Best vintage manual hand drill

[Soph]

Hi all, I want to put up some picture hooks and would like to know the best vintage manual drill to get? I've tried looking at the forum but I don't understand all the technical jargon! I have no knowledge of tools and just want something that I can use now and then for simple things like putting up hooks. I've thought about buying new (katsu or stanley maybe) but there seem to be mixed reviews, some saying they're rubbish and others raving. Also I imagine that something vintage would last longer and probably work better? Is it difficult to get hold of parts for vintage drills? And what sort of price range are they? Many thanks for any help!

 

[Vann]

Best one: North Bros 1555 'Yankee" (USA).

Perfectly adequte one: Stanley 803 (UK). Don't get mixed up with the Stanley 805,.which only has a single pinion gear. The 803 has two pinions which makes for smoother cranking

Record made a similar eggbeater drill, their 123. For some reason the later Record-Marples 425 doesn't seem quite as smooth (at least in.the two examples I've owned).

Cheers Vann.

Ps Sorry, I have no idea of current UK pricing of these, you just need to surf ebay. Over here (New Zealand) people ask $30-$40 (£15-£20),.but probably don't get that much. I'd be looking for closer to $10-$15 (£5-£7.50) if I had time to wait.

 

[Soph]

Thankyou! I don't know what pinion gears are but I will bear that in mind

 

[thetyreman]

Millers falls made high quality eggbeater style drills, especially the ones with double pinions, mine is a no77, and works very well, I highly recommend one.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Thankyou! I don't know what pinion gears are but I will bear that in mind

The pinion gears are the small toothed wheels the large wheel runs on - the 803 has one at the top and one at the bottom, making it smoother than a drill with only one. You are too late - two or three years ago I gave away five or six 803s.

 

[Soph]

Best one: North Bros 1555 'Yankee" (USA).

Perfectly adequte one: Stanley 803 (UK). Don't get mixed up with the Stanley 805,.which only has a single pinion gear. The 803 has two pinions which makes for smoother cranking

Record made a similar eggbeater drill, their 123. For some reason the later Record-Marples 425 doesn't seem quite as smooth (at least in.the two examples I've owned).

Cheers Vann.

Ps Sorry, I have no idea of current UK pricing of these, you just need to surf ebay. Over here (New Zealand) people ask $30-$40 (£15-£20),.but probably don't get that much. I'd be looking for closer to $10-$15 (£5-£7.50) if I had time to wait.

Sounds really cheap to me!

 

[Soph]

Millers falls made high quality eggbeater style drills, especially the ones with double pinions, mine is a no77, and works very well, I highly recommend one.

Thanks, I have an idea what to look for now

 

[Soph]

The pinion gears are the small toothed wheels the large wheel runs on - the 803 has one at the top and one at the bottom, making it smoother than a drill with only one. You are too late - two or three years ago I gave away five or six 803s.

Thankyou, I'll make sure I get a double one. Ah that's a shame! They obviously don't sell for much then

 

[toolsntat]

Where are you Soph?
If you are near M69 I might have a few to choose from.
Cheers Andy

 

[dannyr]

any votes for the British made Robin? - I like mine

 

[Stan]

I bought a cheap single pinion drill once and I broke it. I was drilling into something tough and I bent the large wheel into the place where the second pinion would have been if there had been one. The wheel would not turn any more and I could not bend it back. I had to buy another so my attempt to save money failed. I would never trust a single pinion drill now.

If you are putting up picture hooks, what are you drilling into? If brick/masonry etc a hand drill probably won't do the job. For that, you would be better with a power drill which has a hammer drill option.

 

[Spectric]

Soph you must either be very young or a sadist. I remember using those gut buster drills along with brace and bits plus the raw plug tool where you hit and rotate until you had the hole made for the plug. Power tools were a godsend and these days a cheap drill is cheap so why a hand drill.

 

[Soph]

Where are you Soph?
If you are near M69 I might have a few to choose from.
Cheers Andy

Ah thanks Andy, I'm based in Devon though so probably a bit far
I

 

[Soph]

I bought a cheap single pinion drill once and I broke it. I was drilling into something tough and I bent the large wheel into the place where the second pinion would have been if there had been one. The wheel would not turn any more and I could not bend it back. I had to buy another so my attempt to save money failed. I would never trust a single pinion drill now.

If you are putting up picture hooks, what are you drilling into? If brick/masonry etc a hand drill probably won't do the job. For that, you would be better with a power drill which has a hammer drill option.

I'm drilling into wood

 

[Jacob]

Hi all, I want to put up some picture hooks and would like to know the best vintage manual drill to get? I've tried looking at the forum but I don't understand all the technical jargon! I have no knowledge of tools and just want something that I can use now and then for simple things like putting up hooks. I've thought about buying new (katsu or stanley maybe) but there seem to be mixed reviews, some saying they're rubbish and others raving. Also I imagine that something vintage would last longer and probably work better? Is it difficult to get hold of parts for vintage drills? And what sort of price range are they? Many thanks for any help!

What are you screwing into? If it's just wood then a Yankee Screwdriver could be all you need. They are really handy but a bit out of fashion. One here with a drill bit Vintage Stanley Yankee Handyman 233H Spiral Screwdriver Push Drill with 2 Bits | eBay

 

[Soph]

Soph you must either be very young or a sadist. I remember using those gut buster drills along with brace and bits plus the raw plug tool where you hit and rotate until you had the hole made for the plug. Power tools were a godsend and these days a cheap drill is cheap so why a hand drill.

Lol I'm 26 and no idea about drills but I don't like electric and it doesn't like me, it always breaks on me and I just thought something manual might last better and I'd only use it now and then and it's for drilling into wood. I did wonder how difficult it might be though! Also my electric is a battery hookup so do they normally charge off those?

 

[Soph]

What are you screwing into? If it's just wood then a Yankee Screwdriver could be all you need. They are really handy but a bit out of fashion. One here with a drill bit Vintage Stanley Yankee Handyman 233H Spiral Screwdriver Push Drill with 2 Bits | eBay

Just wood, thanks will take a look

 

[Spectric]

Also my electric is a battery hookup so do they normally charge off those?

Go back one, so how do you charge the batteries or are they charged from panels? You can get 12/24 volt Dc to 230 Vac invertors that would power a battery charger but avoid cheap ebay items.

 

[powertools]

In truth if all you want to do at the moment is to fix some picture hooks into wood just buy the type that are fixed with nails.

 

[Spectric]

In truth if all you want to do at the moment is to fix some picture hooks into wood just buy the type that are fixed with nails.

But you need a hammer, so why not use command hooks: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=comman...816583&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_3l9bn5hvli_b