Shopsmith Forums

Late last fall I bought an old camp in Maine that is a mile from the nearest electricity. Though I have a generator, I am putting together a nice hand tool kit to keep at camp. For 5 dollars this weekend I bought an old Millers Falls hand drill and a North Brothers Yankee screwdriver. I cleaned them up and lubed them and they work like a charm. It is delightful to drill holes in silence and drive screws with this old spiral driving screwdriver. Neat old hand tools that were the norm before batteries and AC. Next tool I'm on the look out for is an old hand miter box. Alec


Hand drill and Yankee Screwdriver

cool, sometimes it's nice to return to our roots.

those are great. I still use a hand drill on small projects. I have an old Millers Falls drill that was my grandfathers. It works great. New is not always the better chocie.

Love the Millers Falls Tools. I have probably a dozen of the egg -beater style hand drills and several of their bit braces as well as many of their screwdrivers, planes, and many other tools they manufactured. I have been collecting them for several years and all of them are in good working condition. Seeing that I was born in Greenfield, Mass where their factory used to be and went to visit it when I was a child, they are a sentimental value to me as well. Also have a collection of their dyno-mite power tools as well, which are kind of like a mini-shopmith with the power unit used to power such as a jig saw, circular saw, table saw, disc sander, grinding wheel and even a small planner.

The Yankee screwdriver is still a handy tool to have around. It can reach in tight places where a cordless drill cannot. I purchased one last year at a garage sale. The bits have a special slot unique to this tool. Fortunately Lee Valley still carries the bits.