Best “Yankee” spiral type screwdriver
I am looking for a very good quality, smooth action “Yankee” style spiral push screwdriver. I want it to be about 9 to 11 inches long fully extended and able to store the bits in the handle. I have seen several examples, but without better descriptions and trying them out personally, I can’t decide. Does anyone have thoughts on what I found below or have other sources?
This will be a present for my son who at 31 is reliving his childhood and recalls me using one for years.
Garrett Wade has two
69P01.01 that is all metal and stores bits in the handle, but I don’t see the length and I don’t know how smooth the action is.
19S17.01 is the “original” Yankee, is the right length, but I don’t think you can store bits in the handle.
Lee Valley
28K02.01 has bit storage in the handle and is 9 7/16 inch long extended. This looks perfect, but I don’t know how smooth the action is and the end cap is plastic. My old ratcheting screwdriver had a metal cap that I could use to pound a plastic fastener into the wall which was very convenient.
By the way, Lee Valley has an adapter for the Yankee screwdriver to allow hex bits to be used. Very cool. Anyone use this adapter?
Replies
I'm sure either outlet would allow a return if you were not satisfied with the "action"
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
I bought one at Sears a year or two back. It was made in Germany, and is great. It has a 1/4-in hex bit holder, and takes all the drill bits etc., made for that configuration.
It works better than I remember Dad's Yankees working.
Best "Yankee" spiral type ..
I'm a Yank and when I firt saw my wife in about 1950.. So she was dancing to 'Rock Around the Clock' (spiral type) and I saw her dress flip up and.. I was hooked!
My best Yankee drill was a old Craftsman.. I could not find any bits that fit so I threw it away.. Dang!
Edited 11/11/2007 8:05 am by WillGeorge
Edited 11/11/2007 8:07 am by WillGeorge
Will, Will, Will,
You're a dirty old man! Now get back to the shop, right now!
:-)
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 11/12/2007 2:20 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Edited 11/12/2007 2:26 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
You're a dirty old man!??I bathe every night and wash my hands as often as possible?
Try Highland Hardware. I have one of theirs that has worked well for a long time.
As a guy who used Yankee ratchet screwdrivers for close to fifty years and for hours each work day,they became extensions to my hands .
I used North Brothers (Later Stanley) longest model (#131A)
The trick most newbies had to learn, was to remove that useless dangerous "Yankee Blister" inflicting spring in their handles.
Once you became used to the change, you'd grab your Yankee first, before charging dead batteries for that underpowered bargain job lot cordless, or plugging in a frayed extension cord or mashing up your fingers with a "hand job" combination paint can opener/pry bar/chisel you kept in a kitchen drawer.
With the coil spring removed, you won't loose an eye or mar your dining room table by a 'miss fire"
Forget about 'In the handle' storage. That's what pockets and aprons are for. Steinmetz.
I removed the spring after I broke a mirror in a medicine cabinet,about 47 years ago.Believe it or not I still have the spring in a junk drawer. Mine is the largest yankee.Haven't used it for quite some time.
mike
Mike, believe it or not I used my Yankee to shoot drywall screws into metal studs and didn't make a racket or over sink the screw heads into the rock. A bunch of youngster rockers couldn't figure how I did it without a gun..When I showed them the Yankee (in 1970) they thought it was a new development. I still have at least five kept in various places and occasionally use
one when I work in the wee hours at home or, from my car
My first time sheet rocking was a closet at home,same thing ,grabbed the big yankee.The best one was when I got a job sheet rocking. I was partnered up with an experienced rocker.About one minute of watching my act with a screwgun and he says, Mike you ever rocked before.I told him I did a closet at home with a yankee screwdriver.When he got done laughing he says,you cut I'll screw.I was put on metal studs after lunch.That was the last rock I did until the mid eighties.
I was about 21 or 22 years old at the time.Never used a screwgun before.After lunch that first day I had problems screwing the panhead screws.The screws would pop off the tip,drove me nuts.The other guys told me to go see the foreman and get american made screws,the japanese screws I was using were inferior.I was dumb enough to do it. The foreman was a good guy,he gave me a few new tips and told me to slow down and I would learn how to use the screwgun. New tip did the trick, all of a sudden I was an expert with a screwgun.
Many years later I still laugh about it.
mike
Those screws were called Zip screws (we called them 'Zippies"An interesting story.... Two rocker friends of mine were both up on ladders George was on the open side and Donald was on the rock side.
When Don shot in the first screw, he missed the stud. "A little to the left," said George.
Don reversed the screw, and placed one to HIS left.. "NO NO!" said George....."To MY Left!"
Donald sent in another.... "I YI YI " yelled George,(whose palm was now firmly attached to the back of the rock) Don immediately backed it out and jokingly said,"I didn't know you spoke Spanish!" Steinmetz.
Edited 11/16/2007 7:04 pm ET by Steinmetz
Mr. Steinmetz,
I, too, have the 131A. It was my Dad's and is now over 50 y/o, it works as well now as it did new.
I have a question and apologize if I seem to be highjacking this thread but I need some help in identifying a tool. This driver was my Granddad's and he may have used it when he worked at the Oakland Automobile factory in the early 20's. Any idea who made it and how old it may be?
Thanks for anyone's helpbum (Jim)
...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 !!
