What is it?

I have the old D handle drill (no hammering action) that my grandfather in-law bought back in the early 50's for drilling holes in block walls instead of using these! I never did find out though, if they had carbide bits or just chucked in a star drill and let rip.

Yeah! Me too! My left thumb still reminds me of those things once in a while.

Thank to all for the answers. I knew that I would get the response here.

You're welcome, but please do tell- is there a fourth cutting edge on the back side, not shown in the picture?

At first I actually thought it was some sort of gouge, but zooming in on the picture it looks like a well used star drill with the angle of the picture hiding the flute at the back. The OP could confirm if there is another one back there!

It looks like a shipwright's gouge to me.

I don't see this drilling concrete.

Look up "W. H. Plumb Sydney".

My first thought was a gouge, but I've never seen one with a second flute, and they almost invariably have a wooden handle or at least show provision for mounting one. I did a quick search on shipwright's gouge but didn't turn up anything that looked like this. WH plumb star chisels, however, turned up https://ca.storeslider.com/w-h-plumb-sydney-flat-plugging-chisel-141808892030e.html.

Have you seen a gouge with that end shape before?

Not exactly, but I didn't think it was a concrete drill.

It was a thought. Maybe wrong.

Never heard of plugging before.

Neither had I, maybe that's a trade name for them. Googling it online one dictionary redirects "plugging chisels" to "Star drill".

I used to use these all the time, we also called them star drills....mostly for cement block, not so much for concrete....I might still have some laying around, but would have to look around, anyway not sure why they are called plugging chisels on many sites, it could be colloquial in nature...

The flat one is called a plugging chisel because it was intended to remove the mortar from a brick course to allow the insertion of a wooden plug for fixing door frames, skirtings, etc. Remember that there were no impact drills and even very few power drills around in those days. Plugs were generally split from a lump of red pine or similar, slightly tapered to start in the mortar joint and then belted in with a hammer, the end was then trimmed off and a screw or nails fixed the item in place over the plug.

Absolutely, a star drill. I started my apprenticeship in the 1950's and we used these to plug brick and concrete walls. The term plug, was to first drill a hole using the star drill then plug the hole with a piece of wood, shaped with a pocket knife to fit. then we could hang equipment off the wall by screwing into the wood.

Usually wall mounted telephones and battery boxes, (remember the 1950's still had the old magneto telephones in Australia's country areas).

Jacko.

Snap! ...A trip down Memory Lane.

We called then Rawlplug Jumpers over here. A very hard 3-pointed replaceable star bit held in a steel handle and hit with a hammer.

Damned hard work especially for overhead fixings in concrete.....usually by an apprentice...and a telling off for going too slow,,,or an even bigger telling off for breaking the bits for going too fast....you can't win....and for me I got 7¼ pence an hour - and bruised knuckles.

Those were the days!

That is a better picture....

It's a star drill. The first time I used on was when I was 10 years old and I helped my Dad drill a hole through the concrete foundation of our house to add a water line. It took about 4 hours to get the 1.250" drill through 12 inches of concrete. We were installing a 3/4" cold water line and it was galvanized iron pipe!

As compared to a roto-hammer, about 5-10 minutes now!

It looks to me more like a drill that was used to drill holes in railroad rails for joiner plates.

"Star drill" - here's mine in my "stone work" tool box.

It looks like a gouge for woodworking. Tools like that were used to make violins, cabinets and furniture.

it is an original masonry bit.

Guys,

I don't disagree with the star rill conclusion, but my grandafather used such drils for a very specific purpose (1930's)

He was shotfirer in a coal mine and the drills were used to drill the holes for the dynamite sticks. I've also seen pictures of them used in hard rock mining where one person positioned and rotated the drill while another struck the drill with a hammer. The standard signal to stop the hammering was to place the end of your thumb on the end of the drill.

I suppose modern OHSA practices would not allow such non verbal signals anymore.

"The standard signal to stop the hammering was to place the end of your thumb on the end of the drill."

All I can say is this.......

I agree. I live in the "Mother Lode" of the Central Sierra gold country. Have found these around. They're common at garage sales and such.

Check out the old Clint Eastwood film, Pale Rider. They have a scene where one is being used. Only "real men" held the bit. And you don't need no "tricity" if you have Richard Kiel operating the sledge!!

Lol,.... Better bring some ice to put on that also.

In the UK, there used to be the Rawl bit, made by Rawlplug, now considered obsolete.

I've got a few small sizes, I use them to make a key in hard concrete and engneering bricks before going in with a masonary bit and hammer drill as it often helps to locate the drill for that first bite into the concrete and avoid any skating about.

This is a repetitive action self propelled device for drilling holes in concrete and or rock. The published purposed use of this tool was to remove concrete and rock material thus leaving a hole for ?? purpose. The real unpublished use of this tool was to build character in the user. Possibly secondary use was to build muscle in the arm that provided the motion.

It is star drill/chisel hit with a hammer for making round holes in brick and concrete.

It can also tied to a length of string for use as a plumb line.