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Hand powered drilling tools and machines

91 points by sea6ear 9y ago

pasbesoin 9y ago
Fiskars makes a hand drill. I bought one on the spur of the moment when I thought I'd be helping a friend's kid with a "build your own toy" project. That didn't happen, and I haven't actually tried it, yet. Happy with most of their other stuff, though (trimming tools, hand saw, ...). I should have a look for it -- somewhere around here.
- convolvatron 9y ago
  those hand drills are still used very widely in jewelry making and other small-gauge metal work. making tiny holes in fragile, oddly shaped pieces with an electric hand drill, fordham rotary tool or small drill press is just risking damage to the work.
- ja27 9y ago
  I've used mine a lot. Though it'll take other drill bits, I love the way four good sizes are stored on the drill itself.
- exDM69 9y ago
  Sadly, Fiskars is one of those declining companies that are taking part in a race to the bottom with price and quality. Being from Finland (where Fiskars is from), it's often the default go-to brand for gardening equipment and similar. I bought a shovel that bent before I got any dirt moved with it. Recently I saw them sell products with "quick change" handles, selling expensive changeable handles to a product (some gardening tool) that should either come with a handle that lasts or an easy to replace wooden handle. Planned obsolescence and after market ripoff all the way. Their scissors are great. Axes are alright. Although the problem with both is the gray, stainless steel they're made of (I jokingly call it "Fiskarsium"). It stays sharp-ish quite well but is really difficult to sharpen to razor sharp. Old fashioned carbon steel would be much easier to sharpen but it rusts (if not oiled) and doesn't stay sharp as long. Perhaps it's just that modern tools are expected to do a mediocre job despite years of neglect. Maybe I'm old fashioned when I am willing to do a few minutes of maintenance in order to get a tool that works well. Fwiw. I bought a Swedish-made Hultafors axe with hand forged carbon steel blade and a wooden handle. You need to sharpen it regularly, oil it after use and might have to change the handle after a few years but boy does it chop wood. The downside is that I've had to explain to several people why I bought a Swedish axe and not a Fiskars.
  - pasbesoin 9y ago
    I have a small, child's/sewing type Fiskars scissors from a number of years ago. Made in U.S.A. -- even then, they'd grown beyond Finland. It's held up quite well. But I needed a larger model; the "generic" office scissors I had in that size didn't take long to become fairly useless. I happened across a Fiskars model while shopping for other stuff. It even has a non-stick coating -- might be useful when cutting tape, something that's been gumming up the generic. I took a chance and bought it. We'll see, but on the package: Made in China. P.S. It's just been my observation with numerous brands and products, that when manufacture has moved to China, quality has declined.
Animats 9y ago
There are some heavy-duty hand drills on Alibaba.[1] It's not a dead technology. [1] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Double-Pinion-Two-Speeds-Cast-Iron_60239913712.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Double-Pinion-Two-Spe...
- userbinator 9y ago
  $9.90 each when you buy a case of 500? That's amazingly cheap. Amusingly enough, the brand name has been conspicuously censored in all the images, but I can make out the German(!?) text "2-Gang Handbohrmaschine" and a website "westfalia.de" --- which makes me wonder if they're making fakes of https://www.westfalia.de/shops/werkzeug/handwerkzeuge/bohren/handbohrer/631457-westfalia-handbohrmaschine-2-gang-1-10-mm-schnellspannbohrfutter.htm https://www.westfalia.de/shops/werkzeug/handwerkzeuge/bohren... (which sell for almost 3x as much) or are actually the OEM.
defterGoose 9y ago
One device not specifically mentioned by the article is my personal favorite, the "Cole Drill", named after Cole Manufacturing which seems to have originated the concept. Google for image, but its basically a portable, manual drill-press with a ratcheting mechanism. I was unaware of their existence until sometime last year, but it has become one of my favorite tools. I had always desired some kind of small drill-press for doing random wood/metal/pcb work, and the Cole Drill fits the bill perfectly. It is also unique in that the feed is advanced with a threaded sleeve which makes it possible to exert upwards of 1000 lbs. on the bit, making it ideal for drilling hard materials. I've yet to come across a standard motorized press that could do this. Yes, its slow compared to a power feed, but i can't store a Delta under the sink in my tiny ass apartment either.
Blackthorn 9y ago
This reminds me of a sheep shearing demonstration I saw a while ago. The shearer first cut off a third of the sheep's wool with old fashioned scissors. Then he pulled out some pre electrical device that was powered by an audience volunteer at a lever/pump. This rapidly cut through the next third of the sheep wool. The final third he took off with modern electrical shears, barely faster than the previous gadget (though, notably, only requiring a single human to do the job). Sometimes you forget just how ingenious and good pre electrical tools could be.
- sliverstorm 9y ago
  Had a similar experience with a manual earth t-auger. Really quite fast, easy, a pleasure to use, when I wasn't hitting rocks. (but gas earth augers have the same problem) And, my crosscut saw goes through wood much faster than my shoddy circular saw (which admittedly needs a new blade) I've come to think that while power tools have clear advantages for professionals where volume is large and time is money, we've done ourselves a disservice abandoning simple manual tools for the average bloke. They can be nearly as fast, they cost much less, and they require virtually no maintenance in comparison.
  - tawayway 9y ago
    > they require virtually no maintenance in comparison. Not sure I agree - your circular saw might need a new blade but your handsaw will (eventually) need a sharpening and the teeth set.
    - sliverstorm 9y ago
