Stihl Ice Drill
Datefrom 1950s
Object number00056098
NameDrill
MediumMetal
DimensionsOverall: 275 × 540 × 490 mm
ClassificationsTools and equipment
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Australian Antarctic Division
DescriptionJiffy two-stroke engine and auger for drilling ice. Used by the Australian Antarctic Division for ice drilling operations in the Antarctic. AAD researchers use the Jiffy to drill through the ice cap. The drill can be used to recover cylindrical samples of sea-ice. These are melted in the lab for analysis of contained microbial communities. The jiffy can also be used to reach sub-ice seawater and recover water samples from the water column and/or near the sea floor.
Scientific expeditions have experimented with ice drilling for research purposes since the 1840s. The Jiffy company has manufactured ice drills and other ice-related technologies since the 1950s and is based in Wisconsin, USA. The concept for a power ice drill was developed in the late 1940s for use in ice fishing. Marvin Feldman developed a product that could cut through ice using engine power, ‘in a jiffy’, birthing the Jiffy Ice Drills company. Improvements were made over the past 70 years for the Jiffy Ice Drill. These included a four-cycle gas and propane engine, lighter weight units, improved ice cutting technology, and major safety and handling upgrades. The company is still in operation today.
SignificanceThe Jiffy two-stroke engine and auger for drilling ice is significant of an example of the type used by the Australian Antarctic Division for ice drilling operations in the Antarctic from the 1950s. While a very common piece of ice-related equipment primarily used for ice fishing in northern climes, in an Antarctic context, it is considered by the Australian Antarctic Division as one of the most important pieces of portable technology for sampling-based research on ice. Its primary applications are the drilling for and recovery of sea ice and seawater samples from Antarctic environments.
In a broader context, this object is significant for its ability to illustrate the development of ice drilling for scientific research from the 1840s (first expedition using ice drilling for research in the Alps) through to the current development and delivery of the AAD 1MYA Ice Drill which is expected to recover ice cores dating to +/- one million years BP. This drill is due to be transported to Antarctica in summer 2021 from the AAD’s new research vessel Nuyina.
