The Ingersoll Rock Drill.

Thz substitution of a mechanical power in place of the hand-labor formerly exclusively used for drilling rock, has been a subject of much thought, and many attempts have been made, with greater or less success, until the rock drill by improved machinery became of late years a firmly established institution, and the credit of this belongs, to a great extent, to the improvements made by Mr. Ingersoll, as he overcame the defects connected with former attempts, which were excessive weight, imperfect action, easy derangement, frequent damage, and costly repair. The way in which these serious drawbacks were surmounted was to make the drill of only few moving parts, connected in a compact manner, so as to insure portability, strength, reliability, and economy, as well in first cost as in the working and maintenance.

The wear has been reduced to a minimum by cushioning the pistons with air or steam, so as to relieve the shock at the moment when the drill comes in contact with the rock, while no part of the machine is exposed to any other shock, thereby totally avoiding the constant and continued repair heretofore connected with other drilling machines working by percussion.

The capacity of this drill is to bore boles of 1 to 4 inches in diameter, to any depth ordinarily required for rock excavations, with a velocity which in the hardest rock found on this continent, is equivalent to 30 to 60 feet per day of 10 working hours. They have bored steadily 80 feet a day in granite, the holes averaging 8 feet in depth and 3 inches in diameter. In trap they averaged 23 feet a day for several months, the holes being 4 inches in diameter and 18 to 20 feet deep. Even 128 feet of a 3-inch hole has been drilled in every 10 hours.

It is confessed that this has been nearly equalled by other machines, but this equality did not last long, as the Ingersoll drill could be kept working constantly by the week, month, and oven the year, without requiring stoppage for repair, by which it outstripped others, which had to be stopped from time to time for repair, which often was expensive, while the occasional repairs of the Ingersoll drilling machine are comparatively trifling and inexpensive.

We illustrate here in Fig. 1 the tripod Ingersoll drilling machine in its present improved shape, with telescoped legs, which can be lengthened and shortened. In this form it is very familiar to New York readers, being seen in the upper parts of the city, and in some of its suburbs, energetically at work day after day in assisting the labor required in making excavations for foundations, tunnels, cuttings, etc. It is seen from the figure that the machine consists of a double-acting cylinder and piston, the piston-rod carrying the drill tool itself, which, as is usual in all machines of this kind, has an X cutting face. The cylinder is cushioned at each end just beyond the regular piston stroke, which effects a saving of air or steam, and prevents shocks very effectively so that when the drill is at work the motion of the machine is very slight, even when delivering its hardest blows. The feeding of the drill, that most important part of the machine, is accomplished in the most excellent way. The forward movement of the tool is governed by the motion of the piston, which never acts upon the feed until the rock is sufficiently penetrated. The feed is strictly automatic, and the progress is at the rate which the hardness of the rock and the pressure of steam will permit, while the drill manages its own feed and the rock controls its own hardness, only the steam pressure remains within the control of the operator. Thus the management of the drill is reduced to the simple act of turning on more or less steam, and this, with the simplicity in the general design, makes it very easy to teach any man at all accustomed to machines to work it. No cut-off is used, but the full force of the steam is used through the whole stroke, as the makers have found by experience that much greater effectiveness is attained in this way. This arrangement permits the machine to work within very wide limits of force, so that can be closely adapted to the special conditions – as to hardness of rock, desired rapidity of penetration, etc.

Fig. 2 represents the mode of mounting employed for so-called Gadding. A small iron derrick is mounted on a car, which is provided with wheels for easy movement, and also with adjustable standards to rest upon while at work. The drill hangs on a frame which is moved up and down by a chain and wheel, as shown. In this position it is ready to make vertical holes; while in Fig. 3 the drill is represented ready to make horizontal holes. This is simply accomplished by placing cylinder piston and drill horizontal, and lowering it by means of the chain to the height required where the hole is to be drilled; or the position may be made oblique, so that by this arrangement either vertical, horizontal, or inclined holes may be drilled with the same speed.


Fig. 4 represents a brace bar, serving to attach the drilling apparatus and support it in place of the tripod Fig. 1, or the platform and stand Figs. 2 and 3. It is very suitable for drift work and those situations where the lighter brace will answer as well as a tripod.


