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Thread: Silex Tool Co

  1. #16
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    Geoff

    For nomenclature have a look at:

    Bow drill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Millers Falls Push Drills

    A press drill is usually called a drill press, and looks something like



    Cheers Peter

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  3. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heavansabove View Post
    The Silex copy of the Stanley doweling jig is very common; there were a few makers in Australia.

    Peter, that push drill is a beauty! Whilst other Silex tools could have been made by one or more Oz makers, have you seen a push drill made by another Oz maker.

    Peter, I have wonder if Dawn made the Silex vices, can you see any differences on the ones you have?

    Keep the products coming fellas, we might get together a reasonable product list. Has anyone seen a catalogue?

    Cheers
    Peter
    Peter,
    I don't know of another push drill made by an AU maker. But I don't claim much knowlege on the Australian makers.....only that I've been around long enough to know when something is rarely seen.
    The little Silex vice is a very basic one. More like a small Carter vice than the small Dawn vices I've seen in the flesh and pictured in old catalogues.
    It might be worth getting in touch with the HTPAA and asking for a copy of the HTPAA journal, TOOLCHEST # 41 August 1996, as there is an article on Silex and HFH.
    I don't have any of the 1996 editions.

    Regards,
    Peter

  4. #18
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    Peter, I do have a copy of that Tool Chest as it happens, somewhere I acquire a number of early editions (can't remember where though) and it refers to an earlier article in February 1996 by Frank Ham on Silex. I will see if I can get hold of that article.

    As HFH were in Sydney, Carter is a logical source for the vice. I wonder if the push drill was actually an import, falsely labelled. I don't think there was the same consumer protection legislation back then.

    Cheers
    Peter

  5. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heavansabove View Post
    ............. I wonder if the push drill was actually an import, falsely labelled. I don't think there was the same consumer protection legislation back then.

    Cheers
    Peter
    Peter,
    As well as the colourful label the steel is stamped, "Made in Australia" also.
    The bits have a slightly different shank size than two US made drills I have.

    Regards,
    Peter

  6. #20
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    Hi all. I went to the HTPSWA meeting last night and I made a few enquiries re Silex, but with not much luck. One chap had contacted HFH a few years ago and got nothing from them. He has seen a tool with both Silex and Mit A Mit on it.
    Peter, the 1996 Tool Chest article sounds promising and I would be keen to read it if you are able to find it.
    The point I was trying to make re the "press drill' was that was what dad and uncle called it when I was a kid on the farm over 50 years ago. I don't know the brand but it had a bright red barrel with an unpainted domed top which you rotated to select the bit you wanted to use.
    I would say it looked very much like the Millers Falls No 100 on the MF link you provided.
    Regards,
    Geoff.

  7. #21
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    Morning all, I just realised I've been walking past this in my shed for ages. A 1/2in three jaw chuck branded Silex Australia that I use in my old Tough post drill. I bought the chuck as is last year, so don't know if it originally came off a drill or whether could be purchased seperately.
    Regards,
    Geoff.

  8. #22
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    Default Silex dates.

    Silex sliding bevels where still available in the late 90'sand also their butt gauges.
    I used to resell them from GW in Sydney.
    Can't remember who the wholesaler was possibly Whites or Pragers.
    The tttg had a contact who was a buyer from Prager's come to a sale a few years back but I think he was a bit dienchanted with the bum info he recieved re what to bring so count him out.
    H.

  9. #23
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    Hi Henry

    Do you know who made the Silex tools over the years from 1946 to 1990s?

    For interest I have scanned some pages from the Goodall & Co Catalogue 1955, available on https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...iMzA0&hl=en_US. You can download this PDF if you wish.

    There is a push drill listed, note that it is a Goodall Pratt 185 rebadged as Silex. You can compare the illustration with the Millers Falls website listing:


    Millers Falls Push Drills

    Peter's Silex is much later, and has no maker's marks. Note there are no Silex vices in this catalogue. A quick scan through a 1962 McPherson catalogue did not show any Silex tools, however the brand for many tools in the illustrations is obscured, and the brand is rarely indicated in the text. Goodall being a Sydney merchant, and McPherson being Melbourne based may account for the merchant differences.

