Is the term "Yankee Push Drill" a generic name? Like "Kleenex"?
I just bought one at a garage sale.
The manufacturer's name is stamped into the side:
Goodell-Pratt Company
Toolsmiths
Greenfield, Mass, USA
Patented Dec 28, 1915
It's about 10" long. The knurled handle could store bits from sizes #1 to #8 and by pulling up on the cap. The bits are gone and I broke the bit that was in the jaws right after telling my youngest to be careful...
The collet's knurling is fairly worn. There's what appears to be a set screw to retain the bit in the smallest shaft.
The silver-type plating has been worn away by usage leaving the brass(?) showing.
I bought it so my youngest could drill holes in softwoods without my heart finding its way to my mouth, but.... does anybody here have any idea of its history and value in the old/antique marketplace?
>"Yankee" was the trade name for the push drills made by North Bros, a Philadelphia firm purchased by Stanley after WWII. As with "Kleenex," "Formica," and many other trade names, the Yankee push drills were so dominant in the market that people do sometimes use the term as a generic description.
The Goodell-Pratt push drill I own has drill bits whose shanks have four grooves in them, forming an "X" shape when you look at the back end of the shank.
Alas, they are (a) very hard to impossible to come by and (b) very different from the shanks on Yankee/North Bros/Stanley drills, which you can still buy.
Interesting question, whether it would be a safer drill than some of the alternatives for a child. On the one hand, you don't have any exposed gearworks to trap young flesh (I can still hear the screams of our older son, now 32, when he "waffled" his forearm in the gear drive of an eggbeater-type drill); on the other, it takes some grunt to drill holes with the larger sizes, and if the bit slipped, he could stab himself in the leg with it. Also, the smaller bits are pretty delicate, and even the Stanley bits aren't cheap.
Probably best, if you can find one, is one of the eggbeater type drills with covered gears. Fiskars was making one pretty recently, and they weren't too expensive retail, as I recall. You might Google or eBay "Fiskars," and see what you can find.
Second best - my son got himself caught in the drill just once - would be a regular eggbeater drill, easily found in most areas in a weekend of garage saling - I just passed over one today. If you do take this approach, I'd recommend one of the type that has just one gear at the chuck end of the gear wheel turned by the handle - less risk of a catch.
When he works his way up to larger holes, like 1/4" and up, a small brace is absolutely the best way to go. Safe, controllable, and the appropriate tool. Most kids can swing a 10" brace (I'm talking 5 or 6 and up here, not 3), but a 6" or an 8" brace is ideal.
>Sounds like a No.1 if the end cap is flutted or a no.3 if smooth, the no.3 sort of looks like the more common Yankee drills.As Bill said these take a special bit which are harder to find then the regular Yankee ones.The screw on the chuck has nothing to do with holding the bit.Pretty common tool and because of the un common bits not very desirable unless in collectable condition.When new you screw driver probably cost about $1.75-$2.50....ain't worth much more now in the condition you desribed....Todd
>Oddly enough, if you can't find one of the Fiskar's drills in a hardware type store, check out any needlework places in the area. They often carry them so that needleworkers (of either sex :) ) can make twisted cords. That's where my wife got hers.
Hmmmmm, she wants to steal my wooden planes to use as decorator items - maybe I should look at taking her drill. :)