Hi all,

The Millers Falls company claimed to have 'invented' the eggbeater
drill-- a boast that I suspect is grossly inflated. M-F production
started in the mid to latter 1870's.
Does anyone know of anything earlier? I know that breast drill had been
around for at least a decade by this time.

Any theories or facts?

Randy

>The Millers Falls company claimed to have 'invented' the eggbeater
>drill-- a boast that I suspect is grossly inflated. M-F production
>started in the mid to latter 1870's.
>Does anyone know of anything earlier? I know that breast drill had been
>around for at least a decade by this time.

Ken Roberts' "Some 19th Century English Woodworking Tools" states on page
332 that a James Chesterman was granted Letters Patent No. 12,843
on November 13, 1849 for an eggbeater (photo'd on page 337).

Paul Pedersen     
Montreal (Quebec)

A couple of days ago there were questions about who
"invented" the eggbeater drill.

The brace patent book shows some eggbeater and breast
drill patents among the braces, and the earliest of
them is US patent #730, by George Page of Keene, New
Hampshire, for a "Geared Drill Stock". This patent is
dated May 8, 1838.

 The text of the patent seems to indicate that his
improvements  for this style of tool include the
adjustable length crank arm and a friction roller that
runs against the back side of the main gear to keep it
running more evenly. It would seem that this type of
drill preceded his patent.  
The brace patent book gives this patent a rarity of
"A" indicating that only a few have been found (I
don't have the book in front of me, and don't recall
the exact number of observed tools that "A" indicates,
but I think it is less than 6 or so.)

Jim Erdman (in Menomonie, WI)

> >The Millers Falls company claimed to have
> 'invented' the eggbeater
> >drill-- a boast that I suspect is grossly inflated.
> M-F production
> >started in the mid to latter 1870's.
> >Does anyone know of anything earlier? I know that
> breast drill had been
> >around for at least a decade by this time.
> 
> Ken Roberts' "Some 19th Century English Woodworking
> Tools" states on page
> 332 that a James Chesterman was granted Letters
> Patent No. 12,843
> on November 13, 1849 for an eggbeater (photo'd on
> page 337).

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Hi All
Back at the end of February....
Randy Roeder had asked:
 Who "invented" the eggbeater drill? or when?

and Paul Pedersen wrote:
"Ken Roberts' "Some 19th Century English Woodworking Tools" states on page
332 that a James Chesterman was granted Letters Patent No. 12,843
on November 13, 1849 for an eggbeater (photo'd on page 337)."

Spurred on by both the question and response (and my own
curiosity about geared drills) I recently contacted the British
Patent Office. They determined availability of this patent and
sold me a copy.(Less than 5 bucks) Well, it arrived today and I must say
that is near stunning with the patent drawings reproduced in what
I believe to be their original size 24" by 34". Sheryl, my wife, said I
should probably frame the two sheets.

The patent specs are effusive going on for 7 pages. The introduction is:
"TO ALL WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, James Chesterman, of the firm of
Messrs.
Cutts, Chesterman and Bedington, of Sheffield, in the county of Yorks,
Machinists,
send greeting."
Chesterman continues on to describe the geared drills and 12 applications of
bevel and
"spurred wheel gears" for which he makes claim of inventing. I will lay this
all
out in an article on my website in about a month. But for now I am trying to
locate some
more information about Chesterman and his company. Is he the predecessor to
James Chesterman
and Company Limited who I believe eventually merged with Rabone to become
Rabone and Chesterman? Is Rabone and  Chesterman still in business? I can
not find a
website for them. Does anyone have a copy of the Roberts book available for
sale?
Cheap?
Regards
Chuck Zitur
who knows that the answer to Randy's original question is: "Not Chesterman"

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 Chuck wrote:

> Is Rabone and  Chesterman still in business?

I have a Rabone rule still in the blister pack with a UPC number on the
back.  This means they were around at least til 1975 or so, but I don't know
about more recently.

Ed minch

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Chuck asked -

> > Is Rabone and  Chesterman still in business?

Ed replied -

> I have a Rabone rule still in the blister pack with a UPC number on
the
> back.  This means they were around at least til 1975 or so, but I
don't know
> about more recently.

There was a mail order tool company that went belly up 2-3 years ago
that had (I think) a guy's name. They sold Stanley England stuff at
very good prices. Also mortise chisels by a German or French
subsidiary. They sold Rabone squares, etc. and that was no earlier
than 1999.

Dennis Heyza
Macomb Michigan

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Hi Chuck & All,

The Ruskin Gallery booklet "The Cutting Edge" has  a writeup about James
Chesterman. It says he was born in London (doesn't say when) but moved
to Sheffield in 1820 and worked as a silversmith for one year. After
inventing a method of making an automatic rewind tape measure, he went
into business with a Mr. Housefield. By 1837, a Samuel Fox had joined
the business and Chesterman had also patented a self winding window
blind. In 1837, the company adopted the name "Bow Works". In 1849, he ws
joined by partners Cutts and Beddington. Chesterman's primary products
were always measuring tapes and chains, steel rules and such, but his
work on improving steel tapes also was adapted to making steel supports
for ladies skirts. The writeup never makes it clear what names these
various partnerships and such worked under, but in 1950 they became a
public company as James Chesterman & Co. Ltd. In 1963, they combined
with Rabone & Sons as Rabone Chesterman. That company was bought out by
Stanley in 1990, but it is not clear whether STnley continued to use
their name.

Best Wishes,
Bob  

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The stanley web site www.stanleyworks.com states that they still sell 
"regional hand tools" in europe under the name Rabone, did Stanley buy out 
John Rabone & Sons and when?  One question brings another

>From: Dennis Heyza 
>Reply-To: Dennis Heyza 
>To: "oldtools" 
>Subject: [oldtools] RE: Who "invented" the eggbeater drill? or when?
>Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 10:08:56 -0400
>
>Chuck asked -
>Is Rabone and  Chesterman still in business?
>
>Ed replied -
>I have a Rabone rule still in the blister pack with a UPC number on
>the back.  This means they were around at least til 1975 or so, but I
>don't know about more recently.
>
>There was a mail order tool company that went belly up 2-3 years ago
>that had (I think) a guy's name. They sold Stanley England stuff at
>very good prices. Also mortise chisels by a German or French
>subsidiary. They sold Rabone squares, etc. and that was no earlier
>than 1999.
>
>Dennis Heyza
>Macomb Michigan

Visit The Old tool Nut Journal web site at:
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Or just type into your search: old tool nut

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In Australia we still see Rabone squares, etc in shops.
Looks like Stanley dropped the Chesterman bit and kept
branding things Rabone.

Peter Williams

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Nelson [mailto:reeinelson@w...]
> 
> ...Rabone Chesterman. That company was bought out by
> Stanley in 1990, but it is not clear whether Stanley
> continued to use their name.
> 

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--- Chuck Zitur  wrote:
> Hi All
> Back at the end of February....
> Randy Roeder had asked:
>  Who "invented" the eggbeater drill? or when?
> 

Don't know if I mentioned this before, but US patent
#730 dated May 8, 1838, is for a eggbeater style
breast drill, and the patent is actually for
improvements to the style of drill, not the basic type
of drill.

=====
Jim Erdman  (in Menomonie, WI)

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