One of last year's find at the Covered Bridge Festival yielded one of my prized push drills now that I have it operational. A Millers-Falls, Model 100 (aka Buck Rogers). Found it in a pile of stuff but no price. I finally found the vendor and asked how much for this...He replied "I don't even know what that is...how about $3.75?" I couldn't get my money clip out fast enough...I didn't know how many bits were trapped inside, but it had an original tube which contained several I could tell.

 

Mom's illness came shortly thereafter, then all the trips & time to the hospital, the nursing home, then eventually her passing, many things were placed on the back burner for some time. A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to figure this thing out so here's the journey. Thanks for looking...

 

 

As purchased...you can see the Red Tenite has the typical "mold" from age, and exposure. It really stinks too.

 

Bits in the tube turned out to be straight shank probably for an egg-beater style. Not for this drill or any of the Stanley style either.

 

After some internet searches, I finally found some information on how to disassemble the 100. Soaking with WD-40 still would not free up the Red handle portion to rotate easily to remove the bits in the handle.

The multiple layers of blue masking tape provided a gripping area where I could use gripping pliers without damaging the aluminum. I had tried strap wrenches with no success. Even at this stage, I still could not get the handle to

rotate easily or to further clean. NOTE: The wood plunger. This one appeared to be turned from maple. You can also see the "gang green" transferred from the brass. I had pre-cleaned the Tenite handle first using a nylon scraper, 

then green Scotch-Brite.

  

 

Cleaned the plunger with Acetone, Scotch-Brite, then 3 or 4 coats of Johnson's Wax. I added another layer of painters tape to the plunger barrel to remove it from the spiral drive. Handle was cleaned with Simple Green & water mix

then buffed on the lose sewn buffing wheel and Blue Compound specific for plastic...yep it still stinks. The adapter on the right by the plunger barrel incurred some damage to the internal spirals as well as the shoulder during removal.

I had to use an Easy-Out.; spent a lot of time with jewelers files to repair, but getting it out let me finally get the handle free. I chose not to to remove the brass tube from the end cap fearing I would collapse it trying to get a firm grip.

 

A lot of cleaning and polishing with the Dremel, hand polishing with 240-400 grill wet/dry and also final buffing with different compounds at the buffer.

 

I made a flap sander from a 1/4" bolt shank by cutting a slot in the shaft to wrap sand paper arse a way to flap and enlarge the ID of the handle some. I guess the Tenite either shrinks (it certainly stinks) over time or maybe the WD-40

had an adverse effect on it. Anyway, after ever thing was cleaned and polished, it still would not rotate freely on the brass sleeve without flapping.

  

 

Sub-assembled with white grease to lube all the internal moving parts; The reveal after tape removed and everything cleaned and polished. Oh yeah, it was worth the patience & work as all 8 original bits with minimal surface rust

were in the handle turret

I don't think this had been used much and some bits not at all. All bits were buffed with the Dremel and scrubbed with Johnson's and a toothbrush. The non-matching bits will get a new assignment to 

one of my egg-beater drills.

  

 

Ready for it's new luxury dwelling. Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

Great job Dave.

Cal

When you mentioned that this stuff stinks, it reminded me of an article from some time back in Knife World

 

http://www.oregonknifeclub.org/celluloid_02.html

 

You may want to keep your "stinker" separate from the others...for good reason.

Hey, can you give me any tips about how the top part comes apart? I've been able to disassemble mine except for the top three parts. I can't figure out what's holding them together. The hemispherical metal "cap" and the tube that it's connected to rotates freely within the plastic body, and the metal trim ring with the drill size markings rotates on the outside of the plastic body. In spite of this, the parts don't seem to screw apart and they don't pull apart with what feels like reasonable force. I emptied all of the drill slots first, except for one, which seems to have two drills jammed into a single slot. That's actually the main reason I want to get the barrel apart: to get those two out. Thanks.

First, Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker Curly. Great you found us and humbled I might be able to offer some assistance. Looking forward to your continued participation.

 

Second, congratulations for being an owner of a M-F 100 Push Drill aka Buck Rogers Drill. These drill are absolutely cool to discover. I was lucky enough to score another one from a flea market this past fall. Unfortunately it only had two bits with it and is a little more rough than this one is.

 

I'd planned to put together a tutorial for the disassembly/ reassembly process I've used but the weather went south early and hasn't improved since. However, I insert some makeshift photos from it to hopefully help you along. Hope to see you more around the virtual work bench here at TPW.

1 hour ago, Curly said:

Hey, can you give me any tips about how the top part comes apart? I've been able to disassemble mine except for the top three parts. I can't figure out what's holding them together.

OK, to get you an answer quick the pictures are not the best quality and may be oddly sized since I'm using the WIN Snipping Tool, but hopefully will make sense. Cautionary note: I'm no expert on these but am happy to share what I've learned through MY experiences thus far.

