Auger bits

[Scott Archi]

I recently purchased a brace at an antique market for very cheap. Mistake 1. Trying to use a forstner bit with it. Mistake 2 trying to use a brad point regular twist drill with it. A light was seen at the end of the tunnel. You need auger bits dummy.

Not sure what to look for on eBay. There is a modern set 1/4-1" by steelex. Instead of the odd tapered shank ending of the vintage auger bits these have hex shanks. Presumably for power drills? Would these work in my 4 jaw brace as they are priced better and a complete set.

I just want to hear some thoughts here. I get the whole "they don't make me like they used to." Worst case I buy these bits and end up using them with a power drill?

Thanks

[Joe Bailey]

Look for Irwin, Russell Jennings, Greenlee or Craftsman bits

You're looking for bits which, if not shiny, are at least not rusted to death.

Ideally, the bits should all be straight -- feel free to ask the seller before pulling the trigger. A straight bit rolls easily and predictably across a table top; a bent bit wobbles and meanders.

Ideally, the bits you buy will be sharp, but if not, they are easily sharpened using either a dedicated auger file, or any small file with safe edges.
Tutorials on bit sharpening abound.

[Phil Mueller]

May want to contact Patrick Leach...I saw a set of Irwins on his last monthly email. If I remember correctly, they were just a bit more than the set you listed (~$85.) Just google his name.

[Mike Recchione]

I'm certainly not going to try to talk you out of getting a set of proper bits, but I want to point out that you can use both brad point twist drills and forstner bits with a brace - as well as anything that you could use with an electric drill or a cordless screwdriver. I do it all the time, and it makes the brace even more useful. BUT - you need a chuck like this one:

356480

EDIT: By the way, those hex shank bits might not work with your brace as is, but would definitely work with the combination of your brace and this chuck.

[Andy Nichols]

+1 to Mike's comments, although I don't always change to another chuck.

Also can recommend Wood Owl auger bits, a little pricey, but they produce very fine holes....

Andy

[Jim Koepke]

I recently purchased a brace at an antique market for very cheap. Mistake 1. Trying to use a forstner bit with it. Mistake 2 trying to use a brad point regular twist drill with it. A light was seen at the end of the tunnel. You need auger bits dummy.

Not sure what to look for on eBay. There is a modern set 1/4-1" by steelex. Instead of the odd tapered shank ending of the vintage auger bits these have hex shanks. Presumably for power drills? Would these work in my 4 jaw brace as they are priced better and a complete set.

I just want to hear some thoughts here. I get the whole "they don't make me like they used to." Worst case I buy these bits and end up using them with a power drill?

Thanks

Some braces were made to take round shafted bits some were not. Without knowing the model and maker it is hard to tell which yours is. It sounds like you didn't have any luck with regular bits.

Does your brace actually have 4 jaws? I am not familiar with such. Most have only two jaws.

You might find this of interest:

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

jtk

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Some braces were made to take round shafted bits some were not. Without knowing the model and maker it is hard to tell which yours is. It sounds like you didn't have any luck with regular bits.


I have several Millers Falls braces with the Lion style chuck. All hold regular round shafted bits well. I have a set of auger bits and like them, so am not trying to talk you out of buying a set, but if you are just looking to make holes, a decent brace may be cheaper than a set of bits. Old tool heaven has drawings of the different models. If you look around the 770s, they are Lion style chucks, very easy to recognize. Pexto made a similar chuck they called the "Samson."

[lowell holmes]

Buy a used brace on line and then the auger bits. I've bought two braces on line and they both are good.

[John C Cox]

Right. As many here mentioned - make sure you buy bits that fit the chuck on your actual brace. There are all sorts of different shanks that could be the right one...

Very little was standardized. Square, hex, octagon, round with wings; tapered variations of all these, etc.. Every brand had their own shank as a way of getting you locked in to buying their drills. Even "adjustable chucks" we're set up for their bits - like 4 jaw adjustable chucks made for various tapered square shank bits.

Then - on the bits themselves.. Bits for braces and egg beater drills were often made to cut a lot more aggressively than modern bits for electric drills. Many were what we would call augers today. The turning speed is very slow - and so they had to cut pretty fast and even self feed if you ever hoped to finish. On these sort of bits will often self feed like crazy on a modern electric drill

[Ted Phillips]

I've purchased a number of "antique" auger bits over the years and they are very hit-and-miss. And I had a lot of difficulty sharpening some of them because they had been mistreated - I certainly learned my lesson. Over the past two years, I've purchased a number of WoodOwl bits in my most-used sizes. I got mostly the Tri-Spur Smooth-Bore bits and one of the "Nail Chipper" bits. The Smooth-Bore are fantastic - they are sharp and accurate and can be used in an electric drill as well as a hand-brace. The Nail Chipper bits are also good, but are stronger and drill a slightly less smooth hole. I'm not messing with old bits any more... YMMV, of course!

[Jim Koepke]

Bits for braces and egg beater drills were often made to cut a lot more aggressively than modern bits for electric drills. Many were what we would call augers today.

