I recently acquired a copy of a reprint of the Gamages mail order catalogue from 1914. Alongside pages of sporting goods, gramophones and gentleman's hats. there are a few pages of tools. At first glance the engravings look very similar to what many people will know already from other catalogues available as reprints or online, from companies such as Melhuish or Tyzack. Indeed, I know that engravings were re-used in different catalogues, sometimes with a name scratched out and a new one inserted. But then I spotted a tool I had not seen before. It's this:
I think that "Record" must mean C & J Hampton of Sheffield, later famous for their range of planes and isn't meant as some sort of "fastest ever" claim.
The only early Hampton's catalogue I know is from 1910 and is on the TATHS site. It does list four very basic models of drill:
but none of them are like this one.
It looks like an ordinary breast drill, but with an extra pair of gears where the handle would normally go. I imagine it would have been clumsy to use, with even more risk than usual of catching clothing or flesh in the spinning gears.
But has anyone ever seen one? Or seen it in a Record catalogue? As far as I can see, neither of the plane-centred Record sites list it, even among the rarities.
Has anyone got one lurking in their collection? Surely it must have existed to have been offered to ordinary non-trade users in a mainstream catalogue? The hunt is on!
I think that "Record" must mean C & J Hampton of Sheffield, later famous for their range of planes and isn't meant as some sort of "fastest ever" claim.
The only early Hampton's catalogue I know is from 1910 and is on the TATHS site. It does list four very basic models of drill:
but none of them are like this one.
It looks like an ordinary breast drill, but with an extra pair of gears where the handle would normally go. I imagine it would have been clumsy to use, with even more risk than usual of catching clothing or flesh in the spinning gears.
But has anyone ever seen one? Or seen it in a Record catalogue? As far as I can see, neither of the plane-centred Record sites list it, even among the rarities.
Has anyone got one lurking in their collection? Surely it must have existed to have been offered to ordinary non-trade users in a mainstream catalogue? The hunt is on!
