Popular Post Grandpadave52 Posted March 14, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) A few weeks back, I posted a thread about a pick that included a Black & Decker corded drill kit. I also have alluded to the fact I may have a problem when it comes to the number of corded drills in my possession. Since the temperature is dropping and we alternate between white-out snow then momentary sunshine and now darkness, I thought I would present this thread for your entertainment, amusement, amazement and harassment. Enjoy the show. WARNING: Proceeding beyond this point is at your own risk. The content of this thread is not advised for those with rational thought processes or hoarding phobias. Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Must be 18 to enter. So it began one December 7th many years ago for my 17th (maybe 18th??) birthday I think. I received my first power-tool. A Skil, 3/8" VS Model 569 drill. Who knew this would eventually lead to an addiction. I did replace the swithc once several years ago. Shortly there-after, my dad also gave me a 1/4" Mall Model 143 drill that had belonged to my grand-father. It has to be from the late 1940's to early 1950's. The original cord finally disintegrated. I replaced it 35+ years ago with the current cord which now needs replaced. I need to search out cord strain reliefs although the spark plug boots i used to use worked pretty well. These were my primary drills for years both at home and occasionally in my work life. The Mall has a piece missing in the replaceable handle portion which is the way I inherited it. That nugget of information is relevant later on in this drill dynasty. Next up is my Black & Decker 1/2" VS, Model 7210. It's story begins in the first JD Dealership I worked. That was in 1973. The drill was already in service and likely had been purchased in the late 1960's from Grainger's. The dealer eventually closed so we parted ways for a year or so. A new dealer reopened the dealership and I was recruited as the Service Manager Low and behold the drill and I was reunited as most of the tooling from the old dealership had been purchased. Some time later, one of the "rookie" mechanics pushed this drill beyond its limits. The armature windings separated from the commutator bar. A replacement was needed immediately and as luck had it, the Mac Tool Rep had just began carrying a new line called Makita. We purchased a 1/2", VSR double insulated drill upon his recommendation. We sent the B&D in for repair evaluation estimate. The cost to replace the armature, brushes and refurb the drill came back more than the new Makita so this drill got tossed back in the cabinet. Several years later during a clean-up session the drill was set out to be trashed. I asked if I could have it and was granted the request. It laid in a box at home for a number of years. I finally made a trip to the old B&D Service Center in Indy, bought an armature, couple set of brushes for around $35 at the time. Finally had to replace the cord a few years back. While doing some remodeling work at my daughters, either my ex SIL or oldest grandson apparently dropped the drill on the "nib" on the upper back handle breaking it in the mounting screw/rear bearing housing. Calling B&D/DeWalt Service Centers all over the country yielded no parts available. I eventually was able to locate a "parts donor" drill but not before lots of searching which leads to a long tale yet to come. I have the original manual and dead-man handle for the drill also. It was and still is a great drill...low RPM and lots of torque. In the midst of the above I acquired this old Sioux, 1/4" in-line drill. It was given to me by a former mechanic. Probably from the 50's. The switch was bad as was the original cord (dry rot). It is the same frame and motor unit as the old Sioux hard-seat grinder. Instead of the angle seat driver head, Sioux offered an alternative drive head. I came upon a used hard seat grinder the Mac Tool Rep had traded for. The gears were bad, but the was switch good...gave a couple bucks for it. Replaced the switch. This drill still gets a lot of use running a carbon cleaning brush and other wire wheel attachments. Probably will need a new cord in the not to distant future. Somewhere in the 90's, I had a need for a D-handle 1/2" drill; something that would do heavier duty work than the 1/2" B&D. My wife bought me this Craftsman for Christmas one year. VSR model. Actually my first reversible corded drill. I primarily have used it to run a paddle to mix drywall compound and thin set mortar. Maybe have drilled a couple dozen 5/8" dia. holes in steel with a twist bit. The (3) on the right followed. The left one is a 1/4" Dunlap made for Sears; circa late 40's early 50's; bought at a flea market for a couple of bucks; it works fine, just needs disassembled, cleaned, new gear grease and the aluminum body polished; The middle is another Mall 143; another flea market find for $3; I originally bought it to use for parts my old 143 however it works great, so again just disassemble, clean, re-lube and polish. The one on the right is an old Montgomery Ward given to me by my late FIL. He got it in a box of crap treasures at an auction. Obviously needs a cord and the normal clean & re-lube. I've had it for