Antique French Drill Press?

[ron darner]

A thread on “CR4" [= Conference Room 4, an engineering website] regarding an interesting item seen on Ebay: http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/74970/What-s-this-1-12?frmtrk=cr4digest.  Seller claims “antique drill press” and wants $3000 [!!!], but person posting is doubtful.  An ACTUAL antique drill press is shown within the thread.  Anyone recognize the item for sale?

[johnsironsanctuary]

Ron, could it be a tapper?

[Lewill2]

That is from Jim Bode's eBay store/eBay listings. 2lshark is his eBay name.

[ron darner]

Please re-visit the CR-4 thread; someone has posted another, similar device, and it may actually be shown in proper use.  It would be a device to hold pressure on a brace while rotating it; sort of a precursor to the drill press.

[Aunt Phil]

It's a butler's bung remover for casks.

Notice the shape & flighting on the drilling end.
That design hasn't changed since the first effective remover for wood bungs in casks was developed.

That particular one would have been found mounted to the wall of a butler's pantry in the home of someone well to do who bought wine, oil and vinegar in small wood casks.

[Ken W.]

It's a butler's bung remover for casks.   That just sounds sooo... wrong.

[Branson]

Apparently it actually is a drill press.  Like Ron Darner said, there's a picture on the CR-4 thread which I've attached, with a brace in proper position.
It's an application of the same principle as the blacksmith's beam drill, in which a beam is hinged to a post.  The beam has a place to receive the far end of a brace (which has no pad), and a weight is hung from the far end of the beam.

I think Diderot illustrates it, but a search of the web produced only T handle augurs and post drills.

[Aunt Phil]

Branson The tool on CR4 is NOT the same tool you pictured.

It lacks the protractor locator and were you hands on with the Butler's press you'd know the spindle on the Butler's press has a quill internal to the threaded piece.

Also when I blew up the CR4 unit the bit end is very evidently a bung remover.  That bit works by elevating and splitting a wood bung, which is a completely different action from a corkscrew.  The bit is turned by the 4 pronged handle and the screw quill is operated by the knob at the top of the quill.

The CR4 uit is missing the collar that would rest on the bungstave and index onto the tapered lower end of the quill casting.

The Butler press is probably an adaptation of the drill press you pictured, possibly from the same manufacturer. 

[Branson]

Branson The tool on CR4 is NOT the same tool you pictured.
It lacks the protractor locator and were you hands on with the Butler's press you'd know the spindle on the Butler's press has a quill internal to the threaded piece. Also when I blew up the CR4 unit the bit end is very evidently a bung remover.  That bit works by elevating and splitting a wood bung, which is a completely different action from a corkscrew.  The bit is turned by the 4 pronged handle and the screw quill is operated by the knob at the top of the quill.

The CR4 uit is missing the collar that would rest on the bungstave and index onto the tapered lower end of the quill casting.

The Butler press is probably an adaptation of the drill press you pictured, possibly from the same manufacturer.

Actually, the picture I posted came from  the CR4 thread, further down the line.

But I see what you mean!  Butler's press is what it is.

[johnsironsanctuary]

Both pieces are beautiful tools and I would be proud to own either one. Nice work Aunt Phil.

[Aunt Phil]

No grat work involved, just remembered seeing one in a rich man's pantry.  Unfortunately I couldn't talk my way into owning it.

[ron darner]

Aunt Phil - Nice work!  Can I talk you into posting your description and reasoning on CR-4?  Or, if you wish, I can copy & post, with credit to you of course (I'm already a member there)...?  I just revisited the thread, and no one has given the butler's cask bung remover as a possibility.  Someone's comment that the screw is reversed supports your item very nicely, since forces would be opposite those of a drill press.  Still, one might well be an adaptation from the other.

[Aunt Phil]

Ron don't take it personal, but one of my greatest joys in retirement is NOT having to interface with engineers.

If it'll make you happy I'll see if I can get a pic of the business end of a bung pulling bit in good shape on a manual puller for barrel bungs.  I happen to know exactly where 1 is hanging unless it fell and hit an ancient buzzard in the head. 

[ron darner]

Thanks, Aunt Phil; a picture would be helpful! 
And I won't take it as a personal issue that you don't want to interface with engineers...  I had that term in my titles from 1970 until last year when I retired (previous titles included the word "Physicist" rather than engineer.  I always claimed that all REAL engineering was based upon physics anyhow, so it was no problem that I had never taken an engineering course of any sort.  Was a "Design Engineer" a couple of times, and once a "Manufacturing Engineer" - and never took any sort of course in design or in manufacturing, either...).

[Aunt Phil]

Ron for two years I answered the phone "Unscrew Corp, why do you need me today?".  Honestly the majority of money I've made in life has been thanks to engineers.  It began in the 70s when one misdimensioned the location of every piece of equipment in a shop from the outside of the block wall, and it has gotten better ever since.  I read a couple pages of that site and when I wasn't laughing I wondered if the posters had learned anything in High School.  I'm 91.314159% sure they didn't learn Physics.

The pics are of a manually operated bung screw.  You as a Physics guy should have no problem identifying the components and understanding their function.  The one in the pic is used against the bung stave only, because going cross stave will deform and may crack adjacent staves.

The foot on a Butler's bung drill would be different.  It looks more like 3/4 of a piece of pipe that surrounds most of the bung to provide more support to the bungstave.  The smaller casks normally have only 1 pullable bung in the head, and no bungs in the side.