Millers Falls Yankee Drills bits

[Mike Holbrook]

Does anyone know how difficult it is to get bits for MF Screwdrivers? I know Lee Valley makes them. I just do not know if they will fit the MF drivers. I understand that Sandy SanysTools has old screwdriver bits at times too but do not see any now.

Thanks for the help,

Mitch

[lowell holmes]

Are they different from Stanley and Klein? I know the same bits fit Stanley Yankee and Klein screwdrivers.

I think LV and Highland Hardware both have them.

[Mike Holbrook]

That is basically my question. It seems that there are small, medium and large Yankee screw/drills with several major companies. I am trying to figure out if those companies standardized on the bit diameters for those sizes.

Judging from the fact that Lee Valley and Highland Hardware sell three different sets of bits, it looks like the bits for the three sizes are different. Lee Valley and Highland Hardware refer to "Stanley" tool numbers although they both still sell their own versions of these screwdrivers. I guess we can assume from this that at least Lee Valley and Highland Hardware carry screw/drill tools that are built to the North Bros./Stanley standard. Highland Hardware even offers hex adapters for compact, medium and large Yankees. I thought I read in a SMC thread that someone had bought a hex adapter for an old Yankee driver and it did not fit, which is making me curious.

I have noticed that some here favor the North Bros./Stanley type Yankees. I am wondering if part of the attraction to this brand over Millers Falls is bit compatibility?

[Dave Matson]

I have a MF No. 61 which is the mid-size model. It uses 9/32 diameter bits. It works great with the stanley made Phillips head bit that I got at estate sale. I also have a the large size model, the No. 62 which accommodates the 5/16 diameter unmarked Phillips bit i have (unfortunately its ratchet mechanism is damaged and the bit lock is missing. Got to love ebay).

One could hopefully assume then that the MF 67 would then use the 7/32 size bits.

The attraction to the yankee/north brothers brand may be partially due to stanley and its market share. Afterall the yankee name has become synonymous with the spiral screwdriver. Also their ratchet mechanism is different. The Yankee one is probably easier to use but I am die-hard MF fan so I don't really care

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the reply Dave. Sounds like I should be able to find bits somewhere and might even be able to use the Lee Valley/Highland Hardware devices.

I am new to the Millers Falls tools but I am becoming a die hard fan too. I think their drills are often significantly better than Stanley models. Although I did buy a Stanley 100 Plus, #610. I bought a basic German breast drill before I knew anything about what I was doing. I got it cheap enough so I want have any problem buying a Millers Falls if I think it has advantages.

I am also wondering if anyone has bought the hex converters for their older drill? It would be nice to hear from an actual person who has used on of these devices on their older tool.

Old tools stick together,

Mitch

[Harlan Barnhart]

Originally Posted by Mike Holbrook

I am also wondering if anyone has bought the hex converters for their older drill? It would be nice to hear from an actual person who has used on of these devices on their older tool.

Old tools stick together,

Mitch

I recently bought all three sizes of the LV hex adapters for my north brothers drills. The largest size was a perfect fit but the two smaller sizes have significant slop (the adapter shaft is smaller than the original). I wouldn't recommend the LV adapters for North Bro.s/Yankee except for the largest size.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the reply Harlan.

This brings up another point that has been troubling me. I wonder how precise the chuck jaws are on some of these old drills and braces. I bought an old Millers Falls brace recently and the tips of the two jaws are significantly different. It looks like someone either added a new piece of metal to one jaw or ground the tip off the other. It would seem logical that this piece of the drill would be most apt to become damaged over time.

I got cold feet on some EBay deals because I could not see the jaws of the chuck or did not like what I saw. I wonder if there is any way to replace or repair the jaws on these old chucks? I also wonder if anyone sells replacement chucks?

Old tools stick together,

Mitch

[Joel Goodman]

I have the large MF push screwdriver and it is a well made tool. I believe that it fits the same bits as the large Yankee/ Stanley but I did have to do a little filing to get the LV replacement bits to work. For some reason the LV hex adapter didn't respond as well and I couldn't get it to function. So perhaps there are some differences between the MF and the Stanleys. YMMV. I believe that Walt also may have some bits -- I think you have to call for them. All in all the bits are not expensive so if you get one that can't be made to work the loss is minimal.

