Posted 7 years ago
Piddlewick
(8 items)
Looking for some insight. I recently found this tiny metal box with some screwdriver tips inside.
I'd like to know what these screwdriver tips might have been used for. They are a little over an inch (3.5cm) in length.
And although they were found in this metal box, I am uncertain they belong together. The ridging on the box makes me think of striking those old fashioned waterproof matches.
Any thoughts / knowledge appreciated.
You are correct about the box being for matches. I don't see any notches at the bottom end of the bits. If they had small notches they would be for a push-drill such as the "Yankee" and would usually be stored in the handle. Without the notches I suspect they came from a tool which is basically a handle with a collet on its end. Rather than locking into a spring-release collet, as in the Yankee tool, they are held in the screw-down collet by compression of the jaws, such as in a Dremel tool. I have a little tool here on my desk with an even simpler anchor method. I'll post a few pics shortly.
Thanks Uncle Ron
I found these here in France, so wonder if there is a French version of a 'Yankee'.
Look forward to seeing the photos. How old do you think these are? Any idea what type of matches?
By the way, what is a collet?
PS. just googled a Yankee,and from what I am seeing kine are about half the size (width and length).
The collet is the part that holds a bit. The Yankee has a knurled cylinder which you pull down toward the handle and the inner jaws open to accept a bit. When released the cylinder moves back out and a tooth inside engages the notch in the bit to keep it in the collet. The most common design for a collet is three or four jaws which are pinched by screwing down a collar around them. The jaws can be part of the shaft the bit slides into or a separate replaceable piece which fits into the shaft. When the outer cylinder is screwed down it tightens the jaws and pinches the bit, holding it in place.
Clarification: a collet is a single piece of metal with slots cut in it to form jaws. The whole assembly, with a threaded or sliding collar, and the collet inside, is usually referred to as a "chuck." When the chuck has separate pieces rather than one singe piece of metal, they are simply called "jaws."