“HWCPC” Ladder

Just to be pedantic, the year the photo was taken was 1978. The tube that can be seen near his leg feeds water from the nearby waterfall into a rotating joint and thence to the drill bit, keeping the cutting surface free of debris. A 3ft deep hole could be drilled in about 2 hours. The drill could be dismantled to fit into an ammo box, a fine piece of engineering.
 
Only just spotted this thread. The late and great Ben Bentham turned up at my house sometime in 84 with a fine example of a russom drill only he couldn't make it work properly . H had invested some money in getting some one to make him a carbide tipped drill bit and several extension bars but after very little drilling it locked up and he had to return to home to undo it in the vice. I very quickly identified the problem and sorted it. He was at that time working in the high level passage in p8 and with it's help discovered Grip sheets tomb. Heady days.
 
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