Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Early Black & Decker electric drill


I recently found this fabulous old Black & Decker 1/4" electric drill at a thrift store.  It's design is steam punk!



With patent dtaes of 1919 and 1926, I assume it's from the 1930's.  Interesting, the data plate indicates that Black & Decker Canada was operating that early from locations in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver.  You can see the similarity with the famous 1917 B&D patent for a pistol grip, shown below:



The style appears to have continued into the 1930's:
A.L. Dyke.  Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia.  Nineteenth Edition.  Chicago:  The Goodheart-Willcox Company, Inc., 1941.

The chuck is made by Jacobs, patented September 16, 1902, and assigned their model number 1A.




The drill even had the original Jacobs chuck key (No. 1) attached by a piece of string!


The trigger is on/off.  You don't have to hold it in. When I plugged the drill in and pulled the trigger, it worked just fine.  A testimony to the quality of an electric tool of this age.

1 comment:

Le Grand Duc said...

Well not to many people have one like this. I do, it is a legacy from my dad. I as that retro futur look and it still work.