Upon further inspection the chuck is a two piece version of a four jaw chuck. From the bit storage and the fact that the biggest bit it could hold is 1/8" it seemed logical the eight bit set would have the sizes from 1/16" to 1/8".
Other than sticking a 1/16" bit in the work piece on my first attempt then breaking it on its second try, it seems to have a fatal flaw. The first attempt was foiled when the jaws failed to hold the bit tight enough. The jaws are tightened via a threaded collar. It looked easy to disassemble and it was. The original spring must have gone missing since the one in the jaws looked just like a piece of ball point pen spring. It was a touch weak so it was replaced with a slightly longer piece of spring.
About that fatal flaw... To tighten the jaws enough to hold a bit isn't real difficult even for my old hands. The problem is getting the bit out. When the barrel of the collar is turned it retracts the spring and pulls the lower part of the drill mechanism into its body.
One slip and you could have a drill bit through the palm of your hand or a bit shot across the room.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 03-15-2022 at 1:57 AM.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Bruce Mack
