Ye Old Drill

[Home]  [Back to Ye Old Drill]  [Camelback Drills]  [Morse Taper]  [Standard No. 2 Chuck]  [Westcott's Little Giant Chuck]  [Jacobs Chucks]  [The Post Drill]  [Restoring Canedy-Otto No. 16]

These pages were created specifically to show some of the drills and drilling tools that are used by blacksmiths today. Page subjects include; the camel-back drill press, drill chucks, taper shank (also known as morse taper) tooling, antique drills and drill repair and restoration.

Latest update September 16, 2019.

The Camelback Drill. The name 'camelback' refers to the peculiar humped cast iron center frame to which the main shaft and pulleys and gearing were built up. The camelback has the most distinctive appearance of any drill press ever manufactured. This is an antique style of drill press made around the end of the 19th century and well into the first half of the 20th century, and were still being manufactured until the mid-1970s. Today these antique style drills are often found for sale when older welding and blacksmith shops and farms go to auction. Some people today are skeptical of  these old drills - often mistakenly believing that these old drills don't work simply because they don't look like modern drill presses. But to those of us who use them, these old style drills are very practical and highly desirable for nearly every drilling job. Camelback drills turn much slower than modern drill presses, and this slower drill speed greatly extends drill bit life by reducing the heat build-up in the drill bit. And camelback drills operate much more quietly and smoothly than modern drill presses - thus reducing operator fatigue. These old drills were built solid to last a lifetime and this they certainly did, many camelbacks outlived their original owners and continue to serve multiple generations of metalworkers today!   Click on the photo or link to go to the Camelback Drill page.  March 27th, 2011 Under construction.

The Post Drill. So what do you do if you need to drill a steel machine part and don't have electricity or don't want to use a hand drill. Well you drill it on your post drill. Post drills were made around the turn of the century and are basically hand cranked drill presses that resemble modern drill presses, except that they had no post or frame to allow them to stand on the floor by themselves. It was a simple matter to ship one of these to a farmer or small rural shop, where the owner would set them up on a board and bolt them to a post or beam in his barn or shop. Many could also be hooked up through a belt, to a line shaft if the shop was so equipped.

What is Morse Taper? This page introduces new machinists and mechanics to the Morse Taper and the taper shank tooling that is used on modern drill presses. Taper shank tooling allows the user to change and install a variety of drilling tools including chucks, bits, reamers, threaders, adapters, and extensions, in just seconds. Plenty of pictures make this introduction quick and pleasant. Lots of photos on this page show how the morse taper is used in both older style drills as well as modern style drills. This article gives the reader a complete description of how the Morse Taper works and how to identify drills using the Morse Taper. Using the material presented on this page, the reader can obtain MT tooling on their own, set it up, and use it on any drill so equipped. Previous major update December 5th, 2004. Click on the photo or link to go to the Morse Taper page.

The Standard #2 Drill Chuck. The Standard #2 Improved is an antique 3/4th-inch drill chuck seen on many antique tool catalogs with drill presses. These antique style chucks were very common during the late 1800's and early 1900's before the introduction of the Jacobs style chucks. This drill chuck was mounted in my drill when I bought my Cannedy-Otto New #16.   March 27th, 2011 This page under major construction now.

Westcott's Little Giant Drill Chuck. The Westcott's Little Giant is an antique 1-inch drill chuck seen on many antique tool catalogs with drill presses. These antique style chucks were very common during the late 1800's and early 1900's before the introduction of the Jacobs style chucks. One of my readers sent these photos to me. March 27th, 2011 New Page. Under construction.

Jacobs Drill Chuck. On this page is detailed the cleaning and restoration of an old No. 3 Jacobs heavy duty drill chuck, and the replacement of the chuck jaws. Anyone who has ever wondered what a Jacobs chuck looks like inside, and anyone who has a chuck with worn or stuck parts will find this page of interest. Tips and photos of chuck disassembly, inside the parts, and installation and removal of arbors is described in text and photo. Sources for info and parts are given as well. Updated December 5th, 2004.

The Otto Canedy New #16 Drill. Here is described the restoration progress on a 100 year old drill press to bring it back to serviceable condition. Lots of pictures and more to be added as work progresses.  Restorations on this drill has stalled due to lack of time to work on it.

Latest update September 16, 2019