Yankee Screwdriver cleaning and repair
Intro
a
The Yankee screwdriver, as it is most commonly known, is my favorite tool. I wanted to write this because instructions on how to clean or even disassemble one of these are hard to find in anything other than bits and pieces online. In books? Maybe, but... it's more fun to figure it out yourself!
b
A brief history:
The spiral-rachet screwdriver has been around since at least 1860. The North Bros. Manufacturing company patented their design on December 11, 1923 and marketed it under their "Yankee" line of screwdrivers. Despite the fact that North Bros.' "Yankee" line included racheting and even regular screwdrivers, the name became synonymous with the spiral-rachet design. After WW2, Stanley bought North Bros. Stanley continued to produce "Yankee" spiral-rachet screwdrivers in the USA, then later in the UK until production finally stopped a few years ago. (I don't know the exact date, but I assume it to be >2000.) Later, a German tool company by the name of Schroeder purchased the design from Stanley (I think) and is currently producing "Yankee" spiral-rachet screwdrivers with both standard chucks or built-in hex chucks.
c
Why a Yankee? This and the hand drill are pretty much the original hand-held power tools. But they don't require electricity, last pretty much forever (as evidenced by these antiques from the 1920s, 30s and 40s) and cost a fraction of what modern power tools do (if bought used). They're also really versitle: Put a standard hex chuck adapter on it and it can fasten/unfasten any screw you can find. Plus, there are hex drill bits, too! Or you can put a 1/4" socket drive adaptor in the hex chuck and now all your sockets will work, too! So head out to your local flea market or antique mall and find one today!
d
Note: This article is based on a North Bros. model 130A "Yankee" spiral-rachet screwdriver. It should, however, be largely trasferrable to other models from North Bros., Stanley and Schroeder.
e
Note2: This article is unfortunately, NOT based on a complete tear-down, because I haven't figured out how to remove that one washer. More on that later.
Intro
a
The Yankee screwdriver, as it is most commonly known, is my favorite tool. I wanted to write this because instructions on how to clean or even disassemble one of these are hard to find in anything other than bits and pieces online. In books? Maybe, but... it's more fun to figure it out yourself!
b
A brief history:
The spiral-rachet screwdriver has been around since at least 1860. The North Bros. Manufacturing company patented their design on December 11, 1923 and marketed it under their "Yankee" line of screwdrivers. Despite the fact that North Bros.' "Yankee" line included racheting and even regular screwdrivers, the name became synonymous with the spiral-rachet design. After WW2, Stanley bought North Bros. Stanley continued to produce "Yankee" spiral-rachet screwdrivers in the USA, then later in the UK until production finally stopped a few years ago. (I don't know the exact date, but I assume it to be >2000.) Later, a German tool company by the name of Schroeder purchased the design from Stanley (I think) and is currently producing "Yankee" spiral-rachet screwdrivers with both standard chucks or built-in hex chucks.
c
Why a Yankee? This and the hand drill are pretty much the original hand-held power tools. But they don't require electricity, last pretty much forever (as evidenced by these antiques from the 1920s, 30s and 40s) and cost a fraction of what modern power tools do (if bought used). They're also really versitle: Put a standard hex chuck adapter on it and it can fasten/unfasten any screw you can find. Plus, there are hex drill bits, too! Or you can put a 1/4" socket drive adaptor in the hex chuck and now all your sockets will work, too! So head out to your local flea market or antique mall and find one today!
d
Note: This article is based on a North Bros. model 130A "Yankee" spiral-rachet screwdriver. It should, however, be largely trasferrable to other models from North Bros., Stanley and Schroeder.
e
Note2: This article is unfortunately, NOT based on a complete tear-down, because I haven't figured out how to remove that one washer. More on that later.
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The sleeve on the barrel can be rotated and I think that this is what sheared off the catch.
http://www.garrettwade.com/garrettwade-push-drill/p/69P01.01/
http://blog.makezine.com/2012/04/17/tool-review-garrett-wade-yankee-push-drill/#more-212988
The 136A, small size is a bit of a dud - not recommended.
The 130A, about one foot long retracted, is the best screwdriver I have ever owned.
It's unique because I can deliver high torque, properly aligned to the screw, due to the long length. This means I can undo screws other drivers can't shift as well as get screws really tight if necessary.
Unfortunately the action "slips" so I have to use as a ratchet driver permanently retracted.
Mine did not last long after the first repair, so I concluded this was a high maintenance product, or I should use the spring action only with reduced driver force which is a bit limiting.
Regarding safety; the only worry is that it's relatively easy to allow the bit to jump out of the screw-head & when you "push" it can be through a window pane, or valuable component of whatever you are working on.
I know ..... less haste more care ..... but it happens!!!
My question is can this premature slipping be fixed & are new parts needed?
Great instructible, thanks.
As for your question about slippage: See my step 5 (instructables step 8), parts b and c. My guess is that those L- or chair-shaped pawls are worn. If you open it up and take the pawls out, take a look at the skinny part. New ones will be squared: All edges will be at 90-degree angles. The bottom inside edge will smooth out with use until it doesn't hold the ratchet in place anymore. Luckily, this doesn't necessarily mean you have to buy new ones: The quick fix is to switch them around! Since they're identical parts, flip them over and reverse them. The smooth sides will now be facing up and the bottoms will have new 90-degree sides to work with. Unless of course, this has already been done. Then you will have to buy new ones. I think this kit will have what you need: http://www.stanleytoolparts.com/repairkit.html Good luck!
Depending on how badly you want yours apart, you can strip it down to almost all it's component parts.
Once you get the sleeve off, remove the "staked" in pieces on the barrel. They are keepers to keep the parts in place and to keep them from rotating. They are easy to pry out and once out, you should be able to remove the handle barrel and the spindle keeper nut - and then all the other parts.
In the second picture, I've rotated the parts 90 degrees and you can see where one half of the handle barrel has apparently been cut away or had broken off. That cutout area is where the staked-in "stop" (opposite the screw hole) keeps the handle barrel from turning.
Once you get it all back together, use a cold chisel to stake the keepers back in place. (You might be able to skip this since the outer sleeve should hold them in place - although it might be a bit tricky to put back together.)
Also, while searching for more info, I found some chucks for the Yankee on Bob Vila's site.
http://video.bobvila.com/search?q=yankee+drill&siteSearchSubmit=
Ironically there was one screw that kept me from taking apart mine all the way as well.