What's this? 1/12

It's listed here for $2700 same exact picture....that's odd

http://www.jimbodetools.com/Astounding-17th-Century-Drill-Press-p18961.html

No odd at all. Dishonest. Same thing happened to me. I took a picture of my item with my hand holding it. The next day someone else had my picture up for the same item at a higher price.

The scam is, if someone buys my item from this other guy, he buys it from me and drop ships it to the buyer. This allows the scammer to pull a profit on something he never has to touch.

I am sure there are folks who sit at home and do this to hundreds of unique items a day. They might even make a good living off of this type of scam. You would only need one or two a day to pay off.

BTW, I contacted the scammer. He gave me a story about how his son had done it on his account without his knowlage, and would I please not give him a bad rating or persue the matter further. The whole this sounded and felt fishy. Since then I have seen many examples of this same scam on e-bay.

Just something to look out for folks. Sorry for the OT.

-A-

It should be reported to ebay (or the auction of your choice), let them deal with it.....It may not have been the first time he has been caught.....

You could also put in your auction a note saying that the other (with weblink of course) is a scam......

I personally am grateful for the "heads up" as I had not heard of this scam before.....

It doesn't look like a drill press, but more like something pieced together from old parts...

I had one of these when my father died this was in his workshop,I threw it away

Bazzer

Oh boy, you should have kept that story to yourself , but at least it shows you're honest.

Regards

I think it is press for" Plough-Drills"

In mid 20th century we were using wooden logs on our ploughs to cut deep the earth or having a ride on the log to enhance.

Sorry there is no picture available but a resembling one is as under:

I would have to agree with SolarEagle on this one. If you look at the decorative scroll work on he posted item you will notice the ARC / tig / mig well the welds holding the scrool in place. Not too common in the 17th century, usually bolted together in those days.

LOL!!!!

Maybe Dr Who made it!!!! (for those who know who he is!!!)

"Brilliant!" or um, "Fantastic!" I suppose now it would be, "I have a drill press, because drill presses are cool."

-A-

Just looked at your link and that is indeed the device. It seems to me that it is in fact a sort of press but not a drill press. Maybe a corker?

The fact that the arm can be adjusted in and out with some precision but left to swing freely left and right may fit in with the corker idea. The bottle could be placed in a recess after the arm is swung away and then the arm swung back and the screw activated to push the cork in. BUT i cannot see why the arm would need to go in and out at all, let alone with some precision.

Jim.

I agree it is clearly NOT a drill press.

The corker idea is a possibility, although there would have to have been something flatter on the tip (which could well have been lost), to push on the cork. The adjustment could have been to center the unit over the cork. I believe that at that time all bottles were hand blown, so there would have been variation from bottle to bottle. Even if the bottles were uniform, it could have been adjustable for different sizes of bottle.

I agree that this does not look like a drill press. It looks to me like an incomplete tool. My best guess is that this maybe most of a cork press for capping bottles. The throw of the course thread press part looks to me to be about the length of a wine cork.

At $2700 to $3000, I would insist on some pedigree documentation more that just the claim of 17^th century and French. It certainly would be nice know how this thing-a-ma-bob was used but that may not be possible. The seller should at least identify who appraised and certifies that this is a 400 year old thing-a-ma-bob and not a replica. It would also help if the seller identified how this thing was discovered.

What ever it is, I'm not bidding.

It looks like the business end of a Polish dog carrier...

Reading the description on the link, I think that this was used to provide the downward push on a separate drill that had a dimple on top instead of a spherical handle. That drill had it's own turning handle etc. similar to SolarEagle's

The welds on the scrolls look too modern to me, but I'm not a welder. The other thing that strikes me is the clamping screw on the slide would be prone to burring once pressure was applied by the main screw.

Just thought I'd add my 10 pence.

It looks as if it could be handy holding a workpiece opposite the business end of a lathe

17th century? Yeh right.

