Nuther Whatizit

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

 

I know it's a Yankee style screw driver, but there are no markings.   It has a removable taper bit.   Can anyone ID this driver?

[formariz 11,987]

It is an "Archimedian" screw driver. Without a doubt manufactured by  AH Reid  from Philadelphia who owned the patent on it from 1882. Should be stamped on the screw casing. Many times stamp is very faint  barely noticeable on early models. It was advertised as "Reid's Lightning Brace". It was also supposed to be used as a drill. Two models were available differing in size and bit holding method which made bits non interchangeable. The one you have is the #1 model which is the largest one. Quite a few of them were made until the better design from North Borthers was introduced, now nick named "Yankee screwdriver"

 

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by formariz

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

5 hours ago, formariz said:

Quite a few of them were made

 

Thanks for the info Cas.     Not a rare valuable find then?

[formariz 11,987]

2 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Not a rare valuable find then?

Money wise no. They go from $20.00 up to around $40.00 when found. Still relatively scarce since it is not like one will find them all the time. Many will be missing the bit and many will have chuck mechanism broken.

They are historically important. If one thinks about it they are really the first “mechanized” way to drive a screw. Everything else came after and for many years all borrowed on that principle until electrical drills started being used for that. The draw back it had it was that screw could not be reversed. That was essentially its demise when North Brothers came up with the better design we know as the Yankee Screwdriver which could reverse , be locked from any direction and also spring loaded for the next stroke. The “Yankee” name stuck when Yankee bought them out and produced them by the millions. Constant evolution of these things also eventually rendered them obsolete (not everywhere). I wonder when and how the screw will eventually also meet its demise.

 Nice find . A great conversation piece to be placed on coffee table.

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

You all know what it is, but do you know how it works?

[JoeM 7,874]

22 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

but do you know how it works

Carbide and water hit the striker?

 

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

5 minutes ago, JoeM said:

Carbide and water hit the striker?

 

It does use carbide and water...but. how.

 

[JoeM 7,874]

I got a can of that stuff too! LOL

I used it in a site black torch when I shot long range open site stuff. 

Not sure on the instructions but could get quite dangerous in the wrong hands. 

[Handy Don 12,232]

Not a clue without cheating via google. Following!

[oliver2-44 9,756]

As the can says "Miners Lamps"  We used that stuff for Carbide Head Lamps when going coon hunting at night as a kid.  Today its crazy to think we had a burning lamp and an canister of carbine and water making a flammable gas on our head.

Edited April 6, 2022 by oliver2-44

[lynnmor 7,307]

It produces acetylene gas when made wet.  I learned the skills of shooting can lids at street lights in Galeton, PA at a very young age, friends there taught me all kinds of useful things.

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

It produces acetylene gas when made wet.

Exactly,   Several crystals of the calcium carbide are placed in the bottom half of the lamp.      The top half is filled with water and slowly dripped down onto the carbide.  The resulting reaction    CaC2 +H2O =  Ca(OH)2 + C2H2  (acetylene)   creates the gas to fuel the flame.    The lever on top adusts the valve controlling the water drip and the production of the gas.

[Handy Don 12,232]

So when the miner walks into a methane pocket....uh oh.

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

24 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

So when the miner walks into a methane pocket....uh oh.

That's what the canary was for.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

Hey!!! That’s my boss, holding a picture of me in my office cubicle… I knew I was an import cog in the wheel…