      Certainly the handsaw needs sharpening sometimes, and the same goes for many other hand tools. And the circular saw is not nearly as bad as some tools. But when I think of lawnmowers and especially chainsaws, I have spent more time repairing, oiling, refueling, cleaning, flushing, prepping for winter storage, and diagnosing them than I have actually using them! Fortunately sharpening is often pretty easy, and it's quite a useful skill considering how many things can be sharpened. Kitchen knives, lawn mowers, axes, hatches, scissors, pruners, shaving blades, chainsaws, shears...
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
Hand drills are great for when you need to drill pilot holes to install stuff in your dorm room or cheap apartment. Drilling through metal is where they really fall flat on their face. It's hard to keep a reasonable feed rate if the tool isn't in great condition or the work it not positioned conveniently. Accuracy also isn't that great, especially where a lot of pressure (metal) is needed or in awkward positions and that's with a power drill. A hand drill that you have to power would be even worse.
- vlehto 9y ago
  Agreed. But my experience with drilling metal with handheld power drill was so unsatisfying that I'd be glad to have an excuse to never try it again.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
    Metal fabrication is my day job... To drill mild steel (regular old steel, containing 0.05–0.25% carbon, used for most things you see made of steel, like structural steel and most car body components) you need to use high-speed steel[1] drill bits, and they need to be sharp. With the correct speed and feed rate drilling mild steel with a power drill is quite doable, up to about 12mm diameter hole in 12mm thick plate. Regular stainless steels, 304 and 316 grades, are drilled with the same drill bits but slower, lower feed rates, and with constant cooling using a cutting fluid. I've seen people try to drill steel with drill bits intended for timber, or blunt drill bits, this isn't going to work. YouTube has good videos of how to sharpen drill bits. Worth learning, but mostly impractical on anything below about 3mm diameter (1/8th inch). 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_steel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_steel
    - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
      Pretty much all off consumer tooling is HSS. People just use way too much speed and cook them. It doesn't help that most aren't too sharp to begin with. Ever since I bought a drill bit sharpener (faster for the same quality as doing it by hand on a grinder) I've been using my hss tooling more. For steel that just needs a hole and will be drilled with a hand (power) drill I've found that masonry bits are king. A small pilot keeps them from walking and the carbide tips hold an edge very well. For truck frame rivets in accessible locations it's faster and cleaner than a torch. The straight cutting edges are also very easy to grind.
Tiktaalik 9y ago
I was told a story by a Canadian Forces mechanic about how he used a hand drill to do some underwater repairs on a float plane pontoon while in a remote area up North. I'm not sure if hand powered tools are part of a standard repair kit for the Canadian military or if he was just being extra cautious in including some in his kit, but one can see how they could be useful when working in remote areas without power.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  Hand tools are light, reliable, do not require external power and consume little space which make them better suited to remote environments than power tools.
spodek 9y ago
Lowtechmagazine.com is a site worth reading article after article.
skykooler 9y ago
Another hand-powered drilling tool not mentioned here is the pin vise, which works by means of a collar sliding up and down a spiraled shaft. They are used for drilling small, precise holes, using drill bits that would be easily broken by the greater torque of a power drill.
- oasisbob 9y ago
  Are you sure that's called a pin vise? I thought a pin vise was just a collet on a handle. (I.e. think a drill which made a baby with a screwdriver.)
oxplot 9y ago
A video of the guy behind Primitive Technology channel on YT making a pump drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI
mauvehaus 9y ago
The hand drills have a couple of non-obvious advantages over a normal electric drill. First, since they're usually slower, it's harder to really screw up and drill a blind hole too deep. As an added bonus, if you mark your depth with tape, it's a lot harder to accidentally push the tape up the bit, and subsequently drill too deep. Second, I find it much easier to drill a hole perpendicular to the surface I'm drilling in because the handle is in line with the axis of the hole. I find it much harder to do that reliably with an electric drill. Third, if you pull off the side handle (chef's cap), you can drill quite close to a wall (but not a corner). The handle isn't appreciably larger in diameter than the chuck, so you can drill straight in much closer (6-12mm) than you can with most electric drills. Fourth, the old ones are beautifully made, and will last forever[0]. Those are on top of the obvious advantage that they need neither a cord nor batteries. The downsides: It's harder to get the bit back out; you can't just gun it and pull back like you can with an electric drill. Also, you can't crank in reverse. That usually just loosens the chuck. You can't really maintain the speed you need to get a clean hole with a brad-point bit. Or maybe that just comes with practice? I haven't managed it yet. The single speed ones are pretty well done for by the time you hit a 1/4"/6mm bit, especially with a smaller drill. I have a Miller's Falls #5, and a Goodell-Pratt 5 1/2 [1]. The Goodell-Pratt has a low gear that really ups the capacity to drill larger diameter holes in hardwood. The Miller's Falls #5 has a double pinion, which I prefer to the single pinion on the Goodell-Pratt. The gearbox on the Goodell-Pratt is also slightly fussy, but it does have a ball bearing thrust bearing. [0] Can't resist, here's one of mine: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSkaD6iA1BP/?taken-by=teaandsawdust https://www.instagram.com/p/BSkaD6iA1BP/?taken-by=teaandsawd... [1] http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill3.htm http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill3.htm
