Cole Drill

[R W]

Purchased a Cole Drill off Ebay,(decided against fabricating one) am really
pleased with it so far, drilled some 5/8" threads out of a tractor transmission
housing (to fit helicoils), found it much easier than a hand held electric, both
on the drill bit and myself. Also drilled up to a 19/32" hole in 5/8" plate, no
problems.
Thanks to everyone who gave invaluable advice on a previous post regarding this, and also to those who answered my personal emails.

[CCWKen]

Yes sir, they're a right handy tool to have around. I use mine maybe 6-7 times a year in the field, shop or on pieces too heavy for in the drill press. It paid for itself the first time I used it and I'd never sell it. Found mine at an estate sale for $5. It was missing the chuck and no one knew what it was.

[tattoomike68]

Purchased a Cole Drill off Ebay,(decided against fabricating one) am really
pleased with it so far, drilled some 5/8" threads out of a tractor transmission
housing (to fit helicoils), found it much easier than a hand held electric, both
on the drill bit and myself. Also drilled up to a 19/32" hole in 5/8" plate, no
problems.
Thanks to everyone who gave invaluable advice on a previous post regarding this, and also to those who answered my personal emails.

I have seen pictures, still want to see a video of one in action.

[camdigger]

RATS! and I was looking forward to reading up on the build - sigh

Oh well, I'll have to put it back on my own list behind the other dozen half finished projects...

BTW, I'm glad you have what you need for the job!!

[oil mac]

Hey guys, What the hell is a Cole drill, Any chance of a photo of one?

[camdigger]

A description and a few pictures are at this link http://engines.rustyiron.com/coledrill/index.html

From what I can gather, the Cole drill is the most popular of the hand powered ratchet drills from a century or so ago. Hand power and a feed screw to force the bit into the work. The Cole also has a neat vise option for cross drilling pipe or shafts...

Hope the link helps, I don't do pictures here. I can't be bothered to jump through the hoops with photobucket, or flicker, etc.

[John Garner]

I suspect that the Cole drill originated as a "badge engineered" variant of a hand-crank drill made by Canedy Otto that, judging from the photos of the Canedy Otto I've seen, differed from the Cole only in the name cast into the head. Or, maybe the Cole drill design (and patterns??) left through the back door of the Canedy Otto plant as it was being shuttered.

[camdigger]

John

I can't find a Canedy Otto drill that looks anything like the Cole drill.
Canedy Otto seems to have built post drills (early drill presses or blacksmith's drills). The Cole is a different animal in that it generally does not auto feed like a post drill, is way more portable, and had a ratcheting handle as opposed to the flywheel with the crank common to post drills.

What am I missing?
Cam

[brian Rupnow]

Thats neat!!! I never knew such a thing existed. Kinda like a mag drill before mag drills were invented.

[RancherBill]

John

I can't find a Canedy Otto drill that looks anything like the Cole drill.

This sort of looks like a Cole Drill and is made by Canedy Otto.

[camdigger]

This sort of looks like a Cole Drill and is made by Canedy Otto.

Bill
Is there a link or attachment missing?

[John Garner]

camdigger --

I found a couple photos of a Canedy-Otto "Cole Drill" that I downloaded a few years back from don't-remember-where, but I'm not able to post 'em. If you send me a Private Message with your E-mail address, I'll E-mail them to you.

John

[camdigger]

In some of my hobby related history reading, I've seen several references to ratchet drills, although I've only seen Little Giants (George Ewens) and Cole drills. I'm still kicking myself I didn't try to deal a bit on one I saw at the Gears show 4 years ago.

For reasons I still don't fully understand , SWMBO was doing the slow burn back at the campground so I was unwilling to tempt the wrath of the war department with a purchase of what would have been the 4th drill press type machine and roughly the 8th or so machine intended for drilling holes in assorted objects...

John

P.M. sent..