North Bros
From the late nineteenth century until just after the second world war, the Philadelphia based North Brothers company produced a line of very high quality tools based on a push to spin mechanism. (North Bros was an established company before they licensed the patents of Maine native Zachary T. Furbish, and produced many other quality tools like eggbeater drills, breast drills, braces, even ice tongs.)
In nineteen-fourty-six Stanley purchased the North Brothers company and from here there is a gradual decline in the quality of the tools. Stanley is still today manufacturing push drills/screwdrivers bearing the Yankee name — but only in England. Yet for two or three times the price of a new one, a used one fifty or more years old can be found, and that older tool will outlast the newer.
In this age of cordless electric screwdrivers, some might attribute the lure of the Yankee Drill to mere antiquarianism. Those people have never compared using the North Bros tool to a modern equivilent. Firstly there is the advantage of no batteries to replace or charge, and no cord to plug in. The screwdrivers are favored still today for several reasons. Boatmakers like a tool that won’t over-torque and damage the wood, yet can also be used one-handed underwater. The drill bits have sturdy straight fluted shanks, less prone to breakage; are very easily used one handed, while one holds the piece in place; and are almost as quick as a power tool for the small hole sizes of the original bits.
It is perhaps inevitable that quality companies will not last forever, but it is comforting to know that most of the tools from North Bros were built with such skill and care that they continue to be serviceable long after their maker’s demise.