- userbinator 9y ago
  Also, you can't crank in reverse. That usually just loosens the chuck. This may seem like a dumb question, since I've not used one of these before, but isn't that what the other gear on the shaft near the top (on those which have it) is for, to provide a reverse gear?
  - pjc50 9y ago
unit91 9y ago
> Silent, safe, flexible, forgiving should read "Silent, safe, slow, flexible, forgiving, frustrating"
userbinator 9y ago
It's worth noting that the photograph halfway down the page of the man using a hand drill, which appears like it may have been taken quite recently, was actually taken 75 years ago, in 1942: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PalmercarpenterA.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PalmercarpenterA.jpg
- njharman 9y ago
  Wow, totally shocked by that. It's so clear and bright. The staging looks so "modern advertisement" like.
  - Baeocystin 9y ago
    The photographer, Alfred T. Palmer, made an entire series of this type of color portraiture. They are well worth a look. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Alfred_T._Palmer https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Alfred_T._Palmer
    - mc32 9y ago
      You're not kidding. It looks reminiscent of '60's early 70's work. Early Meyerowitz[1] for example. Coincidentally, in the street photography genre, somewhat hot is what is called "staged photography"[2]. Although some staged photography attempts to capture candid moments found between the staged photos. [1]https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2017/05/22/t-magazine/joel-meyerowitz-towards-colour-1962-1978/s/22tmag-joel-slide-OPAV.html https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2017/05/22/t-magazine/joel... [2]http://www.americansuburbx.com/tag/staged-photography http://www.americansuburbx.com/tag/staged-photography
  - michaelt 9y ago
    Partly because it's been digitally retouched, including someone messing with the levels. The original is at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmercarpenter.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmercarpenter.jpg
basicplus2 9y ago
I would love to see a full series of steps to boot strap from nothing through all the improving tools required to build a high quality lathe. So many disciplines need to come together.
cpr 9y ago
Ah, yes, included the Millers Falls two-handed drill we have for timber frame mortising. (Haven't done much lately.) Great tool, though admittedly much slower than electric chain morticers. But certainly more meditative...
avhon1 9y ago
Another really cool style of hand drill, which this article completely missed, is the Yankee Drill [0]. (More generically called a Push Drill.) A spade-like drill bit cuts when turned either direction. The handle has a screw mechanism and spring so that you can push the handle down into the work to turn the bit one way, and lift the handle back up to turn it the other way. The up-down motion is easy to get a hold of and very fast to do. It's amazing for drilling pilot holes and for putting holes in walls that are right next to furniture or cabinets - the diameter of the entire tool is only 1.25 or 1.5 inches. The handle stores a variety of bits inside. [0] https://www.garrettwade.com/garrett-wade-yankee-push-drill-gp.html https://www.garrettwade.com/garrett-wade-yankee-push-drill-g...
- KGIII 9y ago
  I came to mention this. I have several styles in my shop but I never really use any of them. I have a larger one, an old Stanley model whose number I have forgotten, that has seen some use. The smaller ones are something I've just toyed with. I have them only as novelty items, really. I much prefer a drill press, where I can. I kinda want to also build a foot-powered lathe, though I'd never use that either. Anyhow, they made bigger versions than the Yankee. I can't justify using them, but they are neat to hold and are fascinating examples of ingenuity. It's dark and I am in bed, but if reminded I will get some pictures.
- Franciscouzo 9y ago
  That link is giving me a 403 Access forbidden error.
- panzerklein 9y ago
  Miniature version of this drill is called pin vise and is used widely by modelmakers and jewelers.
  - chrisbennet 9y ago
    They look similar though so I can understand the confusion but they are different - one is drill and the other is just a holding tool. The end of the Yankee push drill rotates when you push or pull the handle. A pin vise just has a chuck, similar to a drill chuck, but no mechanism to rotate the held piece.
jacquesm 9y ago
So, after all that hand powered stuff, here is a story about the Whole Hawg (and Unix) by Neal Stephenson: http://www.team.net/mjb/hawg.html http://www.team.net/mjb/hawg.html
pawelk 9y ago
I have recently bought a brace type hand drill and I prefer it over my cordless drill. It is great not only for drilling, I also use it to drive all types of screws since it will accept any bit the powered version would. It provides more torque than a screwdriver and is more pleasant to operate than a socket wrench.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  > It provides more torque than a screwdriver and is more pleasant to operate than a socket wrench. Look up what a "speed wrench" is - it's basically a brace-type socket wrench, designed for working with sockets. Usually used for automotive repair work, but I imagine that anything with a bolt/nut could be attacked with it, provided there's clearance of course...
chrissnell 9y ago
If you enjoyed this, you must watch the PBS documentary about Dick Proenneke, who built an amazing cabin in the Alaskan bush using hand tools, many of which he completed on-site. He was alone out there and shot the footage himself, Les Stroud-style, decades before Les made his first episode of Survivorman: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHhsu-Vn6jZpBMVJ5Wncizf0wrCw1C0-V http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHhsu-Vn6jZpBMVJ5Wnciz...
oakesm9 9y ago
If you're interested in seeing someone make these take a look at this Primitive Technology video and the others he produces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI Make sure you turn on captions to see descriptions of what's going on.
