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Never discount older Craftsman tools. Some are top quality. An example is this eggbeater drill. While marked "Craftsman" on the crank arm, it is otherwise identical to the Millers Falls No 980 two-speed drill. Millers Falls was one of the companies that made tools for Sears and clearly this drill was one of them.
This particular drill was recently restored to its original colors. It was completely disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and tuned. The handles were lightly cleaned and sealed with clear lacquer. The rim on the gear wheel was smoothed and polished. The unique two-speed "gear box" was disassembled, cleaned, and lubricated, so now it operates perfectly.
This is a solid, well-built drill that makes the more popular Millers Falls No 2 drill look like a toy, even though they are similar in size. This one belongs to a friend, but it is certain that I will be looking for one for myself.
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Any idea of the vintage of this drill?
I just bought an approx 1938 Langdon 74C miter box and 5 x 28 saw both labeled Craftsman - lightly used condition. Sorry no pics my brother picked it up for me and I'm waiting for shipment.
Like this:
https://sites.google.com/site/langdonmit...50-ca-1935
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Bob, is that your restoration work, or the friends?
I'm hoping yours.
I've got 2-3 or 4 of those that could use a restore.
...Naval Aviators, that had balz made of brass and the size of bowling balls, getting shot off the deck at night, in heavy seas, hoping that when they leave the deck that the ship is pointed towards the sky and not the water.
AD1 T. O. Cronkhite
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Martin S. said:
Bob, is that your restoration work, or the friends?
Martin, I did this one. I've been branching out from planes and saws. Actually, there is very little that I won't attempt. It is a lot of fun to figure out how the old timers built some of these tools. The two-speed "gear box" on this drill is one example. There are four components pinned together and I learned that they must be in EXACTLY the original orientation for the pin to go back in.
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This is a nice example of tool restoration...something we don't see as much around here as we used to. Camera phones do a great job and make photo posting easy. Thanks for sharing your work.
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Nice! Excellent job on the restoration as well. When I started my eggbeater collection, I restored a MF No. 2 in similar fashion. There's absolutely no comparison to any of the eggbeaters produced after WWII to the earlier ones. The quality of the castings, smoothness of the gears, and even the choice of wood was all superior on earlier model eggbeaters.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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Very nice job on the restoration. I love those Egg Beaters.
Steve
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Excellent
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Nice work Bob. It always struck me funny that identical tools sold for such different prices even they they are identical.
