What have you learned?
Not the most interesting perhaps, but I'll start off:
I ordered yet another set of auger bits, attempting to get a complete set of Irwin bits.
And, as always, no matter how good the pictures look, unless they state otherwise, there are going to be a number of unusable bits. And murphy's law dictates that those unusable bits will be the sizes that you still lack.
And so you will buy many, many batches of auger bits, until you could have just purchased a full set in perfect, nearly mint condition.
I got a nice set this time. It seems that the screw leads were in decent shape, and the owner knew how to sharpen them properly -- this I could tell by the pictures.
What I couldn't tell by the pictures, however, is that someone quite creative got ahold of the 1" bit, probably long after the original owner passed away, and... I can't imagine what they were trying to do, but the spurrs are bent, ground, and mangled in the most horrific manner that I have ever seen. I can only imagine they were trying to drill through mild steel or something, though how they could manage to generate the torque required for such abuse is beyond my comprehension. It's surprising that I couldn't tell this from the photos... something I suspect might have been intentional. Oh well.
So the hunt continues for a 1" bit... The goal close, and yet, never quite within reach.
Better be ready to shell out another $25 for global shipping on top of whatever I find!
On a more positive note, I also learned how great it is to buy from obviously knowledgeable and honest sellers, especially if they're also woodworkers and users of the tools that they sell.
I bought one more backsaw, this one fully restored and tuned by someone who was obviously a woodworker and new what he was doing. This money was very well spent.
Up until now I've always bought rusted junk to restore myself, mostly with good results, but saws can be really tricky to get right even if you're experienced sharpening and setting them. And, honestly, having the work already done for you by someone very skilled is... quite nice, and worth the price.