Twist style bits have different point angles. Bits for drilling wood have the most acute angle and bits for drilling masonry or metals will have a more obtuse angle.

Auger bits agressiveness have more to do with the pitch of the lead screw thread. Some are made to cut slow in hardwoods and those made for softwoods will have less threads per inch on the lead screw.

The thing to look for on buying auger bits on line is to make sure they have sufficient length on the spurs. I have bought quite a few auger bits from the auction site and have only received a few duds. They can still be used in places like the side of a tree or other work where my best bits are not sacrificed.

jtk

[David Eisenhauer]

Owl bits rock and work just fine in my Stanley 923 (I think) brace. If I want traditional auger bits, I have bit the bullet and bought the new ones from Joel and my limited use of both of those has been very satisfying.

[lowell holmes]

I inherited a full set of Irwin bits from my Father. They are 1960's vintage.

https://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Tools-43697-Braced-Centre/dp/B001HWQKFE

[steven c newman]

Yard sale season around here...and I basically trip over bits all the time....

Have noticed that the 3 jawed eggbeater WILL take normal, modern day round shanked drill bits. Most the the Barber chucked versions I have will also hold a round shank drill bit.

Have a nice set of Auger bits at the moment....plus a second 'New in Box" set that is about 50 years old...work just as fine now.

[Stew Denton]

Scott,

A few thoughts. I have at least two or three sets of auger (probably 3, in some sizes maybe 5 or six individual bits or so) if you count all of the duplicates in the two or three sets I have (it depends on how you count the bits as sets, I have 3 tool rolls of auger bits.)

You have gotten some very good advise above.

I also did look on the fleabag auction site. If you buy on that site let the buyer beware. I like the vintage sets I have, but look at the bits carefully, or the pictures carefully if at the auction site. My advise would be:

1. look at the business end of the bits carefully, as Jim pointed out. Make sure that the spurs look about brand new, and not reduced in size. (A small spur is a sure sign of most of the goody has been sharpened out of the bits and long hard use.) Also, of the two or three Craftsman sets that looked virtually new, they sold for from a bit over $40 to maybe $55 or so, including shipping, some of the sets of Irwin bits in the same condition sold for 3 times as much as the Craftsman. I have absolutely no problem with the Craftsman Auger bits that I have used over the years, and think of the good makers made them for Craftsman. The ones I have used were high quality, and looked like they were made by Irwin or one of the other good makers. (I can't say that about some of the Craftsman power tools I have, and likely I will never buy another new Craftsman hand held power tool.)

2. Wait till you get a good deal. Don't get in a hurry and buy a moth eaten rusty set, because there are so many out there that sooner or later a set of good bits in virtually new condition will come along, and a couple of the Craftsman sets I looked at, which appeared to be in mint condition on that site had sold for around $45 including shipping.

3. Look at each bit in the set carefully, as much as you can, from the pictures. Some of the bits you see are clearly and obviously bent, if you look carefully.

4. If the photos don't show the business ends of the bits in detail, I would pass. I have seen some that the bodies looked great, virtually new, but if you looked at the business ends well, they had been put back in the box with wood still embedded in the screw and even in the tips, and it must have been oak in some of the ones I looked at or the wood was damp, because when looking at the fine detail carefully, threads on the screws were virtually completely gone due to corrosion, the spurs were almost completely corroded away, and in short they were actually virtually worthless to use, in spite of the fact that looking them in the pictures that showed the bits pointing away from the camera, the sets looked virtually brand new. (BUYER BEWARE, AND IN FACT IF I CAN'T SEE THE BUSINESS ENDS OF THE BITS IN FINE DETAIL, I WOULD NEVER CONSIDER BUYING THE SET. They are too commonly available, wait until a good set comes along that you can verify are good by a good set of photos.)

Other thoughts:

You mentioned wanting to use some of the auger bits in a drill. All of the vintage auger bits I have that are in original configuration have tapered shanks. The shank just below the square tapered end were bigger in diameter than further down the shank and the shank was thus tapered. One set I own has a few of the smaller auger bits modified to fit a drill chuck by the former carpenter owner. These have the chucked end of the shank ground down to give a straight shank that standard drill chucks can grab.

The straight hex shanks of some of the modern auger bits, are in fact designed for a 3/8" to 1/2" standard chuck drill, and the smaller size chucks can not grab the shank of the bit.

The adapter chuck that Mike shows above, at least the ones I have seen, including the one I have, will only take relatively small twist steel bits, the one I have will take only bits of 1/4" and smaller.

Regards,

Stew

[Scott Archi]

Thanks guys I'm on the fence about this one. Not sure if I want to just buy a normal set of twist drill bits and a power drill. I'd rather have the quiet, peaceful brace bits. I have a lot to ponder over and with the need for a plane (5 jack has been recommended as a first plane to get) I don't want to spend a lot on bits.

Will take this slowly.

[Stew Denton]

Scott,

A couple of items clarify or to add.