    Cheers
    Peter

  10. #24
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Hi Peter,

    Thanks for posting the Goodall catalogue, that's very interesting.

    Is 1946 the year Silex first appeared on the market?

    Regards,

    Geoff.

  11. #25
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    Geoff, Silex was registerred as a trademark by Howard F Hudson Pty Ltd in 1946, so yes.

    Cheers
    Peter

  12. #26
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    Hi Peter,

    If you assume that Silex tools marked "made in Australia" is correct and they were not into false labelling, then how many Australian manufacturers would there be that could have made their tools.
    I would have thought that that info would be common knowledge when you consider the amount of Silex tools around.
    Perhaps they deliberatly kept the source of their tools quiet so as to give the impression that they actually made them.
    Regards,
    Geoff.

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    [QUOTE=Heavansabove;1356795]Peter, I do have a copy of that Tool Chest as it happens, somewhere I acquire a number of early editions (can't remember where though) and it refers to an earlier article in February 1996 by Frank Ham on Silex. I will see if I can get hold of that article.


    Hi Peter,
    Have you had any joy finding the Silex article?
    Regards,
    Geoff.

  14. #28
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    Geoff, no luck so far, but I will contact Frank Ham who wrote the article.

    Cheers
    Peter

  15. #29
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    I have a Silex mortise gauge that has two pins , and is adjusted with a round knurled threaded nut ,it belonged to my Father and he gave it to me a few years back . I also have a Silex dowel jig , almost brand new and still in it's box.
    My Father still has the sliding Silex bevel gauge , I remember both the mortice gauge and the sliding bevel from when I was a very young boy .
    My father built his house and when I was three years of age we moved into it. He bought a large wooden tool chest full of tools to use building the house .I have some of the Titan chisels that were in that tool chest and a Pope no 5 jack plane also .
    Unfortunately the tool chest has since been lost ,it may have been that one of my uncles built the chest for my father as he was a cabinet maker .
    I'll have to ask next time I speak to my father.
    A lot of memories flooding back , and time has dulled my memory .

    kev.
    "Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend ,inside a dog it's too dark to read"
    Groucho Marx

  16. #30
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    Morning all.
    I was recently given a copy of the Tool Chest February 1996 article by Frank Ham and the significant fact of the manufacturers of Silex Tools is this following quote.

    "Howard F. Hudson Pty. Ltd. Manufacturers and Distributors of Alexandria NSW registered the name Silex which originated from some French tools imported from Silex Electrique prior to 1940.

    Silex tools were manufactured to order of H.F.Hudson Pty. Ltd. by a number of small factories around Newcastle and Sydney.This provided the marketing outlet for small manufacturers who on their own did not have a range of products to offer nor did they have a sales force."

    Interestingly this article appears to have been written from information supplied to the author in 1986 by J.A.Barnet, the Managing Director of HFH, who also provided a Silex catalogue. Although there is no date on the catalogue I am assuming it is also from 1986.
    There are 14 products listed.
    No 90 mortise guage, No 15 adjustable cramp head,
    No 35 tile cutter No 78 carpenters bevel
    No 34 butt guage No 93 combination guage
    No 30 dowelling jig No 72 try and mitre square
    No 84 bench vise No 36 handy clamp
    No 13 bench stop No 66 all metal marking guage
    No 98 adjustable mortise guage
    Steel shafting collars 12-100 mm

    Gone by this time are hand, breast,bench and push drills, braces,vices and drill chucks.
    This information is 25 years old so unless anyone comes up with anything new I guess that's it.

    In the Tool Chest of August 1996 a small related article mentions Silex Bench Grinders and at that time there had been no sightings of this tool.

    My thanks to the Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia Inc. for the above information.

    Regards,
    Geoff.

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