question for the old timers

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How did the old timers drill big holes in steel? I know they had the eggbeater drills for small holes and the hand crank drill presses,and of course the blacksmith.But what did they do when they were far away from the drill press or forge?tractor,loader.dozer,backhoe,and all the tools to keep em movin
Reply:Originally Posted by 1-800minerHow did the old timers drill big holes in steel? I know they had the eggbeater drills for small holes and the hand crank drill presses,and of course the blacksmith.But what did they do when they were far away from the drill press or forge?
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Reply:portable torches didn't really come into use until the turn of the century.( excuse me,last century,man am I getting old) I am talking about 1800 to 1900. Industrial revolution,gold rush days,expansion of the west.They had to have done field repair and fabrication. I would think that they had to have some type of portable rig to drill for misaligned rivit holes or just needed a hole where the blacksmith forgot one.all right,how would YOU get a 3/4" hole in a piece of iron without todays tools?And ,as I say,you are far from the large tools of the day ( hand crank drill press or blacksmith)tractor,loader.dozer,backhoe,and all the tools to keep em movin
Reply:I can't think of any large steel stuctures (ships, bridges etc.) that pre-date the introduction of "T1" tool steel at the turn of the 20th century.In the 19th century there were steels used to cut other less hard materials (turn, bore, trepan or flycut) and the blacksmith could punch holes but I can think of nothing that could be described as a forerunner of 20th century holemaking in steel using machinery.Matt
Reply:Well I guess this was a quiz because I knew the answer.Wish I had a picture to explain.Imagine the top half of a c-clamp with a foot plate at the bottom.Instead of the screw,replace that with a threaded bushing with a hex on top for a wrench. Inside the bushing is a spindle with bearings. bottom end of the spindle has a drill chuck,top end has a hand crank.clamp the footplate to your work,one guy turns the hand crank and the other guy wrenches on the busshing to get pressure and oils the bit!I have only seen one of them and the man selling it knew it was old and wanted 300$ for it.I passedsome day I am going to build one,just cause I like tools.tractor,loader.dozer,backhoe,and all the tools to keep em movin
Reply:But I though the drill press was excluded with post #1 and #5?  The old drill described as having bearings and a chuck makes me suspect that it may not be as old as we're thinking.Miner - What'd it use for a bit?Matt_Maguire - Steel making and large steel fabrication was hitting stride 50 years before T-1. There are still plenty of 120 year old steel bridges in service.The big breakthrough of course was in the Bessemer process and low carbon steel.If we had to give credit for modern steel to one man, my vote would have to be for Andrew Carnegie.Good LuckLast edited by denrep; 05-15-2010 at 01:26 PM.
Reply:There was the old "cole drill". I've seen several threads on them over the years. A search here might turn something up. Don't know anything about their history or their chronolgy tho. They may have come along too late for the period this thread is about. A drill drive isn't any better than the drill bit doing the cutting so I imagine a guy could try tracking the history of cutters.An i'net search for "cole drill" comes up with this: http://www.rustyiron.com/engines/coledrill/"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Shucks, no date on the cole drill...Denrep, there were large structures, but were the holes punched or drilled is where I'm stuck. There were crucible steels that were ultra hard and spoon drills were used with wood well before the 20th century... It's the finding of a spade or twist drill that far back...Matt
Reply:Far enough?http://www.museoscienza.org/english/...i/trivella.asp
Reply:Having that, and this:Attachment 50830It was just a matter of time 'till the hammer-drill was developed. Good LuckLast edited by denrep; 10-19-2010 at 11:45 PM.
Reply:The Cole drill in one form or another has been around for a L O N G time, many were shopbuilt as the need arose to have such a device.I know exactly where I can lay hands on a 3/4" VanDorn electric drill you can remove the back handle from and insert a pusher pipe if you have enough holes to drill to justify it, and desire to work that hard.A lot of drillmotors into the 50s came equipped with a threaded rod and handwheel opposite the chuck so extra push could be employed.  Power tools pretty much remained industrial tools until the late 1950s until somebody figured out the DIY market existed.  Compressed air drills have been around for a long time too, one particularly nice rig popular back in the 40s & 50s let you chain the rig to a truck frame or such and then once the drillbit was in position and turning open up a valve that let an air cylinder push the drill.  Many adaptations were taken from jackleg drills used in underground mining.Until the 1950s man hours were cheap, and bullgangs common in the workplace.  A 3 man gang drilling holes would have been fairly normal.  When the cost of labor went up gangs went down, and machinery got invented real quick.  There are films of rivet gangs on the Empire State build, 1 man heating at a small forge, 1 man catching and placing the hot rivet in the steel, 1 man bucking, and 1 man hammering.  If you look closely you see a tee in the hammer line and a reamer hanging from a short rope.  If the hole needed to be reamed the hammer man and bucker swapped the tool off and reamed the hole from both sides so the catcher could throw a hot one in.
Reply:Originally Posted by Matt_MaguireI can't think of any large steel stuctures (ships, bridges etc.) that pre-date the introduction of "T1" tool steel at the turn of the 20th century.
Reply:Greetings, My father gave me, I still have it, a tool to punch or cut holes in plate steel. It is lake a large extremely heavy C clamp that can be taken to the metal or bolted to a bench. It has different size collars and punches or cuters. The end of the punch is not flat and sharp. I've seen him use it and have kept it all these years but never used it. Also stands that are used with a brace and bit to keep the auger or drill straight.
Reply:Originally Posted by denrepHaving that, and this:Attachment 50830It was just a matter of time 'till the hammer-drill was developed. Good Luck
Reply:Originally Posted by valley ranchGreetings, My father gave me, I still have it, a tool to punch or cut holes in plate steel. It is lake a large extremely heavy C clamp that can be taken to the metal or bolted to a bench. It has different size collars and punches or cuters. The end of the punch is not flat and sharp. I've seen him use it and have kept it all these years but never used it. Also stands that are used with a brace and bit to keep the auger or drill straight.