Yankee 1003 drill press

[Branson]

So I went into this antique store a couple of weeks ago, and there's a small drill press that clamps on to a work bench.  All cast iron, and it works like a blacksmith's post drill, with each turn of the crank taking the bit a little deeper (or with the flip of a switch, draws it  up).   No name I could find, but it just looked so neat that it was irresistible.  So it came home with me.

Then I saw this on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/North-Bros-YANKEE-1003-Bench-Drill-COMPLETE-/111578078193?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19fa925bf1

Now mine isn't in this kind of condition.  Some time it got a coat of silver paint, and the quill stop doesn't work, and there is a small broken part.  but it functions!   The quill stop needs to be repaired, or an  alternative found so the chuck can be loosened.  But it didn't cost a thing like $395.
 
I think I can figure out disassembly, but if anybody knows where a diagram can be found it would be really nice to know.

[john k]

I'd start by searching Yankee, North Bros..  Millers Falls was good, and I always felt Goodell & Pratt was very good, but Yankee items seemed to be even a notch higher than those.   I have a similar drill but by Goodell & Pratt, is a handy thing. 

[Bill Houghton]

I have an online friend, a moderator over at WoodNet, who finds and restores Yankee tools.  I've e-mailed him to get his permission for me to give you his e-mail.

Congratulations.  Those are truly nifty tools.

[Branson]

I have an online friend, a moderator over at WoodNet, who finds and restores Yankee tools.  I've e-mailed him to get his permission for me to give you his e-mail.
Congratulations.  Those are truly nifty tools.

Thank you!  I have to work on freeing up the chuck  -- not very easy with the quill stop not functioning, and there's the broken piece.   Otherwise, it's in decent working order.  The self feeding mechanism is what really sold me on this drill.  It was  just too nifty to leave behind.

[Bill Houghton]

Yes...the self-feeding arrangements on post drills and their little brothers, the bench drills, are truly neat.

North Brothers (the original Yankee tools, before Stanley bought them in 1946) came up with some really gizmotic tools.  Their little eggbeaters, with three ratcheting settings (left, right, and double right, in which the chuck turns "forward" no matter which way you move the crank handle), are wondrous.  The double right setting seemed like an unnecessary novelty setting to me until I realized that it allows quick drilling in tight spots and serves also as a kind of torque multiplier; you can crank rapidly back and forth at your body's optimal mechanical spot, and drill with noticeably larger bits than in any other setting.

[Bill Houghton]

Branson,

I just sent you a private message on this subject.