You mentioned using a drill to chuck the hex shanked bits in. That should be fine, as the modern bits with hex shanks are designed to be used in a drill. However, the old tapered square ended shank type were not designed to be used in a modern drill. They were designed to cut with a slow rotation, due to the hand turned brace. So if you cut off the square fitting and grind the shank to where it is straight and round to fit a modern chuck in a drill, the drill will turn it more rapidly than it was designed to cut, and in some cases it will cut like blue blazes, and may try to get away from you to an extent.

Thus, the old auger bits that I have, which the old carpenter owned before I got them, which had the chuck fitting cut off and the shank ground to remove the taper are only the ones in a small size, maybe 3/8ths or 5/16ths at the largest. The larger sizes would put too much torque load on most drills, particularly 3/8" drills that turn at a relatively high RPM value. They might be OK in a very slow RPM big 1/2" drill that you have to hold with both hands even to operate. (I am talking about one of the really big he man drills, normally only that pros own, those who build large concrete forms, etc.)

The drill I use with these "cut off chuck fitting bits" is a 1/2" drill with a maximum RPM of about 600, if I remember correctly. Certainly not the 1200 RPM versions. That drill is not beast enough to pull one of the larger old style auger bits, and because of it's torque, it will pull a lot bigger bit than the higher RPM drills. You have to be careful, however, because if a large bit catches, the drill will try to twist your hands and wrists badly, that is another reason to keep the size of the cut off type of bits to the small sizes.

Finally, I don't think I made clear the issue with the twist steel bit chuck, which Mike shows. My version of this chuck will only take a 1/4" shank, no larger, so you are limited as to how large a bit you can use. Mike's version may be a step up from mine, and it is possible that ones are available that will take larger bits.

Finally, I have auger bits that go up to and include 1 1/4" bits. It is a pain to try to pull one of these big bits with the standard 10" sweep brace, even if you are just trying to drill thru fir or pine, it would be virtually impossible with a 3/8" drill. For that reason, I finally bought a 14" sweep brace. Of course, it has to be said that I am not a big guy, and certainly not a spring chicken, but am probably of average strength for my a bit smaller than average size. You stout 250 lbs guys may not have much trouble with the 10" sweep brace and the 1 1/4" bits, I don't know.

The real problem for the smaller braces, however, are the expansion bits. If I use mine to drill a really big hole, like 2 1/2" holes this is a huge problem. The 14" swing really comes into it's own on the expansion bits. It may be that I was thinking of the expansion bit rather than the 1 1/4" auger bit.

Regards,

Stew

[steven c newman]

Most of mine..
356679
Actually, this is about half of them.....the braces...
356680
6" up to a 14" sweep. I found that the eggbeaters and the big breastdrill have a three jaw chuck, and work just fine holding round shanked bits...
356681
I have also used the larger taps in a brace, held just fine, as did a hex bit holder. Usually in the two jawed braces. The slot in the jaws does hold hex and round shafts. YMMV

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks guys I'm on the fence about this one. Not sure if I want to just buy a normal set of twist drill bits and a power drill. I'd rather have the quiet, peaceful brace bits. I have a lot to ponder over and with the need for a plane (5 jack has been recommended as a first plane to get) I don't want to spend a lot on bits.



Will take this slowly.

One thing I was lucky to find at second hand/junk shops was an old metal twist drill index for size 1 through 60 bits. Not long after another was found, not quite as nice but a good one.

If there are enough junk and second hand shops in an area this is pretty good way to get started with one's drill bit accumulation.

Recently found during the pre/post Christmas sales a new plastic drill index for fractional sizes. All of this was less than $25.

My most used bits in the shop are actually the ones made to pre-drill screw holes.

As for auger bits, even though I have a set with extras I always have my eyes open when out and about. One no name set of mine came via ebay with a corner brace for ~$20. The box holding the bits has been refilled with good Irwin bits as they have been acquired.

It is so tempting to jump in and buy tools, it is best to not be in a hurry.


I found that the eggbeaters and the big breastdrill have a three jaw chuck, and work just fine holding round shanked bits...

Odd but true, one of my breast drills has a two jaw chuck. Not too good for auger bits, but back in the day a lot of bits had square tangs.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

My bits are 1/4" through 1", the complete set. I keep them sharp and rust free. They are in a wooden box. As I stated earlier, they were my father's.
It sure is nice to bore the hole I want when I want to do it.:) (Yes, that is a gloat.)

If you decide to buy new bits, I would suggest you get either a half set or a full set. That will give you enough to drill what ever you want and the bits will be sharp and cut clean holes.

Sometimes, we just have to suck it up and pay the price. A cheap tool is most often not used and the money is wasted. Anyway, that's my tool philosophy.

[Scott Archi]

Couldn't agree more about the cheap tools.

[Roger Nair]

At the onset of spring, I have found this to be the prime time to seek outdoor flea markets for tools. Auger bits are amongst the most common items, many bits I have run across have been in very good to unused and cheap under a dollar each and one could haggle for a fistful for $5 or under. Pay particular attention to the feed screws and spur height.