North Bros. Yankee No. 1545 Two Speed Hand Drill

This is a nice clean 15.5" long, two speed hand drill marked "YANKEE NO. 1545 NORTH BROS. MFG. CO. PHILA. PA. U.S.A. PAT. NOV.2.97 JULY.28.06, AUG.23.10,  JAN.24.11" and some other patent dates, on the nickel plated control switch area, Also marked "YANKEE NORHT BROS. MFG. CO. PAT. APR.15.10" on the 3 jaw chuck sleeve. North Brothers was one of the top maker's of hand, breast, and push drills, from the late 1800's to 1946, when they sold out to Stanley Tools. This model was the largest 2 speed hand drills with a very slow, and fast speeds, and lots of other options like ratchet forward and reverse, lock etc. The speed selector is the flip switch type, located near the exposed drive handle face plate assembly area, it turns back and forth to adjust the speed, low, or high. The wood side handle is the removable type with a threaded post at the end to attach it very securely to the main frame of the drill. The crank handle (metal arm) is also removeable, the wood handle is solid, some of the stain finish worn off, functions just fine look good. The end handle is removeable, and has a storage area inside for the included drill bits you see in the picture. The 3 jaw chuck will hold straight shank drill bit up to the 3/8" diameter capacity, and is in good++ condition, minor wear noted, turns true on center. As you can see in the pictures there was some paint loss on the this hand drill, which the past owner repainted at some point over the years.  There is no rust or pitting, with very good moving parts, and looks good too! The end handle has a nickel plated threaded knurl that attaches it firmly and solid to the drill frame, all in very good working condition, and this handle ferrule is also marked "PAT. APR.15.13".  We note a few minor dings the end wood handle very solid, not cracked, in good working condition overall. All the gears are intact and in very good working condition on this drill, and it operated very smoothly. This model has more moving parts and gears than any other hand drill in it's size catagory. Remember it does have several oil ports, and requires regular daily oiling when in use. A nice tool overall!