years; just need to find round-to-its for all three. Close up view of the Dunlap tag. Also a Did just a little preliminary buffing to see how it would polish up. The Mall 143 tag. The "three amigos", oppoosite side on the far right. You can see they remain in their natural wild state...now where are those round-tu-its? Now back to the quest finding a replacement handle section for the B&D 1/2" VS. So I watched flea markets, yards sales, and even a few auctions to no avail finding a parts donor to repair this drill. Even eBay was coming up empty. Finally a hit on eBay...I won an auction for a 1/2" (one owner). If I recall about $14 with the shipping. However, when I got the drill, it was so pristine, I couldn't bring myself to cannibalize it. It had the dead-man handle but the cord had been replaced. It's the one on the left; I'm pretty sure it's a U-126 like the one on the right. Only single speed, but a very nice drill. The one on the right came later in the parts quest. Found it at a flea market for $8 with some weird coupling attachment in place of the chuck, but pristine other-wise. I bought a Jacobs chuck from H-F. $10 less 20% coupon so $8 for a new chuck bringing the total to $16. The parts quest continued...the one on the far right I believe to be a model 7120 although might be an 1161; both are 3/8" VS models. Anyways won that bid on eBay as a parts only drill...if I recall, it was ~$9 with shipping; might have been less...when I received it, as stated it did not work. Began disassembling to swap the handles and noticed a loose wire in the switch and wires not in the right locations; straighten all that out, and it works fine...so the quest rolls on. The one on the left is a Model U-100, 1/4", single speed; a little different rear handle design without the nub, but interchangeable. Picked that one up for a couple bucks...did the normal disassembly/clean-up; works great...the quest continues... While I continued to watch eBay, after two purchases all of a sudden these style drills began popping up like mushrooms. Seems every flea market I had tried before now were crawling with them... These 2 were next; a 7110 I think, 3/8" single speed in the original metal B&D box for $5. Another U-100 for $3 but needed a cord. H-F has 10' neon orange and sometimes green extension cords on sale for ~$4 from time-to-time. I keep a supply of them as replacement cords; far cheaper than actual replacement cords. Both of these work great and needed minimal clean-up. Next in the quest to find a handle were the two on the right. Finally, success. I gave $3 for the pair. Robbed the handle off the top one. The bottom one while it will run, the front bearing is shot. However I could take these two and make one good usable drill should I need an extra. Unfortunately, by this time the disease had over taken me so.................................... At one of my favorite flea infestations, I stumbled on this Skil 599. Now knowing how hard finding replacement parts for the B&D had been, I justified this purchase figuring the cord and switch would interchange with my first drill if needed. Since it was only $5. As dumb luck would have it, this is a hammer, scraper, drill VSR, 3/8". It all works so.... The drill on the right beckoned me and since I didn't own a plain ole, 3/8" VSR and it was only $5, I succumbed. Knowing how hard parts might be to get for it, the left one appeared at a yard sale. It was in a bucket, chuck down with about an 2" of water...well the cord & switch is probably good and for $2...dang the luck, it cleaned up pretty nice except for a little erosion on the nose housing, works like a champ so... This one in the original case although missing some of the accessories..still needs refurbed when I find some of those round tuits so... This orphan needed a good home and for $8 in the original case with accessories and then.... This trio actually preceded the two sets above. The one on the far right is a U-203; kinda' rare; 1/4" 2 speed. I use it a lot with various brushes to do cleaning and polishing. A slightly different version of the U-100 in the middle, then I'm not sure of the model on the left, but a 3/8" VS. Of course when the first B&D 1/2" went down, I needed an immediate, budget friendly replacement so H-F to the rescue with this 1/2" VSR model....with a coupon it was $24 and some change with tax. It works great and have used it to mix thin set and drywall compound also. So.... It all started when this drill handle failed....so....... There is one more to this stable but current weather conditions prevent me from moving stuff out to get to the cabinet. It's an old Montgomery Ward (I think), D handle with a 1/2" pipe dead man, 5/8" chuck that belonged to my grand-dad I inherited when my dad passed. That drill cost me $200 about 50 years ago. I'll update this saga with it's unique story in the future. These of course are just my corded drills and does not include any of the cordless, screw-guns or drill presses. Once I get over my shame for this post and ya'll recover from the shock and trauma of reading this post, maybe I'll entertain you in another show. Just so you know, I have put back many other drills to allow others around the world to the joy of owning a corded drill if only for a moment. Assuming you remained conscious to this point, thanks for following along. BTW, if you were counting you should have come up with 26 drills total. I may have a problem??? Edited March 14, 2018 by Grandpadave52 Dadio, Gerald, DuckSoup and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 I recognize most of those drills, My dad had many of them and in those days B&D was a respectable reliable tool maker. I remember the first electric drill my dad had was a BD Spade Handle 1/4" chuck. There weren't any 3/8" just 1/4",1/2", 5/8",3/4" . And they were non reversible single speed. If a 3/4" drill stuck I have seen only a few men that could stall them without getting wound up like a corkscrew. The other features came later. This was the next step up from the brace and bit. I even today use my corded drills , the largest cordless is 12v. anything over that I don't like cordless. Thanks for posting ,brings back fond memories. Herb Grandpadave52, lew, Cal and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 7 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said: I may have a problem??? That's not a problem, that is a collection Dave! Where would museums be if there were no collections in the world? HARO50, Grandpadave52, Dadio and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post John Morris Posted March 14, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 Awesome article Dave, you earned a "Feature" star on this one, and a place in "Our Picks" http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/ourpicks/ for your great content, great layout within the article, and your proper use of tags, a perfect educational topic for our community, thank you Dave! We also shared this one across our social networks venues. schnewj, Cal, Grandpadave52 and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted March 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 4 minutes ago, John Morris said: Awesome article Dave, you earned a "Feature" star on this one, Ah shucks John...even a blind squirrel stumbles upon a nut occasionally. Since I'm held hostage with the weather, the ills of stir crazy may be affecting my otherwise abnormal behavior. However, thanks for the nod! It was fun! Now, back to my straight jacket. HARO50, Cal, Dadio and 2 others 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Grandpadave52 Posted March 14, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 32 minutes ago, Cal said: Where would museums be if there were no collections in the world? And this one has free admission if you can stay awake during the movie. One must bring their own coffee (BTOC) though. Cal, Dadio, p_toad and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post schnewj Posted March 14, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 Great job, Gramps! I still have some of those old 3/8 Craftsman drills. I keep a 90° chuck on one, for those awkward angles and tight spaces. The cordless drills are my go-to for most tasks, but when you need run time and torque you just can't beat the corded drills. Some great classics there...just stay out of the water with those metal case ones. p_toad, Cal, HARO50 and 2 others 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gene Howe Posted March 14, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 Never seen so many drills in one place. Great job on the post. I didn't find it boring, at all. Dadio, Grandpadave52, Cal and 2 others 2 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandyDan Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 What fun reading your post. I have some of those and remembered the ones dad had too. I think my older brother took dad's home with him. Great post!!! p_toad, Dadio and Grandpadave52 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al B Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 Gosh Dave, you are indeed the Drill Master. I do have the Craftsman 3/8 drill, but it's the only corded drill I own. Guess the cordless idea took over with me. I enjoyed reading the post. p_toad and Grandpadave52 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post p_toad Posted March 15, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 I love this. Reminds me of my old, original B&D 1/4" drill that i used to drill some holes in pieces of hard rock maple from an old bowling alley. That drill got too hot to hold and the grease all ran out. After it cooled off, i refilled it with some axle grease (all i had back then) and kept on going. It didn't burn up and works to this day. Dadio, Grandpadave52, Cal and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 @Dadio, I was wondering why you prefer the 12 volt drills over the 18-20 volt drills. The new 20 Vs are lighter and the charge lasts a lot longer. My only corded one is a 3/8 PC. It's a good un. But, I reach for the cordless ones most often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandyDan Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Gene Howe said: @Dadio, I was wondering why you prefer the 12 volt drills over the 18-20 volt drills. The new 20 Vs are lighter and the charge lasts a lot longer. My only corded one is a 3/8 PC. It's a good un. But, I reach for the cordless ones most often. I have an 18v Dewalt set of tools and bought a 12V Hitachi drill and impact set for in the shop because the Dewalt was so heavy. I have since replaced the Dewalt batteries with lithium ion and they are a lot lighter. I still prefer the Hitachi set for the shop for physical size reasons and they are still lighter too. HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 My recent acquisition, the Dewalt 20v, is lighter than my Makita 18v. And both are much lighter than my first cordless, a now deceased Makita 12v. That thing was heavier than my PC corded one. Handy, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 5 hours ago, Gene Howe said: @Dadio, I was wondering why you prefer the 12 volt drills over the 18-20 volt drills. The new 20 Vs are lighter and the charge lasts a lot longer. My only corded one is a 3/8 PC. It's a good un. But, I reach for the cordless ones most often. Actually,Gene, I have the PC12v Drill and the Driver they are lithiem batteries, Also have a little Skil slow speed drill plug in charge and a Works six shooter,also a direct plug in charge, both of those are for light duty compact quarters work like installing drawer slides. I found that for heavy duty drilling like pocket holes and metal I like the corded drills and have a HD 3/8 Skil and a 1/2" Bosch. I hate having all those different chargers, and one brand fits all idea doesn't work for me either. So I have just one PC 9v charger for my drill and driver, a Bosch charger for my Nicon old Bosch cordless circular saw, a makita charger for the little 3" circular saw and little vacuum cleaner,and jig saw, I suppose if I was back in the trades I would have all the big honker cordless ,but don't do anything like that anymore. Herb HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 My Dad never had a drill. When I was about 10 he gave me a Dormeyer all metal drill for Christmas. If he needed a drill he used mine. I got rid of it several years ago. I have a 1/2 inch Craftsman looks just like the black one in your post but with side handle. When I bought my first PC I could really see the difference from Craftsman.....much smoother and quieter. I have rebuilt a battery for that PC twice and wish I could get a lithium for it. Oh well I do have the 12V Milwaukee which is handy for shop use and small enough to not wear me out. Grandpadave52, HARO50 and Dadio 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted March 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Gerald said: When I was about 10 he gave me a Dormeyer all metal drill Was it an in-line or pistol grip style? I occasionally run across a Dormeyer at flea markets or yard sales. I nearly bought a pistol grip model awhile back. It was very similar to the old, all metal , B&D U-100. It needed a cord, but otherwise was very nice. I put it back though. I asked myself, "Do you really need another corded drill?" Seemed like a trick question. That was about the same time I put back a pristine D-handle Craftsman, metal & plastic, 1/2", VS drill. I'm pretty sure it was made by B&D for Craftsman in the late 60's or very early 70's. I walked around with that one in my hands on three different visits putting it back each time. "It's only $10" the little voice said...some of the other voices gruffly said, "Are you insane? Do you know how many drills you have now?" "Well, no, not really" the timid little voice responded. "Put it back! Give someone else a chance!" the dominant voice barked out. Dang those little voices in my head. I hope it went to a good, safe home...it was gone the last time I was there. p_toad, Gene Howe and HARO50 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 Yep it was the pistol grip. I remember there was a lever in the back centered and when you pull it back it locked the shaft. Think I got rid of it because I got a little shock. Grandpadave52 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmealy Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 Thanks for the story. I have a Skil 599 like yours. I bought it right out of college in 1974 for $19.99 at J C Penney outlet store. For many years (maybe too many) it was my only drill. Still use it a lot. Nice thing about having more than one drill is you can have one bit in each and do lots of operations (different sized holes, VIX bit, countersink bits, etc.) Dadio, Grandpadave52 and HARO50 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted March 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 2 minutes ago, kmealy said: I have a Skil 599 like yours. I bought it right out of college in 1974 for $19.99 The more I've thought about it, mine was probably purchased in December 1970. Yes it has been/is still a good one. I had to replace the switch once. I found another at a flea market a few years ago...it appeared to be identical but had a off-white housing versus the gray. No ID tag was on it...It was $2 and worked fine...still kicking myself for not buying that one just to have an extra switch. The non VS models limit some applications and lack of reverse on others is an aggravation, but being able to chuck up several different bits/attachments is nice...just a lot of power strips and cords to watch for...seems the cords have a foot fetish. p_toad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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