Rustoration Part two

I am very annoyed with blogspot. They cooked up a new, improved interface. It is no improvement. It is a nuisance. I did not want it. I did not ask for it. They forced it on me, and I am peeved. But no rants. Let's get on with posting.

This post continues the previous one. At the Willow thrift store, I picked up an old breast drill for the sum of $3.50. This baby was not in good shape.
For those of you who have not heard the term before, let me explain. A breast drill antedates the electric drill by, ohh, 100 years. At the right end in the picture above is a sort of tang. It is broken. But to drill holes in metal, pre-electric drill days, you put a drill bit in the chuck, at left, and put your breast or shoulder against the tang, putting body weight against the work. Thus you could drill, by turning the crank in the middle of the thing, holes in metal by hand. It so happens I already have a breast drill, in much better shape than this one. But I have plans for this baby. It was frozen solid when I got it, so in this case what you do is take it apart.
There it is in pieces. There, also, is the tool restorer's best friend, WD-40. Many people say that if WD-40 and duct tape were banned, Alaska would come to a standstill. "If it doesen't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape," goes the saying. The toothbrush in the middle is to scrape grunge out of the gear teeth. Save them old toothbrushes, I do. Notice the gears. The thing is geared about 4:1. One turn of the crank gives you 1/4 turn of the chuck. When you are drilling metal this is a distinct advantage. On wood it helps a lot with big drill bits.

So all this needed was to be taken apart and cleaned out with a toothbrush. Well, a dental pick is useful too. Observe it at right of picture. There are days when I feel like a dental hygenist. Only it's gear teeth, not people teeth.

I have plans for this elderly gentleman. As I said, I already have a breast drill in much better shape. The plan is to make ol' elderly here into a drill press, hand operated of course. Stay tuned.