exDM69 9y ago
It's really sad that auger bits for braces aren't manufactured any more as far as I can tell. There are places that sell new old stock, and there are Irwin bits available but only in sets worth $500 (not sure if new or old stock). You might have to pay $30 for a single bit. I bought a bunch of random sized new old stock and I was lucky to obtain some untouched bits when I bought a dead man's tool chest a while back. I do woodworking exclusively with hand tools and the brace and bit is just a great tool. It's much nicer than hassling with power drills or trying to wrestle the work piece on the drill press. A cordless drill can get holes drilled just fine (although there's a risk of tearout on the opposite side) but for removing waste from mortises or other joinery a cordless drill is useless because you don't have a reliable depth stop. I also have an egg beater -style drill but unfortunately the chuck is broken. I won't bother buying a new one because I'll almost certainly get one when buying a set of old tools from someone in an online auction. Some old hand tools are much nicer to work with than their modern counterparts. It's not usually even much slower unless you're doing some mass manufacturing operation with a thousand similar holes or sawcuts. I could never afford a full shop of power tools or the space to put them in but I'm able to do almost anything with hand tools at a fraction of the money and space required.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  You mentioning mortices reminded me of a machine we had in our woodshop class in high school - we had a morticing (?) machine! It basically looked and worked like a drill press - but for "drilling" square holes! How you might ask? Well, pretty simple, actually: The "bit" was a drill bit fitted inside a piece of square tubing large enough to allow the bit to fit. At the working end of the tubing (or maybe along the length actually) were slots/holes to allow waste material to eject. The ends of the tubing were beveled (and likely hardened) to act as "chisels" to remove the remainder of the waste for a square hole. I never had a need to use the machine, so I don't know if these "bits" were removable and could be changed out for larger ones, etc - but I now suspect that to be the case; the bit I saw was around 1/2" wide - the machine was very large, and could probably handle up to 1.5" wide bits easily. Most all of the machine tooling in that large shop dated from years back. My high school was originally built to be the community college of the town, back in the late 1890s (IIRC). It was this way until around the 1940s, when it became the main high school of the town (lots of WPA structures on the campus as well). The city streets used to run thru the campus, but when I got there, they had blocked off the streets, but the campus was still "open" (my senior year was the last year of an "open campus" - afterward, they put fencing around the entire campus, and kids can no longer go off campus to eat during lunch). The industrial arts shop area was it's own self-contained unit, in a building right in front of the railroad tracks (the high school abutted the Santa Fe switch yard of the town); trains would go slowly by, rumbling the entire building. The woodshop was huge, easily a 2-3000 sqft space, two stories tall; the upper level was a storage space around a couple sides, but the rest of the floor was open to the ceiling. Built-in vacuum system with ports on the floor (sweep your wood shavings toward them to be sucked up and deposited outside). Lathes, joiners, drill presses, sanders, table saws, band saws, planers, a spray booth - you name it, this shop had it all. Most of the equipment dated from the 1940s and 50s, all in great working shape. Plenty of hand tools, etc. There was a metal shop too; from what I understand (I never got to see it) it allowed for a complete set of operations - casting, forging, bending, cutting, etc - and was as large as the woodshop and fully stocked as well. Also in the same building was the drafting class - whether you wanted to learn architectural or mechanical drafting, you could do it. This was before cheap computer-aided drafting was easily available, so everything was done on paper, and we got to make real blueprints as well! There was also shops for small-engine repair and automotive shop. So - in theory - that entire building had almost everything needed to manufacture something - from design to actual part. I wish I hadn't been such a geek back then; I really wish I had taken more of an interest in the metal arts, automotive, etc. All I ever took was the drafting and the woodshop class. And for what its worth, the woodshop class I did as a night class to earn extra credits I didn't need (I just wanted to use the shop). At the end of the class, our "final assignment" was to clean out that upper storage area. We all went up there to find a uniform layer of sawdust about 3 inches thick! Amazing the place never burned down! Anyhow, up there were also a ton of old student projects from years gone by - just left there, whether by accident, or because the person had no way to get them home, or maybe the rule at one time was you had to pay for the materials, and they had no way to pay? We found fine examples of student work, some of it dating from the 1950s onward; most had the name of the student and a date penciled on it somewhere (I went to high school from 88-91). Desks, a pew, tables, chairs, a grandfather clock. We even found a "US Civil Defense" pamphlet (with the Turtle guy in a GI helmet, telling you what to do in the event a nuclear bombing! That was another thing about this school - most of the buildings were designated fallout shelters in the basements - and some had "sub-basement" fallout shelters that were locked). We cleaned it all up, and left the woodwork in place. It was like a time capsule that we opened, cleaned up, then closed up again. I don't know if any of it still exists, if kids there are taught that stuff any more - or if any of them care to learn it. I know I missed out (I was always taking computer-oriented electives) - so today I've had to learn from others or self-teach myself stuff (fortunately I had some great people to learn from, and the internet today).

