Design and Technical Information

The Hand Drill No. 655 was not a unique design. It evolve from Hand Drill No. 4-1/2 introduced around 1896.

The design of the Hand Drill No. 4-1/2 was based on a patent awarded to Herbert D. Lanfair in August 13, 1895 under the No. 544,411 and was assigned to Goodell Brothers Company.

It included a design for a hand drill and several important parts of that drill. It was one of the most important patents, secured by Goodell Brothers Co. Some patented parts of the drill were easily adoptable to other products that the company planned to produce. Herbert D. Lanfair described his invention as follows:

It was one of the most important patents, secured by Goodell Brothers Co.  Some patented parts of the drill were easily adoptable to other products that the company planned to produce.  Herbert D. Lanfair described his invention as follows:

"My invention is an improvement in drills chiefly for use of woodworking mechanics. It has for its object to provide a drill mechanism which will easy to operate and multiply the revolutions of the drill-bit with reference to those of the crank.
It consists essentially, first, of an improved chuck for the drill wherein the drill-holding jaws are separated by springs and held in place by housing interiorly screw-threaded and adapted to engage a hollow screw-threaded spindle."

The importance of this patent was long lasting for the future of the company.

The patented chuck was produced for over four decades by Goodell-Pratt Co. and later by Millers Falls Co. For many more years after that the design was used by many chuck makers in this and other countries.

Another design, a friction plate or gear guide, used to control pressure on a main gear against a pinion, was used on many hand drills in Goodell-Pratt's line and continued by Millers Falls Co. after 1931.

Other improvements were used on dozens of drill models, made by Goodell-Pratt Co. and later by the Millers Falls Co.

The Hand Drill No. 655, as mentioned above, evolve from Hand Drill No. 4-1/2 introduced around 1896. In 1897 Chas. A. Strelinger & Co. published a catalog titled "Wood Workers' Tools being a catalogue of Tools, Supplies, Machinery and Similar Goods". The catalog listed and illustrated several drills and braces manufactured by the Goodell Brothers Co. The Hand Drill No. 4-1/2 was one of them.

The description provided in the catalog is rather laconic: Hand Drill No. 4-1/2 - Hold sizes 0 to 5/32. 8 drill points furnished with each drill. Price - $1.25.

More information is provided in the catalog No. 7, issued in 1905:

Capacity 0 to 5/32 inch. The frame is of malleable iron, strong and light. The large and small gears are both cut, and run smoothly without hitching. The steel chuck is a model one, with knurled nut, well finished, and three hardened steel jaws which hold equally well the Fluted Drills or any Twisted Drill. Polished Wood Handle with a Screw Cap in Cocobolo.

Frame - malleable iron, well Japanned. Gears - cut teeth, nickel plated. Guard - both gears are held together by steel guard, having every advantage of a double geared drill.

The drill was sold by a dozen for $20.00. (Price of one drill would be $1.67).

Thirty years later the Goodell-Pratt Co. decided to issue another version of the small drill based on the same frame and gear but larger chuck and cheaper handle.

The description from the catalog No. 16 issued in 1926: