Thread: Flat Side Drill Bits

G'day Dale,
I am also on the look out for these!
I see on eBay UK that the Poms refer to reduced-shank drills as 'blacksmith's drills'. As they appear to frequently be a 1/2" shank, that is what I'll get when I'm serious about using the Dawn post drill.
The challenge will be those larger sizes...
Andrew.

To my knowledge the ones the Poms talk about are reduced shank drills. So they may be 1" Dia drill stepped down to a ½" Shank. With no ground flat and can be used in any jacobs chuck etc. These can have a flat ground in.

I'm after ½" Shank with flat and the bit stepped down smaller than the shank for under ½" hole sizes. Although any genuine flat side bit is welcomed.

Originally Posted by DSEL74

I have a number of hand crank post drills and would like to get some proper flat sided drill bits. The chuck on a post drill is a simple hole ½ -inch diameter, ⅝ -inch diameter, and 41/64 -inch diameter, there is a bolt that goes in the side of the hole and clamps down on the flat on the drill shank. If anyone has any flatsided bits especially the reduced size ones and are willing to part with them please contact me.

Greetings,

Drills.jpgI have two old flat sided drill bits that you might be interested in. I inherited these drills amongst a large batch of tools that came from my grandfather's estate. He and his father ran an engineering business in Woolloongabba (South Brisbane) from the late 1800s until 1964, so these drills have been unused for the last 50 years.

I remember the business workshop having two driven post drills (originally driven by line shafting, but converted to electric in the early 1900's), and there was at least one hand cranked post drill still around in the early 1960's. Unfortunately, the post drills are no longer in the possession of the family, so I don't know if they were scrapped or sold.

These two drill bit have 1/2" shanks with the flats on the side of the shanks. The larger drill bit is marked 25/32". The smaller drill bit is unmarked, but the drill shaft immediately above the flutes measures 0.435", so it is probably maybe a 7/16". There are no brand logos visible on the drills. After 50 years in storage, these drills have some minor surface corrosion, but (since taking the photo) a wipe with WD40 on a rag has removed some of the loose corrosion. Sharpening and using them would be the best way to remove the rest of the corrosion.

If you're interested in these drills, please PM me.

Regards,

Roy

PS

I just remembered where some old photos are stored. Thought you might like to see a photo of where these drill bits used to be used. The man in the photo is my grandfather (Bert Woodhead). The workshop was located at 42 Annerley Road, Woolloongabba - roughly opposite where the back of the Mater Hospital is now. The year (judging from Bert's apparent age in the photo) is circa 1910. It looks like the line shafting had already been removed when this photograph was taken. On the floor in the background, you can see four "floor cramps" that he used to make. There were designed for clamping tongue & groove flooring. He designed and built smaller cramps of a similar design for fitting the tongue and groove wall and ceiling cladding in early Queensland homes. Anyway - thought you might be interested.
finishedJHW - Drill press.jpg

Those are the kind of bits I'm after.


Tanks for the photo Roy looks like he is working on a big Hercus or Denbighy drill press, maybe drilling holes to fit lubricators to the pillow block bearing.

Seeing that there's been some interest expressed in the old "Drillpress" photo via a few PM messages, I thought I'd post the remainder of the workshop photos that I have. Unfortunately, I don't have any more photographs that were taken inside the workshop. I'm guessing that this is because of photography limitations back then. The Drill Press photo, taken around 1910, would definitely have been staged, as it would have had to have been a long time exposure, due to the relatively low light levels inside the workshop. Both my Grandfather and Great Grandfather dabbled in photography, so we believe that the Drillpress photograph was probably taken by my Great Grandfather (especially as we still have the glass plate negative for this photograph).

The remainder of the photos are staff photos taken out the front of the workshop. All three of these photographs have the names of Photographic Studios printed on the back of the photos. The wording on the back of the top photograph states that "Bradshaw's Travelling Studio" "delivers your completed prints in two hours. Our Photographer will bring his camera and his horse drawn laboratory will come to you.".


jw workshop old.jpg

The above photo was taken around 1890, outside the original workshop building. This building had originally been a stable. The man on the far left is my Great Grandfather (blacksmith). The lady and child are my Great Grandaunt and my Grandfather. The next five men were the Blacksmiths and their Strikers (the strikers are wearing aprons). The two men on the right drove a Bullock Team that transported steel from the docks on the river at South Brisbane, and delivered finished goods around Brisbane.

Dating the next two photos is a bit more difficult as there is nothing written on the back of these two photos. Based purely on my Great Grandfather's fashion in hats (backed up with educated guesses of my Grandfather's apparent age in the photos, we think that the following photograph was taken between 1910 and WW1. They are standing outside the "new" workshop, which was built in stages to replace the old stables. The above drill press photo would have been taken inside this workshop. In the photo below, my Great Grandfather is seated at the front. He would have been around 60 when this was taken, and was already ill with Parkinson's Disease, so he was no longer very active in the business. My Grandfather is the middle of the three men at the back. We don't know who the young lad is, but guess from the hammer he's holding, maybe he was the son of one of the tradesmen and was doing some striking - although I can't imagine a boy his age could swing that big hammer for very long.
JWE Outside Workshop.jpg







Again, based on the apparent age of my Grandfather, and on my Great Grandfather's more modern hat fashion choices, we think that this photo was taken around 1925. By this stage, my Great Grandfather had advanced Parkinson's Disease and had retired. The man seated next to my Great Grandfather was a Machinist. He's seated because he was injured during WW1. By 1925, the last of the Blacksmiths had retired, and my Grandfather had moved the business into Tool Making. The forges were still used periodically until the 1960s, mainly for casting work associated with the tool making. The main focus was on tool making and general machining (fitting & turning).

Hope you found these photos interesting - and thanks to those who sent PMs expressing their interest.

JW Workshop 3.jpg

Great photos and history lesson. That young lad could be an apprentice, there is a kid who has been blacksmithing since 14 I think and he is very short and slight for his age (he has to stand on a box to use the anvil) he strikes with a hammer that size for hours. I think lads were tougher back in the day also. Think of all the lads working in mines etc.

Did any of the smithing tools survive? I forge my own I think it is a better way to learn and understand the tools. I do however love to see old versions and reference them as patterns.

I see by the photograph that they used the same builder for the floor as I did
Kryn

Originally Posted by AussieRoy

Greetings,


finishedJHW - Drill press.jpg

Hi and thanks for the photos,
In the one of the drill press I think there may be line shaft belting coming down to the other drill behind him. In front of the post.
Another belt coming down near the mower handle.
In the right top third a handle/lever for engaging the fast and loose pulleys.
So maybe the line shaft gear was still there. 1910 would have been very early to replace it.
The guys who into the old tools and machinery would appreciate these pics if some could post a link.
H.

Don't you just love the lack of Workplace Health & Safety back in those days

Originally Posted by clear out

Hi and thanks for the photos,
In the one of the drill press I think there may be line shaft belting coming down to the other drill behind him. In front of the post.
Another belt coming down near the mower handle.
In the right top third a handle/lever for engaging the fast and loose pulleys.
So maybe the line shaft gear was still there. 1910 would have been very early to replace it.
The guys who into the old tools and machinery would appreciate these pics if some could post a link.
H.

I think your right about the belts hanging down.

I wonder what that bell mouthed thing is just behind him?

if you look under the drill table you can see the right hand legs of what is probably a lathe and then again another further to the right of that making a second lathe.



I think my thread has bee throughly hijacked……Thats ok as I'm a willing accomplice…
Maybe I should charge 1 flat sided drill per viewing of the photos lol.