 

I suspect whats keeping you from removing the index cap from the body is the helix guide (circled in red). Likely when you removed the lower half (the aluminum shaft guide body) it unscrewed from the helix guide. From this picture, the brass helix guide and tube (longer brass "sleeve" part the spring is hanging out) screw into the index cap (dome) via the threads circled in blue.

 

That happened on both of mine. Hence the heavy layers of painters tape to prevent marring the aluminum and Tenite handle. On both, I used a Snap-on (large) broken stud extractor which is all I had that would fit the ID of the helix guide and handle bore. Mine pictured above in this thread took considerable force to remove...this one not nearly as much but someone has had this one apart before since it's missing the wood plunger, had an external tooth lock washer in the index head and the indexing plunger lock was installed upside down. . I'll be glad to get better pictures of the individual parts as well as the stud extractor tomorrow if needed.

 

Once these two pieces (the helix guide and tube) are removed as a unit, the indexing cap should come out of the Tenite handle pretty easy since you already have it rotating.

 

If yours, in it's current state of disassembly looks like the picture below, then the helix guide and tube are what's keeping you from removing the index head (dome).

Red circle/arrow indicate position and thread connection to helix guide. This picture is from my first "100" disassembly.

 

Helix guide circle in red. The red arrow indicates a "groove" or un-threaded portion close to center stop. This should be threaded into the nose guide (bullet) end versus

the handle end. Also note the position of the indexing head lock pin; curved portion facing toward the small curve in the handle.

 

The only way you can reassemble is to have the "sub-assemblies" as shown below. Note the position of hte helix guide; green arrow to depict portion with threaded

area all the way to the center stop.

 

Make sure to properly clean everything (I used green scotch brite as well as wire wheels on my Dremel for all internal). Also, I used Johnson's paste wax on the

wood plunger (3 coats) then a then coat of white lithium grease on the helix, spring and plunger. All external parts were polished on my buffer first with white diamond,

then red rouge. The handle was cleaned with worn green scotch brite, then polished on my loose wheel buffer using a blue compound specifically for plastics...light pressure only.

 

 

Sorry for poor pic quality...Tools used on both for dis-assembly. The Snap-on Broken Stud extractor still inserted in the helix guide and plunger guide tube. The pliers on the upper right

are Channel Lock with a pipe style jaw. The more you squeeze the tighter they get working similar to a pipe wrench therefore the need to protect surfaces. I've had these pliers 45-50 years

but still can be purchased through Channel Lock. I've tried various strap wrenches but they won't hold. Bottom two are Robo-Grip which work similar to the Channel Locks just don't have

the grip power, but are need to hold one part while turning another. The pair on the right are Craftsman, but were made for them by Robo Grip. Crescent was used to unscrew the helix

guide and plunger tube assembly.; then used the two Robo Grips to unscrew the helix guide from the tube.

Reminds me of putting some pens together.  And then have to take one apart because something did not work.

Yes, the No. 100 is quite cool. Mine was an estate sale find, in its original box for $5-10 a year or two ago. It has some minor marks from use, but is completely clean and operational, not really needing any work at all. The only problem is the two bits that are jammed in a single storage slot that I would like to get out, hence the need to disassemble it.

 

I also have a Goodell Pratt No. 185 push drill that uses the same bits as the No. 100, but doesn't fit my hand as well. And a Stanley North Bros. Yankee No. 45 in its original box. Plus a Stanley North Bros. Yankee 30A screwdriver in original box.

 

I had a chance last year to buy the Millers Falls 709 and 714 "Buck Rogers" planes locally, but they were priced too high for their condition and my level of interest. Earlier this year, I was able to use a 714 at Roy Underhill's school. We were using jack planes in one part of the class and I was having trouble with the wood-body model I started with. He went to get me another, and came back with a 714! It worked fine for the coarse work at hand, but it didn't make me want to search one out as a user.

6 hours ago, Curly said:

Yes, the No. 100 is quite cool. Mine was an estate sale find, in its original box for $5-10 a year or two ago. It has some minor marks from use, but is completely clean and operational, not really needing any work at all.

Ya' did good...REAL GOOD since it was in the original box and in the condition you show...

6 hours ago, Curly said:

I also have a Goodell Pratt No. 185 push drill that uses the same bits as the No. 100, but doesn't fit my hand as well. And a Stanley North Bros. Yankee No. 45 in its original box. Plus a Stanley North Bros. Yankee 30A screwdriver in original box.

Well, you're starting to show severe symptoms of Push Drillititis...no treatments to slow the progression down let alone any hope for a cure.

