Tool Talk

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: bunger on December 31, 2013, 09:43:43 AM

Title: Hand Drill
Post by: bunger on December 31, 2013, 09:43:43 AM

Got this in a small box of misc. tools at the flea market yesterday.
Approx. 3/16 dia. Only the tip is sharpened, the flutes have no edge.
No markings.
Any thoughts? Homemade?

(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h188/mayo4/old%20Tools%20and%20Toys/IMG_20131231_101650_2771_zpsc293c5b5.jpg) (http://s64.photobucket.com/user/mayo4/media/old%20Tools%20and%20Toys/IMG_20131231_101650_2771_zpsc293c5b5.jpg.html)

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: rusty on December 31, 2013, 09:47:15 AM

Perhaps some kind of cleaning tool rather than a drilling tool?

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: mrchuck on December 31, 2013, 10:45:04 AM

It's a hand drill for wood dowels. I guess for furniture. And it is OLD !!!!

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: skipskip on December 31, 2013, 03:18:07 PM

I'm with Rusty on this one.

The style of handle looks a lot like auto wrenches and tools from the 20's and 30's

maybe for cleaning oil or water passages in an engine?

Any lettering on it??


Skip

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: Branson on January 01, 2014, 10:33:20 AM

It doesn't give me the impression of being home-made.   Clean out seems a good function, although there was a kind of drill bit (fits into a brace) that looks very similar except that the tip narrows to a point.

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: rusty on January 01, 2014, 11:34:51 AM

>The style of handle looks a lot like auto wrenches and tools from the 20's and 30's

Yes, but, risky to generalize such, the style is shown in a 1870's patent for a screw type gimlet in 1876....50 years earlier...

There were lots of folks playing with making augers by twisting rod stock at the time, but they usually have pointed tips....I don't get the tip on this thing as an auger/gimlet....

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: Branson on January 02, 2014, 07:46:50 AM

The sort of drill I was thinking of popped up on eBay  this morning.  Pay no attention to what the seller offered as a name for the thing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Antique-Hand-Drill-Gimlet-Woodworking-wood-handled-bung-hole-barrel-old-/131083838013?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e8534a23d

The point is different, but the spiral is identical.

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: bunger on January 02, 2014, 07:47:15 PM

Quote from: Branson on January 02, 2014, 07:46:50 AM

The point is different, but the spiral is identical.

Those spiral flutes look sharp compared to mine.
The flutes on mine truly have no edge at all, they're rounded, and not from use. They were never sharp.

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: HeelSpur on January 03, 2014, 04:56:04 PM

Maybe it just screws in to something, say a box on a piece of machinery that can't be opened w/o one of these. Screw it and pull "whatever" open. I'm just guessing.

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: keykeeper on January 03, 2014, 10:23:53 PM

Could it be for roughing a hole for a tire plug?? I've seen similar modern ones that are more aggressive, with rasp like spirals.

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: skipskip on January 03, 2014, 10:47:33 PM

I just re-read it

3/16"  in diameter??

corkscrew?

Skip

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: bunger on January 04, 2014, 10:19:45 AM

Corkscrews are more of a coil like a spring with a sharp point. The tip on this is sharpened like a drill bit and the rest of it is smooth, so not good at roughing a tire puncture.

Title: Re: Hand Drill
Post by: lauver on January 04, 2014, 11:56:08 AM

Gang,

+1 on the Gimlet... for boring a pilot hole for wood screws.

I have a modern version with a tapered tip with screw threads and reasonably sharp flutes.  The tapered tip with threads starts the hole and pulls the bit thru the wood while the flutes make the final cut to a uniform bore.