Electric drill, 3/8" Mall, early 50's, Chicago Il. 9-2017
I first remember seeing this drill in around 1958 at my Grandfathers home. It has eventually ended up in my tool cabinet 60 years later.
This drill is back from when tools weighed a lot, had cast Aluminum cases, were not double insulated, there were no grounding plugs and the plugs were non-polarized.
No sissy stuff here.
This is a 3/8"drill, but if it grabs it will spin you around.
BIO of Mall from Vintage Machinery.
The Mall Tool Co. was founded in 1921 by Arthur W. Mall, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A year later he relocated the business to Chicago. The company became very successful, employing over 2,000 people making power drills, circular saws, chainsaws, and other handheld products. Those handheld power tools do not qualify Mall for this site, but they also made a "MallSaw Radial Saw Arm", which converted a handheld circular saw to a small radial arm saw. They also made (or, in truth, rebadged) a bench grinder. The bench grinders are very uncommon.
In 1956, Mall Tool Co. was acquired by Remington Arms Corp. and renamed the Remington Power Tool Division. Remington was reportedly only interested in the chainsaw portion of the business. By 1969 Remington was in some financial difficulty and the tool division was acquired by a small conglomerate, Desa Industries, that specialized in distressed businesses. The Remington line of chainsaws continued to sell well, many of them through Montgomery Ward and John Deere. In 1970 the line of air tools were sold to Colt Industries. In 1975 the remnants of Mall were acquired by AMCA International Corp., which organized it as the DESA Industries Division. It appears that the Mall power tools and stationary machines were long gone by then. Parts and service for Mall Tool products are no longer available.
Electric drill, 3/8" Mall, early 50's, Chicago Il. 9-2017
I first remember seeing this drill in around 1958 at my Grandfathers home. It has eventually ended up in my tool cabinet 60 years later.
This drill is back from when tools weighed a lot, had cast Aluminum cases, were not double insulated, there were no grounding plugs and the plugs were non-polarized.
No sissy stuff here.
This is a 3/8"drill, but if it grabs it will spin you around.
BIO of Mall from Vintage Machinery.
The Mall Tool Co. was founded in 1921 by Arthur W. Mall, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A year later he relocated the business to Chicago. The company became very successful, employing over 2,000 people making power drills, circular saws, chainsaws, and other handheld products. Those handheld power tools do not qualify Mall for this site, but they also made a "MallSaw Radial Saw Arm", which converted a handheld circular saw to a small radial arm saw. They also made (or, in truth, rebadged) a bench grinder. The bench grinders are very uncommon.
In 1956, Mall Tool Co. was acquired by Remington Arms Corp. and renamed the Remington Power Tool Division. Remington was reportedly only interested in the chainsaw portion of the business. By 1969 Remington was in some financial difficulty and the tool division was acquired by a small conglomerate, Desa Industries, that specialized in distressed businesses. The Remington line of chainsaws continued to sell well, many of them through Montgomery Ward and John Deere. In 1970 the line of air tools were sold to Colt Industries. In 1975 the remnants of Mall were acquired by AMCA International Corp., which organized it as the DESA Industries Division. It appears that the Mall power tools and stationary machines were long gone by then. Parts and service for Mall Tool products are no longer available.