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In Part I of this series, I wrote about Stanley Rule & Level Company's introduction of hand drills to its line of tools, ("Stanley Hand Drills-the Beginning," The Chronicle, 60, no. 3, [2007]:129-132). The article described how, with the purchase of the John S. Fray Co of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Stanley had added Fray's no. 3 and no. 4 hand drills to its line. These drills, which had malleable iron frames, remained in Stanley's line from 1909 until the early 1920s. (The term "malleable iron hand drill" was the descriptive used by Stanley in its catalogs.) This article will discuss the malleable iron-frame models.
With the merger of the Stanley Rule & Level Co. and the Stanley Works on May 1, 1920, the Fray Division plant was relocated from Bridgeport to New Britain, Connecticut. With this relocation, Stanley began developing a completely new line of hand drills. (In 1923, however, probably in an effort to use up the leftover inventory of the Fray drills, Stanley began offering the no. 3 hand drill in its no. 888 and no. 850 tool kits). Two basic frame designs were developed for the new line. The first design type was the malleable parallel-frame drills; the second design type utilized a steel frame.
The malleable parallel-frame drills came in different models with different chuck capacities. They were available in single or double pinions. Initially, six drill bits were supplied with the drill, however, some models had hollow handles which, in later years, were used to store up to eight drill bits. Other models had extrawide gear wheels for delicate hand operations. Each drill chuck spindle was provided with a keyway so a nail could be inserted to lock the spindle when closing or loosening the chuck.
The malleable iron frame hand drill line-up included ten different models numbered from 610 to 626. Because production lines were being set up, not all of the models were available in 1923. Initially, the nos. 610, 611, 614, 615, 621, and 624 were offered. These drills were all malleable parallel-frame drills. By 1925, nos. 612, 613, 622, and 623 were added. Their differences will be addressed in numerical order.
All of the Stanley hand drills in this period had the speed gear cast in an...