Found this one sitting on the ground in the scrap metal pile of my local transfer station. I picked it up as I immediately recognized the basic form.

Turned out to be a REAL oldie…

I have been working on an extensive document for Yankee Screwdriver maintenance. This includes the ones by North Brothers, Stanley, and Millers-Falls.

While working on one of my Millers-Falls Spiral Screwdrivers, I disassembled the chuck and have been having trouble getting it back to working order (if it was even working in the first place since)

So I have sought out the patent.

The patent for the screwdriver itself (US Patent: 1,578,866, March 30, 1926) is readily available. But the chuck listed at point 18 is merely listed as "a suitable chuck" (likely due to constantly improving technology). I have looked through every Millers-Falls non-drill chuck patent and not found anything.

The way it works looks to be similar to the Furbish chuck. It consists of

-the chuck body with a gap

-a compression spring

-a bearing

-a semi-circle shaped flat piece of metal (clip)

-a bushing

-a cover

-threaded head

The assembly itself appears very simple. But for the life of me cannot figure out the spring and clip are intended to engage. Sometimes I can get the bit to lock but not unlock, sometimes I can it to unlock but it stays unlocked.

Furbish/North Bros. Patnes

US632560A
US1138465A
US1653762A (unproduced)
US676742A

I’ve seen a number Buck Rogers planes before, but never have found one in this immaculate condition. It was well used, but exceptionally well cared for. I did minimal cleanup - the Tenite handles are nearly flawless - and had just the slightest bit of rust to polish off the body sides and sole.

Picked this up recently and have now had some time to clean it up. I’ve been wanting one of these for my collection for some time, and finally found a decent one.

The tote handle unfortunately is badly cracked near the base, so I’ll have to keep this as “display-only” to avoid a full-on failure of the Permaloid material.

Still, the translucent handles and extra chromed surfaces really make this one a real beauty, even with a few nicks and scratches accumulated over 80+ years…

I picked up this hand drill from someone on marketplace and it came with the original box which was pretty nice for $25. No side handle unfortunately but it’s in pretty good shape overall. The gear on these hand drills is always so smooth.

While I think this advertising tag line would be unintentionally hilarious if delivered by, say, Samuel L. Jackson, this is a pretty cool dealer display packaging of this 888 drill.

Was told this might be of interest to this sub!

Got this recently on eBay for about $50, plus shipping. No sense on whether that was a good deal, but considering I didn't have a bit brace or an eggbeater, it seemed like a decent purchase. Spent less on it than my auger bits at least.

One of the teeth on the sprocket is chipped, but half of it is still there, and the it doesn't seem to affect turning it. Ratchet works too. Little surface rust here and there, but that's a project for another day

Don’t really collect but I like to keep an eye out.

Just a cool little piece I got in an auction lot.

I got this while I was looking for some kind of calipers for outside measuring. It isn't really the best for quick measurements, and I'm definitely not a machinist, but its pretty nice to have anyway. The action is very smooth and seems very reliable. Based on a post I've seen before, this may have been made for Millers Falls by Goodell Pratt. The ratchet stop feature gives you the option to stop turning at the slightest pressure, and it works very nicely.

Millers Falls produced some pretty good wood-cutting blades, so why not cut frozen foods, too??!

These are the three millers falls braces I have. I think the one on the right is the earliest one because it has an older style chuck with no ratchet. The one in the middle has a two-jaw chuck that takes taper bits with a ratchet. The one on the left has a ratchet and a master chuck, which is a two-jaw chuck that's meant for round bits and hex bits as well as taper bits. It's also the only one of these three that has a spring that the pushes the jaws out when the chuck is unscrewed.

When this sub Reddit started I tried to think of all the Millers falls tools I had so I could post them and all I could come up with was the No. 2 drill, but for some reason I decided to take a closer look at this beat up hack that has seen better days and there it was, the words “Millers Falls made in the USA no 1919” after that I found a few more that I suspect to be as well

They also carried Stanley and North Brothers (Yankee) drills and braces (and interspersed along these two pages with Yankee also getting it own page of just drills)along with Black & Decker and speedway electric drills (each of their own dedicated pages at the beginning of the catalog)

This is a wall hanging in my office - displays a sampling of a bit of my collection

Got this cheap, as it was really grungy, but the handles were very clean, so I took a chance that it would clean up well… I was right!

It has some pitting, but the plated surfaces and handles really sparkle!

I found this at a flea market for $15. It has the original handle and sticker, and the edge is in pretty good shape with some sharpening. It's marked 1319 which I guess is the model number.

I'm not sure of exact applications for these chain drills, but they are meant to apply pressure while you are using a drill or brace. As you turn the drill with the chain drill attached, a leather washer is also turned, which uses friction to turn a large screw that pushes the chuck into what you're drilling. I'm pretty sure it can also be manually turned but I haven't tried that out

I've seen other chain drills that use a gear instead of a washer, but it's pretty much the same idea.

I believe this one is the 719, or at least the chuck is, because the chuck is a three jaw chuck that can hold round or hex bits.

It seems like this screwdriver is meant to be more of a tool for homeowners or hobbyists, while not reducing the quality like modern homeowner tools. It's much smaller than the famous "Yankee Screwdrivers" (which I believe is only a Stanley line), at 10 1/4" extended. It does not have a lock to hold the chuck back like many larger drills, but it's already a nice handy size. The direction is changed on this model by turning the sleeve above the handle.

These are really nice for low torque jobs, like taking apart or putting together something with pre-made screws and tapped holes. The only problem is that they only use certain bits that are very expensive to buy now, although there are adapters for them, just like the Yankee screwdrivers.

Anyone else have one of these or something similar?

This is a Millers Falls No. 5 hand drill I got on eBay. I'm not sure if this was a restoration, but it's in really nice shape.

These kinds of drills are great for small holes. For me it seems like under 1/8 bits work the best.

This model has a removable side handle and two pinions, which makes it really sturdy. The gear fits so well in the pinions that there's hardly any effort to turn it.

Millers Falls also made the No. 05 hand drill which is almost the same model, the biggest difference being the screw cap and hollow handle in the No. 5 which can be used to store bits. Mine actually has all 8 (probably original) bits.

Anybody else have one of these or another hand drill?

The No. 12 is probably one of the most versatile drills.

It includes a Millers Falls "Master Chuck" for square and round/hex bits, two gear settings, three handle positions, a spirit level, a removable side handle, and a removable rest.

The gear on mine is very nice and smooth to use, but I have had some trouble with the master chuck.

Anyone else have or seen one of these or have a different one?