North Bros. Yankee No. 1445 Two Speed Hand Drill

This is a nice clean 15" long, two speed hand drill marked "YANKEE NO. 1445 NORTH BROS. MFG. CO. PHILA. PA. U.S.A. PAT AUG.23.10, JAN.16.12", on the crank handle, and "YANKEE PAT. MAR.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 the sold out to Stanley Tools. This model was the larger 2 speed hand drill with a very slow, and fast speeds. The speed selector is the flip switch type, located near the exposed gear assembly area, it slides back and forth to adjust the speed, including a lock position, works just fine. 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 is also removeable, the wood handle is solid, but we note a old repair (small braze) near the end of the metal handle plate at the base of the post of the handle. The handle works fine, was tested and is strong, but not perfect as noted, where the side handle is in good solid shape, nice finish. The 3 jaw straight shank chuck, has the 3/8" diameter capacity, and is in good+ condition, minor wear noted, turn true on center. As you can see in the pictures there is some paint loss on the this hand drill, in fact very little left intact, but no rust or pitting, with very good moving parts, and looks good too! The end handle is removeable, and has a hollow inside for storing drill bits. The handle has a nickel plated threaded knurl that attaches it firmly and solid to the drill frame, all in good working condition, and this handle ferrule is also marked "PAT. APR.15.13". We note a few dings on the end of this end handle, and a few shallow round holes, some minor side dings and scratches, but the wood handles are all solid, not cracked, in good working condition overall. All the gears are intact on this drill, and it operated very smoothly. A nice tool overall!