91 points by sea6ear 9y ago

Fiskars makes a hand drill. I bought one on the spur of the moment when I thought I'd be helping a friend's kid with a "build your own toy" project. That didn't happen, and I haven't actually tried it, yet. Happy with most of their other stuff, though (trimming tools, hand saw, ...). I should have a look for it -- somewhere around here.

convolvatron 9y ago
those hand drills are still used very widely in jewelry making and other small-gauge metal work. making tiny holes in fragile, oddly shaped pieces with an electric hand drill, fordham rotary tool or small drill press is just risking damage to the work.
ja27 9y ago
I've used mine a lot. Though it'll take other drill bits, I love the way four good sizes are stored on the drill itself.
exDM69 9y ago
Sadly, Fiskars is one of those declining companies that are taking part in a race to the bottom with price and quality. Being from Finland (where Fiskars is from), it's often the default go-to brand for gardening equipment and similar. I bought a shovel that bent before I got any dirt moved with it. Recently I saw them sell products with "quick change" handles, selling expensive changeable handles to a product (some gardening tool) that should either come with a handle that lasts or an easy to replace wooden handle. Planned obsolescence and after market ripoff all the way. Their scissors are great. Axes are alright. Although the problem with both is the gray, stainless steel they're made of (I jokingly call it "Fiskarsium"). It stays sharp-ish quite well but is really difficult to sharpen to razor sharp. Old fashioned carbon steel would be much easier to sharpen but it rusts (if not oiled) and doesn't stay sharp as long. Perhaps it's just that modern tools are expected to do a mediocre job despite years of neglect. Maybe I'm old fashioned when I am willing to do a few minutes of maintenance in order to get a tool that works well. Fwiw. I bought a Swedish-made Hultafors axe with hand forged carbon steel blade and a wooden handle. You need to sharpen it regularly, oil it after use and might have to change the handle after a few years but boy does it chop wood. The downside is that I've had to explain to several people why I bought a Swedish axe and not a Fiskars.
- pasbesoin 9y ago
  I have a small, child's/sewing type Fiskars scissors from a number of years ago. Made in U.S.A. -- even then, they'd grown beyond Finland. It's held up quite well. But I needed a larger model; the "generic" office scissors I had in that size didn't take long to become fairly useless. I happened across a Fiskars model while shopping for other stuff. It even has a non-stick coating -- might be useful when cutting tape, something that's been gumming up the generic. I took a chance and bought it. We'll see, but on the package: Made in China. P.S. It's just been my observation with numerous brands and products, that when manufacture has moved to China, quality has declined.

Animats 9y ago

There are some heavy-duty hand drills on Alibaba.[1] It's not a dead technology. [1] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Double-Pinion-Two-Speeds-Cast-Iron_60239913712.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Double-Pinion-Two-Spe...

userbinator 9y ago
$9.90 each when you buy a case of 500? That's amazingly cheap. Amusingly enough, the brand name has been conspicuously censored in all the images, but I can make out the German(!?) text "2-Gang Handbohrmaschine" and a website "westfalia.de" --- which makes me wonder if they're making fakes of https://www.westfalia.de/shops/werkzeug/handwerkzeuge/bohren/handbohrer/631457-westfalia-handbohrmaschine-2-gang-1-10-mm-schnellspannbohrfutter.htm https://www.westfalia.de/shops/werkzeug/handwerkzeuge/bohren... (which sell for almost 3x as much) or are actually the OEM.

defterGoose 9y ago

One device not specifically mentioned by the article is my personal favorite, the "Cole Drill", named after Cole Manufacturing which seems to have originated the concept. Google for image, but its basically a portable, manual drill-press with a ratcheting mechanism. I was unaware of their existence until sometime last year, but it has become one of my favorite tools. I had always desired some kind of small drill-press for doing random wood/metal/pcb work, and the Cole Drill fits the bill perfectly. It is also unique in that the feed is advanced with a threaded sleeve which makes it possible to exert upwards of 1000 lbs. on the bit, making it ideal for drilling hard materials. I've yet to come across a standard motorized press that could do this. Yes, its slow compared to a power feed, but i can't store a Delta under the sink in my tiny ass apartment either.

Blackthorn 9y ago

This reminds me of a sheep shearing demonstration I saw a while ago. The shearer first cut off a third of the sheep's wool with old fashioned scissors. Then he pulled out some pre electrical device that was powered by an audience volunteer at a lever/pump. This rapidly cut through the next third of the sheep wool. The final third he took off with modern electrical shears, barely faster than the previous gadget (though, notably, only requiring a single human to do the job). Sometimes you forget just how ingenious and good pre electrical tools could be.

sliverstorm 9y ago
Had a similar experience with a manual earth t-auger. Really quite fast, easy, a pleasure to use, when I wasn't hitting rocks. (but gas earth augers have the same problem) And, my crosscut saw goes through wood much faster than my shoddy circular saw (which admittedly needs a new blade) I've come to think that while power tools have clear advantages for professionals where volume is large and time is money, we've done ourselves a disservice abandoning simple manual tools for the average bloke. They can be nearly as fast, they cost much less, and they require virtually no maintenance in comparison.
- tawayway 9y ago
  > they require virtually no maintenance in comparison. Not sure I agree - your circular saw might need a new blade but your handsaw will (eventually) need a sharpening and the teeth set.
  - sliverstorm 9y ago
    Certainly the handsaw needs sharpening sometimes, and the same goes for many other hand tools. And the circular saw is not nearly as bad as some tools. But when I think of lawnmowers and especially chainsaws, I have spent more time repairing, oiling, refueling, cleaning, flushing, prepping for winter storage, and diagnosing them than I have actually using them! Fortunately sharpening is often pretty easy, and it's quite a useful skill considering how many things can be sharpened. Kitchen knives, lawn mowers, axes, hatches, scissors, pruners, shaving blades, chainsaws, shears...

