Square shank auger bit source

[Dave Lehnert]

So where does on get square shank auger bits for a bit brace. Nothing crazy expensive (I hope)

[Joe McMahon]

Have you tried Walt at Brass City?

[Dave Ring]

Try hitting the fleamarkets. They're usually abundant and cheap. A buck each is typical.

[Dave Lehnert]

So this is more an used item and not new?

I have an old set but rusted heavy. Guess I need to get to cleaning them up.

[Dave Ring]

Used. If you want new, be prepared to spend serious money.

[Tom Vanzant]

Try 36036044145 for a set of Greenly bits, used but barely.

[Jim Koepke]

Tom,

That came up as a bad number for me on ebay. Maybe someone bought it.

Things to check if you are able to check the set in person:

Are the spurs of good length? They should be long enough to cut a full circle before the cutting lips hit the wood. Otherwise you may get some tear out at the edge of the hole.

Have the spurs been filed on the outside? This could cause the bit to jam in a hole.

Have the bits been properly sharpened in the past? If the bits have been sharpened and look messed up, they probably have been.

When I find bits at yard sales or any other venue, if they are at a decent price, I will buy them if they are in decent shape. A little rust is OK, but they need to have good spurs, unbroken lead screws and they must be straight. Usually if they meet those criteria, they can be turned into good useable auger bits. It is always good to have a few spares just incase you find a nail or other bad news to an auger bit.

A bit of information is available here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?131238-A-Bit-About-Augers...

jtk

[David Keller NC]

If you want new, Tools for working wood sells them:

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=EE-63579.XX&Category_Code=TD

Also, Lee Valley sells an adapter to make round-shank bits work well in a traditional brace.

[Tom Vanzant]

360360044145 is the correct number.

[ray hampton]

Sears [mall you-al and the borg store sell them, the tax might be one dollar

[Jim Neeley]

It depends on your liking and what constitutes "crazy expensive" to you but used sounds like the way to go, unless you want to buy shiny-new.

For new, TFWW starts about $30 each (1/4" Jennings) or 15 for ~$600, or Amazon at $10 each (7/16" Irwin) or 13 for $143.

Ya pays your money, ya takes your choices...

[Joel Goodman]

Both Walt at Brass City and Sandy Moss often have sets of bits for augers -- in fact they both have sets available now -- Sandy has a nice Russell Jennings set of 13 for $75 on his website-- Walt has Irwins and Russell Jennings. FYI there are finer threads for hard woods and coarse threads for softwoods -- I believe the RJ are usually the finer threads. Also Patrick Leach often has sets. I would go with vintage for these. An auger file is also handy -- only touch up the inside of the spurs if needed.

[Dave Lehnert]

Do you have a link to the LV adapter.





If you want new, Tools for working wood sells them:

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=EE-63579.XX&Category_Code=TD

Also, Lee Valley sells an adapter to make round-shank bits work well in a traditional brace.

[Andrae Covington]

Do you have a link to the LV adapter.

I don't believe LV makes a brace adapter for round-shank bits (could be wrong?). They do make a magnetic one for the little hexagonal bits, item C on this page (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32300&cat=1,180,42337&ap=1).

Some brace drills can hold onto round-shank bits pretty well, my Wards branded Stanley 813, for example.

[Joel Goodman]

I have a few Stanley braces and they can hold anything -- test some round bits in your brace and you may be surprised.

[Gary Herrmann]

I knew Patrick was good to deal with, but I just recently made my first purchase from Sandy. What a pleasant surprise it was when he said "Just give me your address. We have to make sure the tool is acceptable. Then we can take care of payment."

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

As others mention, round shank bits work fine in some braces. I frequently use unibits, hole saws and large twist bits in my Stanley 923 for drilling holes in heavy aluminum sheet. No problems at all with the round shank. I've used some hex shank bits too without problem. Although for some reason I also had a cheap quality unibit knockoff that rather than having a hex shank had only three flats ground on a round shank. Grabbed that by mistake; took me a minute to realize why the drill wasn't turning true. (Obviously, with only three flats ground, there weren't two parallel sides on the bit, so it wouldn't center on the chuck.)

That said, for woodwork, I prefer the proper auger bits. At that point, the square shank isn't the issue. I've used several that someone cut off the shank, no problem. Thing is, most current production auger bits I've seen, outside of the jennings pattern that TFWW are coarse thread leadscrew jobs designed for house construction. All the Fuller brand auger bits I've seen are "ship point" (I think that's what they call it - the ones that Jamestown Distributers sells, and also the ones that show up on Amazon) with only one cutting spur. For the majority of work, two spurs are nice.

As others have said, buying from a reputable used dealer can be worth it. If you get some that haven't been abused, and have been sharpened properly and you continue to sharpen them properly, they can last you a damn long time. I don't make nearly as much stuff as many folks here, but I feel like a good set of bits would probably last me the rest of my life if I don't hit a nail.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I knew Patrick was good to deal with, but I just recently made my first purchase from Sandy. What a pleasant surprise it was when he said "Just give me your address. We have to make sure the tool is acceptable. Then we can take care of payment."

Yeah, well that sounds like a good deal, and with Sandy it usually is. However, it can also be an opportunity to unload some less than perfect tools with little chance of return. We all know how unlikely we are to incur postage to return items.

Pam

[David Keller NC]

Thing is, most current production auger bits I've seen, outside of the jennings pattern that TFWW are coarse thread leadscrew jobs designed for house construction. All the Fuller brand auger bits I've seen are "ship point" (I think that's what they call it - the ones that Jamestown Distributers sells, and also the ones that show up on Amazon) with only one cutting spur. For the majority of work, two spurs are nice.


Actually, the coarse thread on the lead screw is a good thing if you're working softer woods like pine, poplar, aspen, etc... The finer threads are more appropriate, IMO, for hard cabinet woods. The coarser threads have much less chance of stripping out when it pulls the cutting spurs into contact with the wood. Jennings pattern bits, for example, came in at least 2 lead screw "coarseness" for that reason.

Sorry about the false lead on the Lee-Valley adapter, folks - that item is indeed a socket adapter for use with hex-shank driver bits and drills.