I own a small powered hand tool with tiny shafts called
"mandrels" to which can be attached cutting or sanding
disks.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
Definition: \Man"drel\, n. [F. mandrin, prob. through (assumed) LL.
mamphurinum, fr. L. mamphur a bow drill.] (Mach.)
(a) A bar of metal inserted in the work to shape it, or to
hold it, as in a lathe, during the process of
manufacture; an arbor.
(b) The live spindle of a turning lathe; the revolving
arbor of a circular saw. It is usually driven by a
pulley. [Written also {manderil}.]
{Mandrel lathe}, a lathe with a stout spindle, adapted esp.
for chucking, as for forming hollow articles by turning or
spinning.
I love tool names (e.g., adze, yankee screwdriver). After the Home Despot franchise built one of its warehouses close-by to where I live, I went in to get an awl. Nobody had heard of such a thing. Sniff. Off to the local hardware store. Crowded little place with most of the stock behind the counter and a couple of guys in baseball caps. "Can I help you?" "Yes, I want to buy an awl." One of them brings out a wooden display with about 10 awls wired to it. "Take yer pick." Weren't that expensive, either.
Dear jheem: I haven't seen a Yankee screwdriver since I was a teenager. I think the brand name was Dazee, but no hits on search. Double helix slotted shaft, just a straight drive and pull. Ratcheted shafts made them obsolete.
The "Despot" near us put the hardware stores near me out of
business. So now lots of small tools not made by big compan;ies are very hard to find. I wanted a drawshave, No could find.
Now you're making
me feel old, Dr Bill. But seriously, I saw one as a teenager and actually used it. My father had been a journeyman carpenter and thought I should have a history lesson that day. I had probably made a smart-alecky remark about driving screws with a hammer. Must've been in the early '70s. I think that power screwdrivers have replaced the ratcheted shafts. Here's a picture I found:
http://woodbutcher.net/images/normstools/yankee-screwdriver.htm
I used a Yankee screwdriver as a kid, still gave me blisters on the palm of my hand. I love old tools, too, both my grandfathers were carpenters(among other things...), and I have quite a few of their old tools. but I wouldn't trade my drill driver and power screwdriver for too much, these days. I bought a roto-zip tool this summer, damn that is one scary piece of equipment!
Dear jheem: to earn money for college, I worked in a foundry in the days of wooden flasks, which I had to make. It called for very many long screws to make the flasks strong enough to be lifted full of sand, flipped, and dumped. I used to drill a small pilot hole, then use bit in old fashioned bitbrace to drive them. One day the superintendent saw me drilling pilot holes, and gave me hell for wasting time. He took a screw, and with a hammer drove it in one third of the way, then finished it with the
bitbrace. It worked very well, and screws got plenty of grip. But I still preferred to drill a pilot hole and countersink for the head of the screw.
<i>I bought a roto-zip tool this summer, damn that is one scary piece of equipment!</i>
Yes, indeed. They remind me of the tool doctors use, (electic bone saw?), during autopsies to cut through the skull (brainpan?), etc. Dr Bill, what are those called?
Dear jheem: by chance my wife grew up in Kalamazoo,MI where
Dr. Stryker practiced. Of course you know that his saw was
special in that the blade moved back and forth such a tiny distance that only something rigid got cut. You could touch your finger to it lightly without getting hurt. But you sure had to demonstrate that to the patient to keep them from dying of fright when you were taking their cast off.
I bought a roto-zip tool this summer, damn that is one scary piece of equipment
do you mean a rotory tool (dremel to name a brand name?)
I love my rotory tool-- I bought one each for my son and daughter... and they love them too.
they are so versital-- i bought a set of small wire shelves to put under my bathroom sink (is an oldfashion, wall hung basis(lav) no cabinat underneath.
the shelves were 1 inch too tall.. out came the rotory tool and a cutting bit, and Voila! they fit perfect now.
an other bit was perfect for making the 'round' mortices in the doors (from the old hardware) into rectangles with rounded corners (new hardware!)
the are also great for makeing fine routed grooves on the underside of shelves to run low voltage wires (from the black light say) to the outlet. And then the rocks that florese can glow in UV light..
my daughter uses her's for work on her doll house.
my son finds it to be an all purpose tool for an apartment dweller--he does little things. (day one, (christmas a few years back) he couldn't wait to try it out.. now his step son has name and info 'engraved' on bike, safety helmet, skateboard, pogo stitch,... any thing that didn't move!)