Cordless Eggbeater Drill

Apr 19, 2010 30 Replies

All this talk of cordless and corded drills. I miss my old eggbeater drill. A former room mate decided it was his. I had been thinking about getting one since I need one once in a great while. But mostly for nostalgia. A useful item mind you, just probably not essential.



Well, today I am helping to install some wiring in a small home studio. I needed to drill some pilot holes. He had no drill and I brought in my cordless makita and found both batteries dead. I forgot to recharge them after the last job. I can't complain too much since the batteries usually stay charged till the job is done. But the drill don't work too good without a charged battery.



So I needed an eggbeater drill. I found a modern, plastic covered version at the Ace Hardware down the street. I thought it looked ugly and I wouldn't have bought it unless I needed it today.



I just didn't feel right holding a pistol grip eggbeater drill. But it holds up to a 1/4' drilll in in its chuck. It is a little awkward to tighten the chuck. But amazingly, it worked like a champ. It made all my pilot holes quickly and easily. It drilled through both soft and hard material without any problem. In fact the biggest problem I had was that it worked a little too good and I could easliy punch through the material. I needed to drill slowly and carefully to stay in the material.



So I got a new cordless drill today. And I never have to worry about batteries with this thing. I am going to keep it in the house for odd jobs.



And both batteries are charged now.


I've had one of those for 20 years or so. It is a great little drill. No Noise. As you say, it is a little awkward tightening the chuck. I capture the crank handle between the forefinger and thumb of my left hand - right into the web - and clasp the butt betwwen the other three fingers and the palm. Then tighten the chuck with my right hand. Mine is a bright yellow Screwball. The barrel is grooved to hold bits with an inner tube strength rubber band. Very handy and very light weight.

Lee,

I've got an old one plus 2 of the really old crank types, but the kind I really find usefull is the push type. They work lik a Yankee Screwdriver. You push the handle and the drill bit turns. The bits are in the handle. Just great for drilling a bunch of pilot holes quickly.

I would kind of like to have an old fashioned Yankee Drill. My father was a carpenter and we always had one around the house. They were really handy for pilot holes. You just put in the appropriate bit, then pumped the handle a few times and there it was.

Hmm, I hadn't thought, but maybe Google would help me. Well, there are a bunch of listings, but checking Amazon they are out and don't know if they will get any more. I bet if I look around I can find one.

Bill

"Robatoy" wrote

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A little more than I wanted to spend. But ocviously a nice one.

They're all over eBay. Stanley's lineup included the 41 and 45. I like the 45 as it fits the hand better - looks better, too!

R

I don't know why I didn't think of that. Back in the day, I had several yankee screwdrivers. They were the original cordless screwdrivers. I am fairly certain that they were not available yesterday when I needed something fast.

i had a friend who was getting a masters degree in fine arts (drama). They used the yankee screwdrivers to build and break down all the sets for his stage productions.

"Robatoy" wrote

An eggbeater drill, on the other hand, is truly independent from any cords/chargers or fleeting memory. ================

Fleeting memory?? FLEETING MEMORY??

Harumph!

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Search "Yankee Push Drill" or "Stanley Push Drill" on eBay and you'll find quite a number of them. Everything from the bit sets themselves to the whole thing. Not too badly priced either.

There's a No. 41 with 7 bits, 99% of the finish intact for $25 Buy it Now and $5 shipping.

I'd jump on it myself if I didn't already have one in the shop. Handy buggers.

"Nova" wrote

the Lee Valley model)

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"HeyBub" wrote

Hardly. I use a lot of technology in my work. But sometimes simple is best.

If you have a little more room to swing, and some more cash, then you'll probably have some more drool.

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I've got an small old eggbeater from Goodell-Pratt circa 1898 and a somewhat newer larger one. ALso a couple of old push drills, one Goodell- Pratt and one Stanley.

I love'em all :-).

There are Stanleys all over Ebay, but try to find a Goodell-Pratt if you can. The G-P has, IMNSHO, much more convenient bit storage. But make sure it has a full set of bits, they're easy to sharpen but hard to find.

If you have a little more room to swing, and some more cash, then you'll probably have some more drool.

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dozens of the originals cropping up on eBay for far less an outlay ...

"Lee Michaels" wrote in news:4bcbd6a5$0$14679$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:

The second time you snag the webbing of your thumb between the pinion and crank wheel gears while tightening the chuck, you'll understand that it is a sign of intelligence to recognize that you've made the same mistake twice.

I love my eggbeater, but it's bitten me worse than some of my corded friends.

is at a level where you can almost buy the machine shop to make it for the price of the tool. They're clearly aiming at a sucker market and not at people who are buying tools to do work.

I have a modern version of this old drill. It is completely enclosed with no exposed gears. I think it is ugly but no pinching.

It is a cheapie. But I am not really placing any real demands on it.

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