I have this spiral screwdriver that belonged to my Granddad. I think he used it while working at the Oakland Automobile factory in the early 20″s (?).
I am curious as to who may have manufactured it and about how old it might be. I have no intenetion of trying to sell or trade it. Just trying to ID it, is all. No one in the family even had a clue he had this, along with other tools and mementos he left for me, so no help there.
I am also asking this same question across the alley in Knots. Thanks for any help.
bum
…The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain…
Be kind to your children….they will choose your nursing home.
…aim low boys, they’re ridin’ shetland ponies !!
Replies
"Yankee" screwdriver
they should have that as a "mystery tool"... i'm stumped
Bum - saw one of your posts over on the Knots side also. Nothing better to do, so I surfed around for you. Nothing on the antique/vintage tool sites I visit once in a while. However, Ebay had something that looks like a possible. See the link below. The guy calls it a "Reids Lightning Brace Spiral Screwdriver Patent 1882", says it's nickel plated and that he thinks the wood is lignum vitae.
I've attached one of the pics of it, but here's the ebay link also if you want to take a look.
http://cgi.ebay.com
Picture the screwdriver with the wood grip at the bit end gone and the bottom part of the handle gone......looks like your screwdriver, no?
charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
Edited 11/17/2007 2:12 am by charlie4444
Charlie,
Yes, that looks to be the same to me. Thank you for your time, it's appreciated. I knew someone at "Taunton University" would come through.
:0) bum...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
...aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Well I couldn't find it in my large Stanley Tools guide, but it looks like either the forerunner of the Stanley Yankee screwdriver, or it's just a different style model of the same tool made by a different company.
There's no name on it?
In the world of antique tool collecting, the oddball is the one that is usually worth a lot because of its uniqueness.
I had one exactly like it, I had found in Pa. It was with a tool box of old carp tools belonging to the owners father of the pipeorgan shop in Stowe.
I seem to recall it having the Lignum dome and a rosewood chuck, chrome shaft and the same "fast'' spiral. Somehow, it was referred to as an "Archimedes Drill" the one I had took tapered shank bits like a bit brace, but held the bits with friction only.
Sadly, it was amoung thetools lost in the shop fire I had.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
It looks like a hand made Yankee screwdriver.
A lot of the guys in the automotive machine shops would make stuff like this when they ran out of work. They called them "government jobs". It was done for fun, for their own personal needs and to fight boredom when work was slow and they had to look busy even when they aren't. Right now, my friend, back in MI, a tool maker, has been doing nothing for the last 9 months and she has to look somewhat busy all day!
FKA Blue (eyeddevil)
When I read Oakland auto factory, I thought of Oakland Ca.
I knew they built Peterbilt trucks here but not cars. A little research revealed the Oakland Motor Car Company fron Pontiac, Mich.
I have never seen one;
View Image
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
My Granddad was a man of many talents and varied careers and experiences, as he used to tell me. Many fond memories and momentos from of him. His greatest skill, as I recall, was teasing me. ;0).
He spent quite a bit of time in and around Pontiac, as did my father (Fisher Body prior to WWII), before returning to the family home in upstate NY....The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
...aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Oakland Motor Company was the predecessor to the Pontiac Motor Company. They began building Oaklands in 1907, then came out with the Pontiac in 1926. The Pontiac brand ended up being more popular than the Oakland, and then when the Depression came along they stopped building Oaklands in 1931.
1st generation yankee...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!