Yes. refinishing does reduce the collector value of an antique but,
since your drill is only thirty,you don't have to worry about that for
another 60 years.

wrote:
PMJI, I have a blue Footprint (English made) 2-pinion hand drill
It is not like the one shown at Garret Wade. Mine is made to be used as a
breast drill and also the regular way like the one shown at Garret Wade.
I got mine at Sears 30 years ago. It was stored on my sailboat for about 22
years. It has no sign of rust. The thick blue paint on the two handles and
one knob has cracked.
After reading that thread I look at my hand drill and decided to removed all
the paint on the wooden parts. Then, today I applied one coat of Danish oil
finish.
The drill looks very nice. However it may have been a mistake to remove the
original blue paint. They say that it could reduced the value of an antique
tool?