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I'm helping my grandparents go through their house as they downsize and prepare to move. I came across this old screwdriver and was wondering if anybody knew what it was called? It has some type of gear mechanism that turns the head when you push it (will turn forward and backward). The reason I'm asking is because I'm putting some things up for sale on E-bay for them and would like to list it with the correct name/description. The name on it is the "Yankee" tool company, and the date is between 1895-1899. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks!

John

It's a Yankee push drill. My Grandfather had one. I think that they made them through at least the 50's or 60's.

AlA Peebels38926.718275463

I think they still make them. My dad always had a couple of them laying aroung. His looked just like the one shown and it was made by Stanley, although it did say Yankee on it. Hope this helps.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Al is right. These are still made and have a three position switch. one setting is a locked position when you have to really crank hard, a second is for clockwise actuation during the push stroke and a third position is the reverse of the second, for extracting screws. I still have my Grandpa's, somewhere, but it is scary to use it on guitars or furniture.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Cordless screwdriver? Just kidding. How Much?

[QUOTE=Dickey] Cordless screwdriver? Just kidding. How Much?[/QUOTE]

Good question--I have no idea what an antique tool is worth. There are a few that have sold on Ebay anywhere from $15-$50, but all of those were at least 50 years newer. I'm not sure if being from the 1800's makes it worth anymore than one from the 1950's.

Both my grandparents are 87 years old and moving into a much smaller house, so I'm just trying to get them whatever I can for it. I guess the Ebay market will dictate.

Cheers!

John

I have a Stanley I inherited from my grandfather, who was a finishing carpenter. Like Steve, I wouldn't want to use it on guitars. Cabinetry, however, might be a useful application.

Lee Valley sells new ones:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=54192&cat=1,43 411,43417

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

I found out Stanley acquired the Yankee company in 1946. The screwdriver I have is from 1895, approximately 50 years before they were acquired by Stanley. I still haven't been able to find an example of one this old.

John

Here are a couple of my old Yankee tools John.The top one is
a Yankee Drill,with the bits stored in the handle.The wooden one is a driver with a switch like yours to change the direction of it. I still use them both a lot.
I would call yours a Yankee reversible
driver.Hope this helps

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I have several tiny ones just like it that I use to drill the holes for tuner screws and other small delicate jobs.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"