Simple answers to simple questions

[Jonathan McCullough]

Question number one:
Okay, so I have a big box of rusty brace bits, and I'm s-l-o-w-l-y cleaning them up handful by handful. They are from different eras and by different manufacturers, with different degrees of aggressiveness in the screw pitch, some shaped like a single-helix corkscrew, some with a central shank around which the helix winds, etc. Some of them have a number--roughly corresponding to size. Am I correct in assuming that the number of the brace bit is the number of sixteenths in diameter? Therefore, "8" equals 8/16ths = 1/2 inch?

Question Number two:
I found four Buck Bros socket gouges. Most were ground straight across in a conventional fashion, but the half-inch one was ground with a sort of convex "tip" that bumps out toward the bottom; it resembles a spoon with a sharp edge all along the front. This actually works well for popping out neat oval chips--I'm just starting out here with these--but is this an odd grinding from a peculiar former owner? Or perhaps a carving gouge re-ground for lathe work?

Question Number three:
Okay, FIRMER gouges. Hefty things. Crazy Captain Cave-man Homo Habilis Commander-Pounded edge tools. What possible use would someone have for a delicate, slender 1/8" width FIRMER gouge? Is this just an example of needing unnecessary symmetry to round out a set, like the "need" for a #1 Bailey? Were these used for something specific that we wouldn't immediately apprehend in this day and age?

[Bill Houghton]

Question number one:
Okay, so I have a big box of rusty brace bits, and I'm s-l-o-w-l-y cleaning them up handful by handful. They are from different eras and by different manufacturers, with different degrees of aggressiveness in the screw pitch, some shaped like a single-helix corkscrew, some with a central shank around which the helix winds, etc. Some of them have a number--roughly corresponding to size. Am I correct in assuming that the number of the brace bit is the number of sixteenths in diameter? Therefore, "8" equals 8/16ths = 1/2 inch?

Yes, that's the usual designation.


Question Number two:
I found four Buck Bros socket gouges. Most were ground straight across in a conventional fashion, but the half-inch one was ground with a sort of convex "tip" that bumps out toward the bottom; it resembles a spoon with a sharp edge all along the front. This actually works well for popping out neat oval chips--I'm just starting out here with these--but is this an odd grinding from a peculiar former owner? Or perhaps a carving gouge re-ground for lathe work?

Hard to tell. Could have been either.


Question Number three:
Okay, FIRMER gouges. Hefty things. Crazy Captain Cave-man Homo Habilis Commander-Pounded edge tools. What possible use would someone have for a delicate, slender 1/8" width FIRMER gouge? Is this just an example of needing unnecessary symmetry to round out a set, like the "need" for a #1 Bailey? Were these used for something specific that we wouldn't immediately apprehend in this day and age?

Someone commented - I think it was on Wood Central - recently that the thin gouges were often fairly thick because otherwise they'd be too weak. I have a similar 1/8" chisel, and, if I imagine it being thick in proportion to its width, I can also imagine it breaking almost immediately.

Digressing from your question: I recall reading a suggestion from someone with way more experience than I have that narrow chisels can handle a fairly acute (low) angle sharpening, 20 or even 15 degrees, because they're mainly hand-pushed; mid-range a fairly blunt (high) sharpening, because they're often used for heavier work; and wide chisels (1" and up) returning to 20 degrees or so, because they are mainly used for paring. There winds up being a lot of intricacy to this craft.

[harry strasil]

#2, depends on whether they are sharpened incanel or outcanel, = bevel on the inside or concave side, or on the outside or convex side.

[Eric Brown]

Hi Jonathan. I believe that you are actually describing the twist of the bit when you refer to the screw. The screw is normally located at the tip of the bit and most are about 1/2" long or so. Some bits do not have the screws on the end at all. Most do.

Now the twist of the bit could be described as single twist (like a corkscrew) double twist or solid center.

Most of the single twist bits only have one cutting spur. (Ford or Lewis Pattern) Some rare types have two.

Most of the double twist have two spurs. (Jennings Pattern)
Some have double spurs.

The solid center bits usually have two cutting spurs. (Irwin Pattern)

The cutting spurs are the most important to not damage and keep sharp.
They determine the smoothness of the hole. Do not sharpen them on the outside edge!

Get an auger file for sharpening.

If you need help identifying what you have and their best use, you need to post some pictures.

Enjoy. Eric

[Jonathan McCullough]

Eric: That's useful and interesting information. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to get some files--I'm counting approximately fifteen sets of bits roughly culled by size; I'm thinking these may have been from an old technical school.

Here's a photo of the gouges. (Ground Out-cannell). You can see the front is curved on two of them actually, and they work pretty well, like scooping out the flesh of a cantaloupe with a spoon. There's the firmer-type gouge there too. I don't think it's necessary for the shank to be so robust actually, because think of a veiner--it's probably going to be uniform in size from tip to stern. Maybe this gouge is made this way just because it was easier to manufacture & keep straight during heat treatment than a traditional european-style veiner. Anyway, that's my guess. You can also see that the previous owner helpfully drilled a hole in the socket and screwed it on to the handle. Nice!

http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/ss199/Jonathryn/buckgouges.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

The cutting spurs are the most important to not damage and keep sharp.
They determine the smoothness of the hole. Do not sharpen them on the outside edge!

Get an auger file for sharpening.

Enjoy. Eric


Just to add to this, you want to keep the spurs as long as possible.

They score the wood before the lips clear the wood from the hole being bored. They have to be able to make almost a full revolution or more to prevent tear out.

The more aggressive the lead screw, the longer the spurs need to be.

Here is a thread with some more information:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=131238

Like many threads, there is always things left out or learned since it was posted.

jim