The
Type K3 is the third of the LRRCW models. It now has provision for a
side
handle, which has been lost in antiquity from this example but which
was
probably egg-shaped like that on the Type J. The thrust bearing is
still
a simple cylinder adjustable from between the spokes of the main gear
wheel
in order to control the end play in the spindle. The adjusting screw
can
be seen peeking out from behind a spoke in the image at far left.
The main rosewood handle is in its slimmest form, but there is as yet
no
"breast pad" to aid in pushing on the handle, even though the 1877
patent
two-jaw chuck has now been replaced with a larger, 1/4 inch
capacity
three-jaw Millers Falls chuck that had an exceedingly short production
life. This chuck carries no patent date but has reeding which
usually
ifferentiates early Millers Falls three-jaw chucks from later
ones.
See my Millers Falls Types 1, 2 & 3 Type Study. See also Type
K4, whose "PAT APPLIED FOR" chuck (later patented
September 20, 1890) is also reeded. The Type K3's chuck is not
the
only example of this unpatented chuck type that I have seen. I
have
another, very decrepit Type K3 whose remaining chuck base has the same
shape as the present one. It could very well be that this chuck
was
built just like the Goodell-Pratt chucks patented in 1895, a practice
towards
which the Goodell-Pratt Company might have directed some
animosity.
See US Patent No. 544,411, August 13, 1895, granted to Herbert D.
Lanfair.
Mebbe that's why the LRRCW never got patented (too closely resembles
the
wiper of the Lanfair patent) ! The malleable-iron frame of the
Type
K3 is the wider version of the new model, but with the central boss
redesigned
to accommodate the tapped hole for the side handle's stud.
Recovered
in the same MJD auction lot as the Type K1; thanks, Martin. The
crank
and its handle appear original and carry no identification
markings.
Only the chuck carries the "Millers Falls Co." name; this chuck has
lost
its three internal springs, unfortunately. This drill is
otherwise
in amazingly good condition for a 125-year-old tool. The red and
black paint job is original, and there is next to no loss of nickel
plating
which covers all parts, even underneath the paint of the main gear and
frame. Only the pinion, LRRCW mechanism and spindle are uncoated
steel. The very slim neck of the main handle remains strong
because
the straight tubular brass ferrule did not succumb to season cracking
as
do nearly all the later, deep-drawn ferrules of the No.2 Milllers Falls
drills, which ought to have been stress relieved but weren't.