[Dave Matson]

Here is a tutorial for making a yankee style magnetic bit holder: http://homepage.mac.com/galoot_9/yankee_bit.html

[Harlan Barnhart]

Its not that hard. I made a very passable one on my first try. It works better than a replacement that "almost" fits. I cannablized a cheepie hex bit holder and found a bolt with the exact shaft size of the original bit. You need an original bit to gauge the cutting and filling for the "lock" end. The trickiest part was grinding a consistent hex shape on the bolt shank. After a lot of test fitting I drove it on with a hammer and it was very straight. The notch and the "V" groove were cut with a hacksaw and finished with files. The least "professional" part was the shaft grinding was visible past the hex sleeve but the screws haven't complained yet.

[Mike Holbrook]

Yea, american ingenuity!

I just got my MF 61 in todays mail and have been cleaning it up. It is not a show piece by any means but the screwdriver ratchet seemed to work very well and felt solid at first. It came with a flat head driver with Yankee etched in it. I think this is a correct bit for it. The driver/bit holder was giving me a few problems though. It retracted fine to remove the bit but it did not seem to want to return to the driver holding position. A little fooling with it seemed to convince it to work. I thought the return system was a little fouled. I soaked it in kerosene working the mechanism to get the fluid into the housing and wash out the internals.

The screwdriver mechanism seemed to get a little sticky after cleaning which I think had to do with the cleaning having removed the oil or grease. I suspect the mechanism should be greased or oiled? I have some White Lithium Grease which I plan to use on the drive mechanism after I get the bit holder mechanism cleaned out & working better.

If the MF 61 uses a 9/32 (7mm) Yankee bit like Dave says then I see several commercial alternatives:

Lee Valley has a selection of 9/32 Yankee driver bits available individually or as a set of 8 bits including: phillips, slot and square-recess ($19.90 for the set). They also offer a magnetic hex adapter to fit 9/32 ($6.20).

Highland Hardware (HH) offers a hex adapter in Yankee 9/32. The Schroder (German) made hex adapter they offer has a knurled ring which secures bits in the collet. It also has a magnet in it that magnetizes the driver bit. This may solve the problem of those hex bits staying stuck in work when the driver is removed and also hold screws on all in one device. This device is $16.99 though. I also found some Yankee screw driver bits offered at HH. These "Yankee" bits/drivers are offered in 6mm, 6.5mm and 8mm. The other adapters and the Lee Valley bits are offered in small ( 5.5mm, 7/32), medium (7mm, 9/32) and large (8mm, 5/16).

So we have a couple things that could cause us problems finding drivers to fit our devices. When companies list both a MM and inch equivalent for the same item I figure the conversion is not exact and may cause a problem somewhere. The Schroder company in Germany is obviously still manufacturing Yankee type screwdrivers. I am assuming they manufacture on the metric system and then attempt to list inch equivalents. There is at least one other company manufacturing an inexpensive version of the old Yankees. There are also some smaller versions of the Yankees that the older companies made. The smaller older Yankees and the newer economy Yankees may use the 6mm & 6.5mm sizes.

[Gary Herrmann]

Mike, I've got both the LV and the Schroder bit holders. I rarely say this about anything LV makes, but IMO, the Schroder is worth the extra cost.

[Mike Holbrook]

Gary,
Thanks for that thought, I am a Lee Valley fan too but agree that in this case the Schroder alternative has a good deal more going for it, especially for heavy use.

I actually timed out on my post above before I got done with the topic. I am facing a dilemma since my MS 61 represents a less than $15 investment (including shipping) and may have one or more issues. Buying a $16.99 hex adapter and or a $19.90 set of drivers for it starts sounding a little backassward. I just happen to be in easy driving distance from Highland Hardware so I think I will meet a buddy there try their hex adapter in my MF61. While I am there I can compare the Schroder Spiral Ratchet Screwdrivers with the hex chuck. You never know I might even find something else of interest.