The history of the drill. Examples of early and old models

Each type of instrument has its own history. Engineering thought and the development of technologies in their manufacture can be traced in museum exhibits and in photographs from private collections.

In the first part, I showed some interesting examples of engineering thought from the 19th and 20th centuries. in the production of adjustable wrenches: Rare examples of 19th century adjustable wrenches

In this part, we will trace the history of the drill: from some hand-held models to modern pulse cordless ones.

Drilling is the most common method for machining any material. Holes are needed everywhere. And, judging by the finds of archaeologists, man has always been able to drill, and qualitatively for several thousand more years.

Stone axes with well-made holes in them. There are hundreds of such finds. They are found together with stone age scrapers. How at that time they knew how to drill in stone is a separate question.

In old medieval books you can find drawings of a hand drilling tool:

Bow drills and braces. Known since the times of Ancient Egypt. Judging by the finds, they were used earlier and not only on the territory of Egypt. What was used as a drill is also a separate interesting topic. There will be an article about this later.

Antique bracelets from a private collection. They survived thanks to the fact that even at the beginning of the 20th they were used by carpenters. Electricity was not available everywhere. Yes, and manually drill a wooden blank in the 20th century. was quicker and easier than turning on the machine or pulling out a heavy electric drill.

Other type of hand drill:

The screw and the movement of the slider provided torque. This drive principle also reached the 20th century. (second slide).

Drills were also stationary, in the form of machines, for example, with a foot drive:

Well, if a tree can still be drilled with such a twist, then they will have to twist in metal for a very long time. Need a high speed. Therefore, for these works, drills were made with gears increasing the rotational speed:

This design of hand drills was the most. They were used in different variations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. There were handheld, tabletop, and industrial options. And even baby drills in the form of a pistol (last slide).

From my childhood, I remember about the following hand drill in my grandfather's garage:

Hand drills have acquired special grace and miniature dimensions in dental practice. There were drills even with a spring mechanism. A lot of effort was not required when drilling there - it was only necessary to ensure uninterrupted operation for a couple of minutes:

And what about mobile drilling in industry and shipbuilding in the 19th century? In the middle of the 19th century. there was no welding yet and the sheets for the hulls of the ships were riveted. To do this, hundreds of thousands of holes had to be drilled. Drawings from magazines of those years:

Rope drive of a flexible shaft of an industrial drill. Most likely, it was driven by a steam plant. In the second picture - from a mobile electric motor. And then engineering thought went along the path of hand-held portable electric drills.

One of the oldest and first companies that started producing hand-held electric drills was the Fein company.

The company is also known for the first pneumatic hammer model, oscillating saws (renovators). To the release of similar hand drills at the beginning of the 20th century. other manufacturers also joined:

With the advent of industrial production of aluminum, models appeared in an aluminum case, and then, in order to reduce the cost - where possible, with plastic.

More models of electric drills of the past can be found here: http://glavmex.ru/forum/viewtopic.php? f = 60 & t = 18541

The USA still has its own power grid standards (voltage and frequency) and these models were only distributed there.

In the west, engineering thought also worked for a private consumer. In our country, this development was crippled by the First World War, the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War. Although, a power tool at the beginning of the 20th century. appeared among urban citizens of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Even books were published with presentations of models, descriptions of use and time savings.

About this article: Household appliances and power tools at the beginning of the 20th century

In the field of power tools at the beginning of the 20th century. our country is far behind. But then the engineering thought of domestic specialists approached the level of Western manufacturers. Who remembers Soviet indestructible models of electric drills?

Powerful, reliable. Many still serve.

Today, the pinnacle of engineering is the cordless drills with brushless motors (Hall sensor). With low power consumption and efficiency under 90%. And also their modifications - electric impulse wrenches, which in micro-impact mode can unscrew-tighten almost any fastener.

An article about them is here: Why is the impulse screwdriver more powerful than usual? Its working principle and advantages

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Photo taken from open sources, from Yandex. Pictures and site http://glavmex.ru

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