General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

9

AKA

Hammer-drill

Patents

N/A

General Description

Almost entirely steel construction with attached synthetic electrical cord.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

43.0 cm

Width

15.0 cm

Height

42.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Industrial Technology

Category

Tools-Machine

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

National Electric

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Pennsylvania

City

Pittsburgh

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Manitoba

Period

Used in Manitoba during the 1920's to the 1950's.

Canada

Used, presumably for repair work, on the St. Andrew's Lock & Dam, at Lockport, Manitoba from approximately 1920 to 1956. Officially opened by Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier in 1910, the St. Andrew's Camere Curtain Dam is the only one of its kind in North America. It controlled the flow of the Red River and permitted boat traffic to pass to and from Lake Winnipeg.

Function

Electric tool used to hammer, chip, cut, and drill through numerous hard materials such as brick, concrete, metal and stone. Also known as a hammer-drill, this tool uses interchangeable bits or tool attachments for varying jobs. This specific electric hammer was used in conjunction with rectifier/control box 1969.0619.

Technical

The manufacturer claimed that the Syntron Electric Hammer could drill with ten times the speed of handwork, saved 80% of labour costs, and ran without breaking down. Because the Syntron hammer's piston was the only moving part, the manufacturer was also able to claim that it was low on maintenance costs because there was "no motor to burn out or gears to get out of order." (Ref. 1 - Advertisements). The tools' hammering motion was induced by the application of electromagnetic influence on a free piton inside the chamber of the hammer. Two vacuum tubes supplied the breaking action needed for the magnets to alternately grip and release the piston. The hammer drew its power from a rectifier/control box that could be plugged into a lamp socket for convenience. It had a high speed drilling capacity of 1 1/2" in diameter.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Mfr. plate reads: '[SYNT]RON ELECTRIC HAMMER/[NATIONAL] ELECTRIC MFG. CO./ PITTSBURGH PA. [U.S.]A./ [R,F OR B] 60 CYCLES 60/ VOLTS 110 [?]/ [S]TYLE 1[08]7 [?] 2958/ [illegible]'.

Missing

The tool chuck seems to be missing from the hammer itself. Also, a wrench seems to be missing from the originally purchased outfit.

Finish

Black tape on handle.

Decoration

Parallel horizontal grooves on body of hammer.