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Interesting camel back drill

Now...

Aint that cool?!

It surprises me that so many of these old machines have no manufacturer info on them anywhere.
 
Here is the eBay photo. I really would expect a post to start with this and perhaps someone who has one with an ID plate might include a picture. Photo hosting (FREE) is a wonderful benefit of the forum. Without pics, the whole thread is reduced to a useless POS in the future, immediately after ebay listing expires.
 

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Same drive on old I H tractors. Not so wonderful with a big load or when it gets wet. Maybe I am just a bit thick but I don't understand why everyone loves camelback drills so much. My Wilton Strands drill press is all gear drive, 12 speeds, 76 rpm to 3400 rpm with 3 power feed rates. Uses about half the space of a camel back
 
Maybe I am just a bit thick but I don't understand why everyone loves camelback drills so much.
Click to expand...

The forum is called "Antique Machinery and History", if you want to talk modern capable machines then you want the "General" forum.

The point most people are making is that some antique upright drills can still do good work. Not the the best but good. And for short money. My last upright drill cost me $50, complete. Cannot buy a good 3/4 inch chuck for $50 bucks. But its mostly about history and appreciation for old machinery. Not pretending development has stood still for last 150 years. In fact its a marvel how good work was done in the early days. And not even necessarily to buy a cheep machine. That depends on which drill we are talking about.

This particular upright drill is interesting. Not real old or capable, but an interesting application of the electric motor and variable drive. If it was a great idea they would all look like this. It is for the collector who loves old machinery.
 
moonlight machine said:
Maybe I am just a bit thick but I don't understand why everyone loves camelback drills so much.
Click to expand...
Maybe a bit;

Doesn't matter if you get it or not, but it's down to pure style, Bud. That's it in a nutshell. Pure esthetics. They just look so organic, like an old twisted tree growing skyward against tall odds. Particularly the low motor articulated mid roller flat belt type (whatever they are called). Modestly pointless, but unique and compelling. Yep... a double cone pulley high motor drill is cheaper, easier, and more reliable, but where's the cool? I got one of those. It works. It's boring.

I want a twisted tree drill, bad!
 
Good call on the ID Andy. I'm still not sure how you got that from the e-bay listing. Mechanics was definitely a pioneer in friction drives. I don't have much on this upright fiction drill but will include a couple of pics of the cover from an old brochure. Is it this upright drill, or one of their smaller bench top friction drills in the add? Hard to tell for sure but it is surely the right technology.

I surely hope to not be judged too harshly in retirement based soley on my fading productivity....tough to compete with the younger generation....men or machine. Ed.



 
This isn't the first friction drive drill I've seen a recent picture of. I recall seeing one for sale (possibly also on eBay) in recent memory but as I recall it looked different than this one. I'm thinking it had the drive up top...? Or maybe the friction drive was for the power feed?
 
ohioMike,

That other drill, with friction drive up top, was probably a Barnes. Barnes offered that with either cone(flat belt) drive or electric.
It was a small drill and seemed to work ok for what it was (ie small). While not common there are some around.
 

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The patent, does it mention the friction wheel material?

And what material is that friction wheel?

Somewhere I have a book that discusses friction drive of pit lathes, and mentions "straw wheels" as a new development with much promise. Early last century, 1920 maybe....
 
A very interesting design! Probably troublesome and slips...but I would like it :) The old drill chuck makes me wonder if it wasn't used much!

I can't see if or how the drive wheel is kept in position, perhaps it is happy to stay where it is put?

Here are more photos from the ebay listing:

$(KGrHqV,!oEFIuBrJurzBSMwy0i(sQ~~60_57.jpg $(KGrHqR,!rgFIsKjBg2UBSMwy-JJ3Q~~60_57.jpg $T2eC16J,!wsE9suw)zD1BSMwzv35cw~~60_57.jpg $T2eC16J,!yYFIb4T6ODhBSMwzlv6Og~~60_57.jpg $T2eC16N,!)0FI,GCoR,mBSMwzIy7fg~~60_57.jpg

ps. Rock Crusher, your big Mechanics' Machine Co. is a beauty.
 
The early history of the company I've seen mentions four young partners, "mechanics" getting together around 1890. The first successful product they produced was a friction drive drill which a hardware store in Chicago placed an order for. Nothing more specific. By 1912 MMC was moving quickly into automotive drive lines, u-joints, and later clutches and sold the machine tool side to Rockford Machine tool Co. I have seen some of these drills simply called the Mechanics drill by Rockford. Mechanics Machine Co. later merged with other Rockford area businesses to form Borg Warner as the automotive business proved very lucrative.

I guess where I'm going is that this is probably a mid to late 1890's belt driven drill with the motor drive added later. I think MMC quickly refined their product line so it's doubtful many of these were ever made. Of course as Peter and others have noted it appears to have had little use. Could it be that whatever was originally used on the friction wheel wasn't particularly effective? Hard to say but it is a very cool drill and I'm glad to have the pics of it. Ed.
 
OK , I'm resurrecting this thread , because this is the 2nd time you guys have done this to me ! The first was a little C-O #24 , out in Washington state .

As anyone watching the E-bay listing knows , the drill didn't sell the first time around - Pretty high price , even for a rare one like this .
Well , they re-listed it for less than half the original price , and yesterday I was the only bidder - I couldn't help myself . Pathetic , I know ..............
So I own it now :~)

I tend to agree with the consensus that it's likely a Mechanics Machine Co. drill , at least for lack of anything else it could be .
Maybe when I see it , I'll have a better / different idea

I have a question , about the "chuck" on the drill - I first thought it was just an antique chuck , from a post drill , maybe .
On closer look at the photo below , I'm wondering if it's actually a BORING HEAD .
Can anyone guess or tell any more about it ? :

View attachment 85964

Anyway , this one definitely tops it for drill-cool-factor , at least for me .

Thanks (I think) guys ,
Tom ............... now arranging transport .........
 
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