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

Hand drills are great for when you need to drill pilot holes to install stuff in your dorm room or cheap apartment. Drilling through metal is where they really fall flat on their face. It's hard to keep a reasonable feed rate if the tool isn't in great condition or the work it not positioned conveniently. Accuracy also isn't that great, especially where a lot of pressure (metal) is needed or in awkward positions and that's with a power drill. A hand drill that you have to power would be even worse.

vlehto 9y ago
Agreed. But my experience with drilling metal with handheld power drill was so unsatisfying that I'd be glad to have an excuse to never try it again.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  Metal fabrication is my day job... To drill mild steel (regular old steel, containing 0.05–0.25% carbon, used for most things you see made of steel, like structural steel and most car body components) you need to use high-speed steel[1] drill bits, and they need to be sharp. With the correct speed and feed rate drilling mild steel with a power drill is quite doable, up to about 12mm diameter hole in 12mm thick plate. Regular stainless steels, 304 and 316 grades, are drilled with the same drill bits but slower, lower feed rates, and with constant cooling using a cutting fluid. I've seen people try to drill steel with drill bits intended for timber, or blunt drill bits, this isn't going to work. YouTube has good videos of how to sharpen drill bits. Worth learning, but mostly impractical on anything below about 3mm diameter (1/8th inch). 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_steel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_steel
  - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
    Pretty much all off consumer tooling is HSS. People just use way too much speed and cook them. It doesn't help that most aren't too sharp to begin with. Ever since I bought a drill bit sharpener (faster for the same quality as doing it by hand on a grinder) I've been using my hss tooling more. For steel that just needs a hole and will be drilled with a hand (power) drill I've found that masonry bits are king. A small pilot keeps them from walking and the carbide tips hold an edge very well. For truck frame rivets in accessible locations it's faster and cleaner than a torch. The straight cutting edges are also very easy to grind.

Tiktaalik 9y ago

I was told a story by a Canadian Forces mechanic about how he used a hand drill to do some underwater repairs on a float plane pontoon while in a remote area up North. I'm not sure if hand powered tools are part of a standard repair kit for the Canadian military or if he was just being extra cautious in including some in his kit, but one can see how they could be useful when working in remote areas without power.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
Hand tools are light, reliable, do not require external power and consume little space which make them better suited to remote environments than power tools.

spodek 9y ago

Lowtechmagazine.com is a site worth reading article after article.

skykooler 9y ago

Another hand-powered drilling tool not mentioned here is the pin vise, which works by means of a collar sliding up and down a spiraled shaft. They are used for drilling small, precise holes, using drill bits that would be easily broken by the greater torque of a power drill.

oasisbob 9y ago
Are you sure that's called a pin vise? I thought a pin vise was just a collet on a handle. (I.e. think a drill which made a baby with a screwdriver.)

oxplot 9y ago

A video of the guy behind Primitive Technology channel on YT making a pump drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI

mauvehaus 9y ago

The hand drills have a couple of non-obvious advantages over a normal electric drill. First, since they're usually slower, it's harder to really screw up and drill a blind hole too deep. As an added bonus, if you mark your depth with tape, it's a lot harder to accidentally push the tape up the bit, and subsequently drill too deep. Second, I find it much easier to drill a hole perpendicular to the surface I'm drilling in because the handle is in line with the axis of the hole. I find it much harder to do that reliably with an electric drill. Third, if you pull off the side handle (chef's cap), you can drill quite close to a wall (but not a corner). The handle isn't appreciably larger in diameter than the chuck, so you can drill straight in much closer (6-12mm) than you can with most electric drills. Fourth, the old ones are beautifully made, and will last forever[0]. Those are on top of the obvious advantage that they need neither a cord nor batteries. The downsides: It's harder to get the bit back out; you can't just gun it and pull back like you can with an electric drill. Also, you can't crank in reverse. That usually just loosens the chuck. You can't really maintain the speed you need to get a clean hole with a brad-point bit. Or maybe that just comes with practice? I haven't managed it yet. The single speed ones are pretty well done for by the time you hit a 1/4"/6mm bit, especially with a smaller drill. I have a Miller's Falls #5, and a Goodell-Pratt 5 1/2 [1]. The Goodell-Pratt has a low gear that really ups the capacity to drill larger diameter holes in hardwood. The Miller's Falls #5 has a double pinion, which I prefer to the single pinion on the Goodell-Pratt. The gearbox on the Goodell-Pratt is also slightly fussy, but it does have a ball bearing thrust bearing. [0] Can't resist, here's one of mine: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSkaD6iA1BP/?taken-by=teaandsawdust https://www.instagram.com/p/BSkaD6iA1BP/?taken-by=teaandsawd... [1] http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill3.htm http://oldtoolheaven.com/hand_drills/drill3.htm