 

Mine started with one ~1974...a new Stanley-Yankee-Handyman 46Y...when I found out a few years back they had dropped the line (you can buy replicas of the 41Y from Garrett Wade), I sorta went off the deep end anytime I went to a flea market, yard/garage sale etc. I typically limit myself not to spend more than $5 for one...I definitely would go more if if the original box but have yet to find one in the wild. Below are most of them, although I've since added a few...I've been slowly working on the restorations...some are in too poor of condition to restore so will be part mules...most were a buck or two and had 0-7 bits...the pesky 1/16 is usually missing, broken or severely bent.

 

Mix of Stanley (some North Bros) model 40, 41, 41Y; Right picture the inverted blue/red is my original 46Y; also 45 (black) and 46 (red)

  

 

Some Dunlaps---left picture all of those use Stanley type bits---one on the right uses same bits as the M-F's & Goodall-Pratts

 

 

Craftsman version of the M-F Buck Rogers...designed by the same tool designer and ~ same era; same bits as Stanley

  

 

 

7 hours ago, Curly said:

Earlier this year, I was able to use a 714 at Roy Underhill's school. We were using jack planes in one part of the class and I was having trouble with the wood-body model I started with. He went to get me another, and came back with a 714! It worked fine for the coarse work at hand, but it didn't make me want to search one out as a user.

WOW, you've rubbed elbows with Roy?  Now that's cool!

We'd love to hear more about your experience there in it's own thread and any pictures you might have.

Picked one up a year ago...

Seemed to do ok, for the price...

Needs tightened up at the top....index ring just spins....

 

Been using the Stanley/ North Brothers ones.  

1 hour ago, steven newman said:

Seemed to do ok, for the price...

Do ya' sleep at nights?

1 hour ago, steven newman said:

Needs tightened up at the top....index ring just spins....

Just make sure you remove all the bits and hold/tie down the index head latch pin.

I don't think the index ring every fit tight...when new it might have been glued to the handle IDK...both of mine showed traces of glue possibly...Too much difference between ring ID and handle OD

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Do ya' sleep at nights?

Just make sure you remove all the bits and hold/tie down the index head latch pin.

I don't think the index ring every fit tight...when new it might have been glued to the handle IDK...both of mine showed traces of glue possibly...Too much difference between ring ID and handle OD

Now you understand the name Bandit.....

Thanks loads for the explanation of the innards. After examining mine further, I've decided it will just have to stay assembled for now. I don't have any screw extractor that will fit, and I'm not up to trying to repair the internal threads even if I did have the extractor. As I mentioned, mine already works fine and looks great so I don't need to disassemble it for those reasons. It's annoying to think about the two bits that are jammed together in one slot, but I have other bits of all sizes, so I just have to stop thinking about it

16 minutes ago, Curly said:

It's annoying to think about the two bits that are jammed together in one slot

You might try "soaking" the bits through the opening with some WD-40. The second one I bought had a bit stuck up where I couldn't rotate the index head. After much soaking and light taps with a small compathane hammer I was able to get it to drop down where I could rotate the head and remove. The Tenite "grows" some type of whitish "mold" and cause things to stick. The WD-40 seems to break it down w/o damaging the Tenite. After soaking, align with access hole, invert and tap on the chuck end. Worth a try.

 

I'd be glad to repair it for free if you cover the shipping both ways. Will have to be a couple months down the road though after the weather warms up. My work-space is unheated. You can PM for shipping and contact information.

On 1/7/2019 at 6:16 PM, steven newman said:

Picked one up a year ago...

 

Seemed to do ok, for the price...

 

Needs tightened up at the top....index ring just spins....

I wouldn't say that the index ring on mine spins, but If I don't hold it in place it does turn somewhat along with the turret instead of staying aligned with the body. I have to keep turning it back to where it belongs.

Here's a look at the Goodell Pratt No. 185. It has basically the same turret dispenser for bits as the MF No. 100. In a ring around the upper body, just below the turret, is an array of eight holes matching the size of the bit that gets stored at each location. I guess it's an aid to quickly and easily put a bit back in the right location.

Here's the Miller's Falls No. 100 with its box.

And here is the Stanley No. 45 with its box. This one has quite a bit more wear than the MF No. 100 box.

Edited January 12, 20197 yr by Curly

On 11/20/2017 at 10:12 AM, p_toad said:

an article from some time back in Knife World

that was a  very  difficult article for me.  I hate it when an author takes the long way home and then goes around the barn a few times for good measure before  getting to the point.  I guess for some it's all about the journey, for me it's about the point, and that guy couldn't get to it if he were impaled on it.

6 hours ago, Curly said:

And here is the Stanley No. 45 with its box. This one has quite a bit more wear than the MF No. 100 box.

You have three sweet drills Curly. With the boxes even more so. Is that an extra set of bits with the 45?