My wrist breaker drill - VanDorn

[JoeCB]

Reading jessEm's post on the B&D drill, thought that I'd put mine up for "wrist twist "awards. We have had this monster in the family as long as I can remember, 60 plus years. It's a killer when you jam a drill bit because the switch in not a simple trigger but rather a push button slide On - Off switch... you just can't get your finger there fast enough. The lable reads, The VanDorn Electric Tool Co., Towson, MD  code A8800 AC-DC 110V, serial No 155 (pretty early one!)

Joe B 

[Papaw]

Wristtwister supreme!

[Aunt Phil]

VanDorn used that switch on every tool they made, including 9" weld grinders.

Van Dorn very well could be the reason Square D invented the foot switch.  It still takes a mile or 20 turns to stop but that tool outlived many of the men who used it.

[john k]

The first Ford garage I worked in had a hanging I-beam down the length with several rolling chain hoists.   I was told by the foreman that in the 40s when it was installed, two men were on a scaffold drilling into the roof beams to hang that long piece of steel.  Their 5/8 drill caught, and threw both of them off the scaffold 15 feet to the floor.  One was ok, and the other never quite walked the same.  Still be careful of them powerful drills.

[Nolatoolguy]

I have a few old drills of good sizes. I also have a newer millwakee super whole hawg.

To reinforce what john said.
I wasn't with the guy but we all head about it. A former co worker was drilling a 1.75" whole in concrete wall while on a ladder. He tried using the rotary hammer one handed while responding to a text message. Next thing he new he was on the floor. He only got a sprained ankle. Guy who was with him said the rotary hammer landed about a inch from his neck still spinning when he got there. That was just one of the many unsafe things he did, hense why he was a fromer co worker.

[Aunt Phil]

One absolute I can state, if you're going to do stupid things you best be damn tough!
OSHA came along long after I was in the trades, and I'm old school as all hell, but given the damn foolishness I see, and the pathetic humps getting paid to be craftsmen these days OSHA ain't strong enough.  I see a fool with a Smart Phone on a job I know which one has the brain, and for the most part I want to be away from both. 

I still have the scar under my chin from getting stupid with a Skill Rotohammer back in 65.  I got stupid that day and removed the side handle so I could run a 2" hole through a poured wall.  It was easier.  I paid!  Still hurts remembering it.  I also remember looking up 12 decks and timing how long it took a first year helper clinging to a Rotohammer as he rode it over the edge and back on that deck cause he caught a rebar with the bit.   Super on the job had the sense to pull the main after doing a little quick calculating and the drill stopped with the kid over the deck.

You're born without much smart, you and you alone can cure that.  You're also born with just so many chances to survive stupid.  Trick is to die of old age without using those chances up.

Now I know the young bucks won't agree, but I can't abide anybody on a job wearing shorts.  That's just begging to get hurt, and it's the least of the things I see.

[mrchuck]

Yep Aunt Phil,,,,been there, done that.
I'm a lot smarter in my old age, than when I thought I was invincible.

[HeelSpur]

Ever see someone stand on a ladder and try to use a Milwaukee hole hawg over their head,
not a good idea. I've seen them just flat out knock the hell out of big beefy men.
Live & Learn :-)

[JessEm]

Nice old beefy drill.

I keep a similar drill around for mixing things tile mortar and whatnot in a 5 gal pail.

I don't have much else use for one that big but all that power makes them exceptional mixers.

[Batz]

I remember those beasts during my apprenticeship, I wasn't a big bloke back then and they use to scare the cr#p out of me.

Batz

[rusty]

The difference between those drills and the Bennys $20 special homeowner drill is like the difference between a 40 pound jack hammer and a 90 pound jackhammer.

It is a little hard to explain if you have never used a jackhammer, but it is very easy to demonstrate ;P

[Batz]

A little like the old 9" grinders, give one to a young apprentice and he would do two circles when he turned it on.

[Nolatoolguy]

A little like the old 9" grinders, give one to a young apprentice and he would do two circles when he turned it on.

Hey Hey when I turned on one for the first time I didn't turn around two times.....just once 

[Aunt Phil]

A little like the old 9" grinders, give one to a young apprentice and he would do two circles when he turned it on.

Hey Hey when I turned on one for the first time I didn't turn around two times.....just once 

Either you're overweight & not being worked hard enough, or the wheel was worn down.

I got one you can pull the trigger on while I hold the plug in the wall.  It'll make you do backflips.

[Chillylulu]

A little like the old 9" grinders, give one to a young apprentice and he would do two circles when he turned it on.

Hey Hey when I turned on one for the first time I didn't turn around two times.....just once 

Either you're overweight & not being worked hard enough, or the wheel was worn down.

I got one you can pull the trigger on while I hold the plug in the wall.  It'll make you do backflips.

Phil's like an old journeyman talking to a 1st year cub.

Chilly