Craftsman (Millers Falls) Hand Drill

Craftsman hand drill. It seems identical in every way to a Millers Falls 2A.

Craftsman hand drill. It seems identical in every way to a Millers Falls 2A.

I have a Millers Falls 2A hand drill that I bought on eBay last year.  I didn’t read the fine print (my fault, not the seller’s) and when it arrived I saw that it was missing one of the jaws from the chuck, rendering it unusable.

In the fall, I found another hand drill at a flea market that I assumed was a Millers Falls 2A.  It was in pretty rough shape and the gears wouldn’t turn due to rust.   I paid $3 for it, thinking that I would use it for parts.  Both drills sat untouched for the past six months or so while I’ve worked on other projects.  While cleaning up the shop recently, I came across the flea market hand drill and started to take it apart.  I started to work on it, and before long the project somehow morphed from a parts recovery, to a full tool restoration.  Since I wasn’t originally planning on restoring the drill, I didn’t take any “before” photos.  Damn!

When I cleaned the grime off the drive handle, I discovered that the drill was not marked as Millers Falls.  Instead the drive handle was stamped “Craftsman Made in USA 1071”

The drive / turning handle is stamped "Craftsman Made in USA 1071"

The drive / turning handle is stamped “Craftsman Made in USA 1071”

It appears to me in every other way to be a Millers Falls 2A drill.  I searched online and found several links to Craftsman hand drills that were made by Millers Falls, but they were all different models and none were a 2A.

The best info that I have found online about Millers Falls drills (and tool restorations in general) is the www.WKfinetools.com website.  This link will take you to an overview of the number 2 drill.

I had a hard time dismantling the hand drill.  The pinion gear closest to the handle was rusted solid to the shaft.  I managed to pinch the gear between some scraps of softwood in my bench vice and used some locking pliers to turn the shaft until the gear broke free.

A view of the back showing the drive wheel and pinion gears.

A view of the back showing the drive wheel and pinion gears.

Once it was all apart, I cleaned all of pieces with a soft wire wheel in my bench grinder.  This removed all the rust and old paint.  Even the parts inside the chuck had some surface rust, but all were cleaned, oiled, and reassembled.  I polished all of the chromed parts (the chuck and ferules) and the drive handle on a buffing wheel mounted on my bench grinder.

Another reverse view.

Another reverse view.

After paint removal, I cleaned all of the parts with spirits and then masked and painted them.  I let the paint cure for a couple of days before I removed the masking tape.

All repainted, polished, and shiny.

All repainted, polished, and shiny.

The handle shaft happened to be the same diameter as the hole in the drive wheel, so I chucked it up in my electric drill and spun the drive wheel to make it easy to sand.  I sanded the exposed metal of the drive wheel up to 400 grit and this left a very nice satin finish to the edge.

I sanded the exposed metal of the drive wheel to 400 grit. This left a nice satin finish.

I sanded the exposed metal of the drive wheel to 400 grit. This left a nice satin finish.

I sanded all of the wooden parts to remove the old crumbling finish.  I then applied a coat of Minwax mahogany gel stain and followed this with three coats of Watco wipe on poly.  I sanded the finish back with 320 grit paper to level the surface and applied two more coats of the poly to finish.

I polished the drive handle arm, the screws, and all the chromed parts on my buffing wheel.

I polished the drive handle arm, the screws, and all the chromed parts on my buffing wheel.

So here it is all done.  The gears turn beautifully.  There is no play in the mechanism at all.  I should now have a hand drill that will give me many years of service.  I still however have a Millers Falls 2A that is in good shape but missing a jaw. So much for using the Craftsman drill for parts!  I guess the other one will sit on the shelf until I figure out what to do with it.

All finished an ready for many years of use.

All finished an ready for many years of use.

About Jonathan

I am a woodworker and hand tool restorer / collector. I buy too many tools and don't build enough - I need help!
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9 Responses to Craftsman (Millers Falls) Hand Drill

  1. Mike Hamilton says:

    Nice looking work. What paints did you use?

    Regards,
    Mike

    • Jonathan says:

      Hi Mike,

      I used Dupli-Color Engine Enamel with ceramic. I use this when I restore Stanley planes. I usually bake it on (after it dries for a couple of days first) at about 250 degrees. The paint is rated to 500 degrees. I did not bake it this time and I will see how it holds up.

      I got the paint from my local O’Reilly Auto Parts store. The colors were Gloss Black (DE1613) and Red (DE1653).

      Hope this helps.

      Jonathan

  2. Johnc866 says:

    I appreciate you sharing this article.Thanks Again. Really Cool.

  3. Leo says:

    How were you able to remove the handle from the frame of the drill? I just picked one of these up, having a hard time getting the handle off.

    • Jonathan says:

      Hi Leo,

      It depends upon which version of the drill you have. Many variations were made over the years and the design changed as time went on. On mine there are two pins that go through the shaft that connects the frame to the handle. One holds the shaft to the frame and the other holds the wooden handle to the shaft. I used an small punch and a light hammer to remove the pins. I didn’t get into it in depth in my post since it has been done so much better on the WK Fine Tools website. You can probably find all that you are looking for there. I know I used it a lot when I was restoring this drill. Try this link and you can see the pin holes that I’m talking about:

      http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS-borTools/MillersFalls/tools-No2HD/No2A-Transitional1/No2A-Trans1-1957-07.asp

      I hope this helps,

      Jonathan

  4. Tom D. says:

    A couple days after reading this blog I too found a Craftsman 1071! It seems these are a bit rare. I still have to inspect in thoroughly, but if it warrants I will do a restoration much like yours. Thanks for the information, without it I would not have known. As you already know, the 2 and 5’s are some of the most sought after models.

    • Jonathan says:

      Hello Tom,

      Thanks for your comment. Restoring a hand drill is a fun project. It’s not huge job, but the results are often quite startling. I’d love to see how yours turns out.

      All the best,

      Jonathan

  5. Wayne Box says:

    Any leads on where to find a replacement handle endcap?

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