The Passer Drill: A Video Contribution from Roy Underhill
- Jul 6
- 2 min read
By Lara B. Miller
In an upcoming interview for The Chronicle, which will be published in the coming weeks, famed woodworker, author, educator, and EAIA member Roy Underhill (from PBS’ long-running show, The Woodwright) tells us about one of his favorite tools: the passer drill.
He says, “…the one with the best story (and EAIA connections) is a passer drill, complete with bow, breast plate and templates from the old Marples tool factory in Sheffield. I only knew passer drills from Solomon's “Dictionary of Tools” which described it as how the Sheffield cutler ‘could bore a square hole.’ It consists of a pronged cutter shaped like a tuning fork that you spin with a bow as you press on it with a breast plate. The prongs of the springy fork are confined within a template of steel and the protruding points will then rout out a pattern in the hardest wood. Their primary job was routing out the sockets for the brass escutcheons set into the beams of classic try squares.
I had never seen one, but I turned to blacksmith Peter Ross (EAIA member) and asked him if he could help me make one. He remembered that Jay Gaynor (late EAIA president) mentioned seeing one on a trip to England. I visited Jay in his office at Williamsburg and he remembered that there were detailed photos of a passer drill from the collection of (EAIA members) Don and Ann Wing in one of (EAIA member) Kenneth Roberts' books. ‘Maybe they have it still.’ The next moment he was on the phone to them and before I knew it a package arrived with a full vintage passer drill with original templates, bow and breast plate.
This loan of this rare tool allowed us to precisely replicate it, put the replica to use, and share its crazy wonderfulness with all and sundry. The passer drill rides again, thanks in large part to our EAIA connections.”
In the following video, you’ll see that drill at work. Thank you for continuing to educate us, Roy!
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