Edited 11/16/2007 10:04 pm by oldbeachbum
Bum - I also answered you over on the Breaktime side with an attached pic and a link. Don't know if it's your screwdriver for sure...but it sure looks like it is. If so, your tool is missing some wood, and it's a Reid's Lightning Brace Spiral Screwdriver circa late 1800's (or it's at least a cousin of it).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Reids-Lightning-Brace-Spiral-Screwdriver-Patent-1882_W0QQitemZ160171892697QQihZ006QQcategoryZ104039QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
Check out this one although it does not have bit storage. This is a good thing IMHO as the handle is solid and handle end caps are a pain.
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/product_info.php/manufacturers_id//products_id/2212
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Yes, I was just over there. Thanks, again.
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 !!
LOL...well that was interesting....I was editing/deleting it as you were replying (decided to go ahead and put the pic and link over here too). So now your thank-you is replying to a post that doesn't exist!
You're welcome! Good luck identifying those other tools of your gramps.
charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
Edited 11/17/2007 1:28 am by charlie4444
The next time we're in the Tavern I'm buying the rounds. ;0)...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 !!
Why thank you sir!....though I have yet to go into the Tavern. From what I hear it's a mite chaotic in there. Raise a glass of Bushmill's towards the south (I'm in Central Calif) next time the opportunity arises and I'm sure I'll feel my ears burning.charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
How still use their Yankee often? Haven't used one in ages but am tempted- I do a lot of cabinet and passage door hardware installs and thought it might be easier than lugging a cordless around.
Altho the Yankee was designed as a screw driver, Stanley made adapters that fit in place of the screwdriver bit which itself hold's various small ' Yankee push drill' bits . I can recall having a countersink bit that fit directly in the Yankee. I think it was made for Yankee's competitor,
Millers Falls An excellent tool also.Somewhere I read they have the new type hex drivers that will accomodate nut drivers & Allen wrench straight bits
Edited 11/17/2007 9:51 pm ET by Steinmetz
When I was a youngster, 50+ yrs ago, my father had a nice little spiral screwdriver. I remember the action was very smooth. I wish I had it now.
He used it for screwing small "slot" driven screws in projects because it drove them in so smooth. Properly handled, it did not slip out and damage the project because he was not constantly readjusting his grip as you would with a normal screwdriver. Back then there were no power drivers other than muscle power.
I have the medium size Yankee spiral from Lee valley. I have played with it and obtained the additional bit set and hex adapter and intend to use it occasionally, mostly because of my father. In my opinion I should have bought the small Yankee, the medium Yankee is used where I can also use a power driver. The small Yankee might be handier in small spaces and tight corners.
The action is not as smooth as I recall my fathers was and requires practice, at least I require some practice, to start the screw smoothly and run it in.
I'm no expert, but those are my thoughts, hope it helps.
Ed
Sledge,It's all in the 'stroke'" Retract the shaft only 3-3 inches, then push to start. Next,' a longer stroke,(that's where all the power is utilized.) By now, you have more control and can finish up with full strokes Be careful using any Yankee with a spring. Steinmetz.
Bob smalser didn,t remind you that the bit brace he showed has ratcheting forward and reverse features and can exert tremendous torque
Useind that to seat big screws, guaranties they won,tloosen up. Stein.
I have 4 original North and Stanley Yankees, all with the springs removed, including one with a Jacob's chuck bit. Indispensible tools. eBay is full of them so there's no reason I can see to buy new except for the bits.
But while you're looking for drivers, don't forget the common sweep brace and its driver attachments. When you have to break frozen screws in a restoration or install them by the hundreds, the Yankees lack the power and are harder on the carpal tunnel. The 2-jaw chucks also handle modern hex bits very well.
When screws are important, it's bad practice to run them all the way home with a power driver. No clutch is sufficiently sensitive to not damage some threads, and that damage be the source of eventual rot in outdoor or marine applications. Run them up close with the DeWalt and seat them with a Yankee or brace.
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Edited 11/18/2007 1:15 am by BobSmalser
Bob,
You're teasing us. More photos, please. If not here then please start a new thread in the photo gallery section. Beautiful close-ups but what does the rest of each one look like.
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 !!
Ah, but they do help me make my point. Which is in some applications proper screw selection and driving are important to keep out water and maximize the life of the object as well as to fasten. And that driving them to such standards without injury, often by the hundreds at a time, remains the realm of the Yankee and sweep brace, not DeWalt, Milwaulkee and Bosch.
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I'm beginning to understand. Intriguing, something I never really considered beyond "holding things together", so to speak. Besides, where would the batteries fit in the Yankee, anyway? The handle?
I know now that there is much I do not know. (comes with age)
All kidding and smart remarks aside, you bring up points that many of us probably have never considered. Nice looking examples, Bob.
Maybe Taunton should approach you for a guest article or continuing column.
Thanks for your repsonseJim
...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 !!
Edited 11/18/2007 2:47 pm by oldbeachbum
Besides, where would the batteries fit in the Yankee, anyway? The handle?
I think they were a long stack of them old Dry Cells about 8 inches tall attached together with a wire!
Edited 11/23/2007 12:34 pm by WillGeorge
"best" (fill in blank) tool...
the best is when they're free, as in given to you. barring that rockler, lie nielsen or another prolly has good ones.
Expert since 10 am.
A seller on eBay this week has a few NOS Stanleys in the box with bits. The 130A I'm watching ends tomorrow and is currently at 99 cents. I don't need another but for brand new at under 10 bucks, I'll buy it if you don't.
If it remains at a reasonable price, I will bid on it. Let's see what happens.
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