userbinator 9y ago
Also, you can't crank in reverse. That usually just loosens the chuck. This may seem like a dumb question, since I've not used one of these before, but isn't that what the other gear on the shaft near the top (on those which have it) is for, to provide a reverse gear?
- pjc50 9y ago

unit91 9y ago

> Silent, safe, flexible, forgiving should read "Silent, safe, slow, flexible, forgiving, frustrating"

userbinator 9y ago

It's worth noting that the photograph halfway down the page of the man using a hand drill, which appears like it may have been taken quite recently, was actually taken 75 years ago, in 1942: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PalmercarpenterA.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PalmercarpenterA.jpg

njharman 9y ago
Wow, totally shocked by that. It's so clear and bright. The staging looks so "modern advertisement" like.
- Baeocystin 9y ago
  The photographer, Alfred T. Palmer, made an entire series of this type of color portraiture. They are well worth a look. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Alfred_T._Palmer https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Alfred_T._Palmer
  - mc32 9y ago
    You're not kidding. It looks reminiscent of '60's early 70's work. Early Meyerowitz[1] for example. Coincidentally, in the street photography genre, somewhat hot is what is called "staged photography"[2]. Although some staged photography attempts to capture candid moments found between the staged photos. [1]https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2017/05/22/t-magazine/joel-meyerowitz-towards-colour-1962-1978/s/22tmag-joel-slide-OPAV.html https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2017/05/22/t-magazine/joel... [2]http://www.americansuburbx.com/tag/staged-photography http://www.americansuburbx.com/tag/staged-photography
- michaelt 9y ago
  Partly because it's been digitally retouched, including someone messing with the levels. The original is at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmercarpenter.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmercarpenter.jpg

basicplus2 9y ago

I would love to see a full series of steps to boot strap from nothing through all the improving tools required to build a high quality lathe. So many disciplines need to come together.

cpr 9y ago

Ah, yes, included the Millers Falls two-handed drill we have for timber frame mortising. (Haven't done much lately.) Great tool, though admittedly much slower than electric chain morticers. But certainly more meditative...

avhon1 9y ago

Another really cool style of hand drill, which this article completely missed, is the Yankee Drill [0]. (More generically called a Push Drill.) A spade-like drill bit cuts when turned either direction. The handle has a screw mechanism and spring so that you can push the handle down into the work to turn the bit one way, and lift the handle back up to turn it the other way. The up-down motion is easy to get a hold of and very fast to do. It's amazing for drilling pilot holes and for putting holes in walls that are right next to furniture or cabinets - the diameter of the entire tool is only 1.25 or 1.5 inches. The handle stores a variety of bits inside. [0] https://www.garrettwade.com/garrett-wade-yankee-push-drill-gp.html https://www.garrettwade.com/garrett-wade-yankee-push-drill-g...

KGIII 9y ago
I came to mention this. I have several styles in my shop but I never really use any of them. I have a larger one, an old Stanley model whose number I have forgotten, that has seen some use. The smaller ones are something I've just toyed with. I have them only as novelty items, really. I much prefer a drill press, where I can. I kinda want to also build a foot-powered lathe, though I'd never use that either. Anyhow, they made bigger versions than the Yankee. I can't justify using them, but they are neat to hold and are fascinating examples of ingenuity. It's dark and I am in bed, but if reminded I will get some pictures.
Franciscouzo 9y ago
That link is giving me a 403 Access forbidden error.
panzerklein 9y ago
Miniature version of this drill is called pin vise and is used widely by modelmakers and jewelers.
- chrisbennet 9y ago
  They look similar though so I can understand the confusion but they are different - one is drill and the other is just a holding tool. The end of the Yankee push drill rotates when you push or pull the handle. A pin vise just has a chuck, similar to a drill chuck, but no mechanism to rotate the held piece.

jacquesm 9y ago

So, after all that hand powered stuff, here is a story about the Whole Hawg (and Unix) by Neal Stephenson: http://www.team.net/mjb/hawg.html http://www.team.net/mjb/hawg.html

pawelk 9y ago

I have recently bought a brace type hand drill and I prefer it over my cordless drill. It is great not only for drilling, I also use it to drive all types of screws since it will accept any bit the powered version would. It provides more torque than a screwdriver and is more pleasant to operate than a socket wrench.

cr0sh 9y ago
> It provides more torque than a screwdriver and is more pleasant to operate than a socket wrench. Look up what a "speed wrench" is - it's basically a brace-type socket wrench, designed for working with sockets. Usually used for automotive repair work, but I imagine that anything with a bolt/nut could be attacked with it, provided there's clearance of course...

chrissnell 9y ago

If you enjoyed this, you must watch the PBS documentary about Dick Proenneke, who built an amazing cabin in the Alaskan bush using hand tools, many of which he completed on-site. He was alone out there and shot the footage himself, Les Stroud-style, decades before Les made his first episode of Survivorman: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHhsu-Vn6jZpBMVJ5Wncizf0wrCw1C0-V http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHhsu-Vn6jZpBMVJ5Wnciz...

