In the last quarter of the nineteenth century Knecht Brothers Co. made a mid-size variable-speed drill press. An identical drill press has also been seen bearing the name of Atlas Machine & Tool Works, Cincinnati. In 1909 the Knecht Brothers name was changed to the Knecht Planer Co., having sold their drill press line to the newly formed Crane Machine Tool Co.

Information Sources

• Seen on eBay: a coffee mug showing a 19th-century etching of a "friction drill press" from this maker.
• A patent search turned up an 1870 patent to a Victor Knecht of Cincinnati, for a pulley-sheave. Victor E. Knecht was assigned several patents related to coal hods, plus a 1909 patent for a machine for making molds for casting.
• A patent category search found a solid match for the drill press in question: patent 585,384, which was granted to John Wesley Hawkins of Kent, Ohio, in 1897.
• The 1909-12-02 issue of The Iron Trade Review has the following news item.

  The Knecht Planer Co., 819 Wade street, Cincinnati, successor to the Knecht Bros. Co., announces that it has disposed of its drill business to the Crane Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati. Further announcement is made that the Knecht company is about to enter the market with a high-speed planer, variable-speed extension, power-controlled throughout. The company has been developing this machine for the past three years, and is now ready to book orders for 1910 delivery.

• A posting on The Practical Machinist provides information on the mechanicals of the drill and also provides the connection with Atlas Machine & Tool Works.