Fig. 5 shows the tunnelling machine. This consists of a light car, provided with a vertical arm on which a brace can be run up against the roof to hold the car firmly in position. At the base of this arm a strong horizontal beam projects beyond the front of the car, this beam resting on a pivoted joint and being moved up and down by a screw. It works between curved guides, which give it steadiness, and at the forward end is another vertical screw, which is also run up against the roof. It is plain that all these braces are ample to give the beam the required rigidity. The whole is mounted on an iron plate which has a certain amount of side motion on the car, so that any desired direction, not parallel to the line of rails on the tunnel floor, can be given to the whole system. On the end of this beam, and at right angles to it, is a horizontal bar which carries the drills. The bar can be moved in and out, so that when projections of rock prevent the approach of the car itself to any given part of the face, the long projecting arm and the mobility of the drill-carrier allow the approach of the drills themselves close to the face. This obviates the necessity of using long drills, which strain the machinery. Each drill, as mounted on the bar or carrier, in addition to the motions described above, which it receives in common with the whole system, is capable of complete horizontal and vertical revolution.


It will be seen that when the whole machine has received the necessary general direction, each one of the drills can be made to play upon any point, above, below, behind, or in front of the carrier to which it is attached. The “tunnel drill” is therefore a complete tunnelling machine, capable of excavating over a very large mining face. From 4 to 8 drills may be mounted upon this car.

In regard to sizes of these machines, the smallest is a 2½ inch (the piston diameter) drill, used for quarry work, gadding, etc. It is light, weighing only 123 pounds, bores any hole from 1 to l¾ inches, has a stroke of 3½ inches, and delivers 800 blows per minute. At the celebrated Palmer mine of magnetic iron ore, owned by Messrs. J. & J. Rogers, Ausable Forks, N. Y., one of these bored 170 feet of l¼ inch hole in ten hours. The next larger size has a 3¼ inch cylinder, makes 5 to 7 inch stroke, gives 500 blows per minute, and weighs 295 pounds. It will bore a l½ to 2 inch hole to the depth of ten feet. The 4 inch drill has a 7-inch stroke, gives 400 to 500 blows per minute, and weighs 472 pounds. It bores to 3 inches diameter and to 15 feet in depth. The largest size has a piston of 5 inches diameter. In soft rock an 8-inch stroke, with 400 blows per minute, is used. In hard rock the stroke is only 5 inches. It will work to a depth of 40 feet, and bore a hole from 2 to 5 inches in diameter; its weight is 558 pounds, but it is made in sections so that no piece weighs more than 150 lbs. These machines can be worked by compressed air or steam, as desired. In fact these drills have a history behind them that is a sufficient guarantee of their quality. They are all built to a fixed scale, so that repairs or renewals are easy and cheap.

For these reasons it is not surprising that we see them so largely introduced, for instance, drills at Bergen Avenue, New York, in the hardest rock found on this part of the American continent, known as crystalline trap; for the Easton & Amboy Railroad tunnel, near Bethlehem, N. J., twenty-one of three these drills have been purchased. At Pilot Knob and Iron mountain, Mo., they are testified to do more work, and at a greatly reduced cost, than any other drill.

We close with a copy of the report upon rock drills by the judges of the American Institute, at its forty-second exhibition, awarding the silver medal. They say: “The Ingersoll rock drill is superior to all others on exhibition, for the following several reasons, to wit:
1st. Its greater effective drilling power.
2d. Its simple construction, there being but few working parts.
3d. Its portability, both as to weight and adjustability of the tripod supporting drill, allowing its use in very narrow cuts, especially in excavating for sewers, and for which purpose it appears to be superseding all other machines.
4th. The elastic cushions at each end of the cylinder protects the cylinder heads from injury when the piston is suddenly relieved from pressure, as when the drill passes through wide seams in rock.
5th. Its having an automatic feed, thus giving it a steady motion in proportion to the power used.
6th. Its greater steadiness when at work, there being an absence of much of the jar and vibration experienced in most other drills, which must be very destructive to their working parts.
7th. Its greater power in proportion to size and weight, the force and rapidity of the blow being in proportion to the surface of piston, is some forty per cent in favor of the Ingersoll drill.
8th. The facility with which all the parts can be renewed when necessary, all being made to conform to exact models.

In conclusion, we would recommend for the Ingersoll rock drill, the Great Medal of the American Institute, for the reason that we adjudge it so important in its use, and so complete in its construction, as to supplant every article previously used for accomplishing the same purpose.”

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Anonymous “The Ingersoll Rock Drill” Manufacturer and Builder Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 4 April 1874 pp 78-70

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