Cole drill was a brand name but there were several different companies producing this style of ratcheting drill the one above was a "little giant"brand drill i no longer have this one i sold it on ebay several years ago.
Ebay is probably the only place your likely to find one they usually go for $100.00 or more.
What's so special about a drill like this?well this drill's design puts up to 1000 pounds of pressure on the tip of the drill bit allowing you to drill through just about any metal quickly.
Have you ever tried drilling a 3/4" hole through 3/8" plate without power tools? Or with an electric hand drill? The Cole drill can do it in about 45-60 seconds! For items that can't be put on a drill table because of size or location, the Cole drill is a good tool to have.
I had 2 of these after selling the one above (Made of aluminum ) I kept the cast iron one pictured below it is about 50% larger and of course more of a heavy duty construction.
It has a no.20 on the side and on the top of the large bolt it says portable equipment co. Merrill Iowa U.S.A.
I've also used it a couple of times as a "C" clamp as you can imagine it really holds tight.
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| The ratchet action only works in one direction |
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| This one is missing the V block from the bottom which is common for these |
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| Here it is shown with a 5/8 drill chuck attached If you have one of these drills or anything related and want to share pictures please send them to me and i will show them here just click on my profile and you can send me a email I was sent this email the other day from someone who used his cole drill for tapping threads. what a great idea Bought a Cole drill 2 months ago at lost Creek machine in Ottawa I'll. Was working on a John Deere 350-c bulldozer and the bolts that hold the engine rails were stripped out on each side on the rear differential housing. I reversed the bottom foot that the v block sits on so that the machined surface was down on the casting and bolted it to the casting with a threaded rod and big washer held with a nut. Drilled it out with a 27\32 drill followed with a 3\4-16 tap held in a homemade holder that fit into the Cole drill where the chuck goes. I could only ratchet 2 clicks at a time both drilling and tapping! Drilled the hole then put the adapter in and shoved the tap in the hole put some load on with the threaded nut on the Cole drill and gave it about 12 clicks in then put more tension on the screw and gave it 12 more clicks from the hand crank. The tap drew itself in and when it bottomed out I took off the hand crank and one way ratchet and backed the tap out with a crescent wrench. Saved the gent some big bucks and the drill paid for itself with one job! The holes were drilled and tapped perfectly 90 degrees and all rails went back together without any problems after the rails holes were drilled out for the 3\4 inch bolts |
