The History of the Drill

2016 marks Black & Decker's 100th anniversary. In honor of this momentous occasion, this article is dedicated to the history of drills. Drills are an ancient tool used worldwide to advance human innovation.

Egyptian bow drill.

Bow drills were the first machine drills. Their original purpose was for creating fire, but as time progressed drills began to be used for holding objects together and other tasks. While the official patent of the portable electric drill came about in 1916, the rotary tool itself has existed since 35000 BCE. The bow drill functioned as following: "The bow drill was used for making holes in beads. It had two parts. The first part was a straight piece of reed or stick of wood with a sharp flint tip on the end. The second part was a bow-shaped reed or piece of wood... The sharp tip of the stick was placed in the middle of a bead, and the bow was moved back and forth around the stick to make it turn. The turning action made the tip of the stick drill a hole into the bead." 

Electricity came into the equation in 1889, just ten years after Thomas Edison invented the lamp, when Arthur James Arnot and William Blanch Brain of Australia patented the electric drill. In 1895, C&E Fein  of Germany used an electric motor to power a corded handheld drill.

"In 1916 the company files its first patent for a ½” portable electric drill with pistol grip and trigger switch. This innovation transformed a stationary tool into a portable one and set the cornerstone for today's power tool industry." - Black & Decker

Twenty years later, the electric drill was improved upon by Black & Decker. What started as a tiny machine shop started by Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker turned revolutionary when they combined the design of a Colt .45 automatic pistol with the mechanics of a C&E Fein drill. Thus began the upward climb of the trigger switch, pistol grip, handheld drill.