I can see Acme threads, machine threads, other lathe work, uniform flat material on the scroll, welds, machined faces, machined sockets....all not so typical for its claimed provenance....introduce a bit of engineered patina or distress and bingo, instant artifact.

I reckon its a cork screw whimsically fashioned from scrap machinery.

Not that old but still pretty cool.

I think it was Canadian Chris that had a thread on a similar device some years ago.

It's a drill/punch press that attaches to a column.

From memory, circa 1900

That one was considerably more complex, including several gears and a ratchet.

I do agree with you and several others that 17th century does NOT appear to be correct

The ACME thread alone should say its not any earlier then mid to late 19th century, when ACME threads were invented.

Are you sure they are Acme? They look square to me ( when viewed in the jimbodetools enlargements)

it's to flimsy to be a tool. maybe a measuring device, or half of one. it appears to have a vernier calibre and a pilot screw for holding and adjusting an instrument.

a mapping or drafting tool?

It could be not so far from reality.

This can be used to punch holes in softer thin materials, leaving a rim for threads.

check flowdrill, which is the more actual version of this rude technique.

2700 Zimbabwe Dollars sounds about right...

Sadly I have no answer for you, but I feel that the explanation is somehow completely wrong, about the same for the astounding price.

To me it looks to be VERY specialized for some odd job in the 19th or 20th Centuries.....

Only someone who knows 100% what it is may find the price acceptable, but I would not even give $10 with free posting for it!!!

I suggest it could have been used, with a similar opposing device (but different in terms of the screw area), by an "artisan" for holding spindle or shaft type pieces to perform manual operations, or decorative operations on. The "workpiece" would be manually rotatable. The 2 devices would be attached to the vertical back of a workbench (replace that wooden piece by a workbench backboard), where they could be rotated back out of the way, or rotated down to rest on (adjustable) blocks (see round pad on rectangular part). The "workpiece" (spindle/shaft/cane/whatever) would then be located (between ends) by the screwed shaft.

The scroll piece would seem to be as much decorative as practical, and I would guess was a later addition (the original designer would have "beefed up" the plate arrangement to add support).

I clearly remember asking the same question of my grandfather in the mid forties. The Contraption was about three feet long or high as his was attached vertically on the wall of his shop. He showed me how he could drill through several layers of harness at the same time and then put in a rivet. He turned it by hand with the bars on top while holding the harness in his other hand. He also often put a block under it to help hold the harnesses. He could also use a leather wrapped around the top and around his drive pully system to make it go faster but I don't remember what for or why he did that.

That would make sense, particularly if the axis if the screw contained a spindle which could carry a drill of some form (which would explain the use of the leather wrapped round the top providing a higher speed drive), and the screw could provide the feed. Also the fitting of a hollow type leather punch to the end of the screw would be possible, allowing just the screw to push it through. It is also likely that a rivet through leather would have a "washer" at the rivetted end, and probably a hollow ended rivet which could be formed over to retain the washer, using the screw with a forming punch (or taper point) on the end.

Antique wall lamp?

I have something quite similar but obviously newer and a little more heavy duty. It was given to me as an antique drill press as well. It too has a very coarse lead screw, and as it sounds like the ebay seller said; the screw seen is not for the actual drilling. It is merely what keeps the brace centered and it applies the down pressure to the to the bit and brace being used. So you would turn the brace with one hand while slowly turning the handle of the item pictured with the other hand.

GA! Excellent find!

Now of course the answer is clear: The original item is the PART of a device that presses on the brace that in turn holds and turns the drill bit (As Jack said in post#26).

So according to the modern definition, it is not a drillpress, yet it is a drill press...

Agreed a good find. For the offered price though I still insist on some age defining pedigree from the seller.

You take it or you leave it Sir, I thought you were a conossieur.

A GA from me. I see that the screw has been inserted upside down as well. It doesn't seem to afford much range so i guess it would mostly drill thin material like wrought iron bar.

Well done.

Jim

The reproduction came from a wood workers supply outfit. So maybe not intended to drill metal at all.

It is a 1811 contraption for drilling holes in PC Boards,