oakesm9 9y ago

If you're interested in seeing someone make these take a look at this Primitive Technology video and the others he produces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI Make sure you turn on captions to see descriptions of what's going on.

exDM69 9y ago

It's really sad that auger bits for braces aren't manufactured any more as far as I can tell. There are places that sell new old stock, and there are Irwin bits available but only in sets worth $500 (not sure if new or old stock). You might have to pay $30 for a single bit. I bought a bunch of random sized new old stock and I was lucky to obtain some untouched bits when I bought a dead man's tool chest a while back. I do woodworking exclusively with hand tools and the brace and bit is just a great tool. It's much nicer than hassling with power drills or trying to wrestle the work piece on the drill press. A cordless drill can get holes drilled just fine (although there's a risk of tearout on the opposite side) but for removing waste from mortises or other joinery a cordless drill is useless because you don't have a reliable depth stop. I also have an egg beater -style drill but unfortunately the chuck is broken. I won't bother buying a new one because I'll almost certainly get one when buying a set of old tools from someone in an online auction. Some old hand tools are much nicer to work with than their modern counterparts. It's not usually even much slower unless you're doing some mass manufacturing operation with a thousand similar holes or sawcuts. I could never afford a full shop of power tools or the space to put them in but I'm able to do almost anything with hand tools at a fraction of the money and space required.

cr0sh 9y ago
You mentioning mortices reminded me of a machine we had in our woodshop class in high school - we had a morticing (?) machine! It basically looked and worked like a drill press - but for "drilling" square holes! How you might ask? Well, pretty simple, actually: The "bit" was a drill bit fitted inside a piece of square tubing large enough to allow the bit to fit. At the working end of the tubing (or maybe along the length actually) were slots/holes to allow waste material to eject. The ends of the tubing were beveled (and likely hardened) to act as "chisels" to remove the remainder of the waste for a square hole. I never had a need to use the machine, so I don't know if these "bits" were removable and could be changed out for larger ones, etc - but I now suspect that to be the case; the bit I saw was around 1/2" wide - the machine was very large, and could probably handle up to 1.5" wide bits easily. Most all of the machine tooling in that large shop dated from years back. My high school was originally built to be the community college of the town, back in the late 1890s (IIRC). It was this way until around the 1940s, when it became the main high school of the town (lots of WPA structures on the campus as well). The city streets used to run thru the campus, but when I got there, they had blocked off the streets, but the campus was still "open" (my senior year was the last year of an "open campus" - afterward, they put fencing around the entire campus, and kids can no longer go off campus to eat during lunch). The industrial arts shop area was it's own self-contained unit, in a building right in front of the railroad tracks (the high school abutted the Santa Fe switch yard of the town); trains would go slowly by, rumbling the entire building. The woodshop was huge, easily a 2-3000 sqft space, two stories tall; the upper level was a storage space around a couple sides, but the rest of the floor was open to the ceiling. Built-in vacuum system with ports on the floor (sweep your wood shavings toward them to be sucked up and deposited outside). Lathes, joiners, drill presses, sanders, table saws, band saws, planers, a spray booth - you name it, this shop had it all. Most of the equipment dated from the 1940s and 50s, all in great working shape. Plenty of hand tools, etc. There was a metal shop too; from what I understand (I never got to see it) it allowed for a complete set of operations - casting, forging, bending, cutting, etc - and was as large as the woodshop and fully stocked as well. Also in the same building was the drafting class - whether you wanted to learn architectural or mechanical drafting, you could do it. This was before cheap computer-aided drafting was easily available, so everything was done on paper, and we got to make real blueprints as well! There was also shops for small-engine repair and automotive shop. So - in theory - that entire building had almost everything needed to manufacture something - from design to actual part. I wish I hadn't been such a geek back then; I really wish I had taken more of an interest in the metal arts, automotive, etc. All I ever took was the drafting and the woodshop class. And for what its worth, the woodshop class I did as a night class to earn extra credits I didn't need (I just wanted to use the shop). At the end of the class, our "final assignment" was to clean out that upper storage area. We all went up there to find a uniform layer of sawdust about 3 inches thick! Amazing the place never burned down! Anyhow, up there were also a ton of old student projects from years gone by - just left there, whether by accident, or because the person had no way to get them home, or maybe the rule at one time was you had to pay for the materials, and they had no way to pay? We found fine examples of student work, some of it dating from the 1950s onward; most had the name of the student and a date penciled on it somewhere (I went to high school from 88-91). Desks, a pew, tables, chairs, a grandfather clock. We even found a "US Civil Defense" pamphlet (with the Turtle guy in a GI helmet, telling you what to do in the event a nuclear bombing! That was another thing about this school - most of the buildings were designated fallout shelters in the basements - and some had "sub-basement" fallout shelters that were locked). We cleaned it all up, and left the woodwork in place. It was like a time capsule that we opened, cleaned up, then closed up again. I don't know if any of it still exists, if kids there are taught that stuff any more - or if any of them care to learn it. I know I missed out (I was always taking computer-oriented electives) - so today I've had to learn from others or self-teach myself stuff (fortunately I had some great people to learn from, and the internet today).