RugerSociety.com

Terry,
If that breast drill is the one that came off of an internet auction recently, is there any Ruger Corp rollmark on it? From the auction I couldn't see any rollmark on the thin gear wheel arm or the top front of the gear housing near the chuck.
That's also the first breast drill I've seen with the short arm.
Chet15

Chad,
The fact that there are no roll mark's on the shaft or the crank are what really stood out to me. John mentions that some had no markings at all. The black curved breast plate match's Johns drill pictured in his book and mine had the slotted gearhead bolt, both features on the early drills, Johns drill is blue and mine chrome. John mentions that the drills end caps unscrewed for bit storage but mine appears to be merely a removal of some metal with a lathe to make it look like an end cap. I am going to show it to a buddy of mine who is a tool & die maker and get his opinion. When it comes to the short crank vs long crank I wonder which came first ? I have drills with the short arm that are both plain and roll marked.
Terry

The breast drill I had here also just had an end cap, not a threaded cap.
Does your breast drill have a 1/4" or 3/8" chuck?
On the rollmarks... either one of the pieces didn't get marked, or the earliest Ruger Corp drills weren't marked at all. It is my opinion that they started marking the crank handles first, because there are plenty of stick drills out there of the early chromed type that have the rollmark only on the crank handle and not on top of the gear housing near the chuck.
Chet15

Chad,
It is a 1/4" chuck. Here is my type IV 1/4" Chrome stick drill, the shaft is roll marked along with the crank handle.
Terry

Very nice!
Those stick drills with the aluminum extension are a wonder. I think obviously made in order to save $ between the grip drill and stick drill, in that the aluminum extension makes it modular.
Chet15