Help with auger bit brand selection.

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

Frank Mutchler in Colorado Springs

>John, I think the bits intended for soft wood have a coarse lead screw while those for hard wood will have a fine pitch screw. I don't think manufacturers specialized in one or the other.

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>There are several common patterns of auger bits for braces, of which, I believe, the two most common are the Jennings pattern, or double twist, which looks like (because it is) a flat piece of steel twisted into an auger bit shape; and the solid center, generally a single-twist, of which, around here, the commonest examples are made by Irwin.

Around here, Jennings pattern bits have the fine thread on the lead screw that indicate they were intended for hardwood. The fine thread results in slower movement through the wood, and thus smaller chips. The double twist, I believe because it has more bearing area on the sides of the hole, is supposed to help with smoothness.

Solid center bits, which around here come with coarse thread on the lead screw, are designed for quick boring in softwood. The single spiral around the solid center helps the larger chips clear quickly.

There's supposedly a medium-pitch lead screw, too, but either I've never seen one, or I'm confusing a medium-pitch lead screw on my Jennings bits with a fine pitch.

Brands: as always, you can hardly go wrong with the name brands like Greenlee et al, but I've found that Jennings bits are usually by Jennings, with just one exception in my, um, selection (not collection, no that's different...I'm not a collector).

Watch for and avoid bits on which the spurs are really short - these are reaching the end of their useful lives (note that there are some bit patterns without spurs; go do your reading on this subject, but my sense is that the Jennings or solid center bits are your best bet). Also, make sure they're straight. Testing if you can touch the bit is easy: find a flat surface like a table top and roll the bit along the surface. If it kind of jumps as it goes, the twist portion is bent; if that's straight, but the square taper is visibly moving up and down, the shank portion is. Either way, thank the seller and move on. I personally wouldn't buy bits I couldn't hold in my hand unless the price was unbelievably low and the guarantee good.

Tuning: a) buy an auger bit file, and follow the directions available in practically every hand tool book about sharpening; b) take some fine sandpaper or steel wool and clean out the twists. You want them shiny pretty, as it helps tremendously with movement of chips out of the hole. If the chips don't clear well, they'll build up very quickly, and then the lead screw will tear out, and you'll be frustrated if not skunked.

Very entertaining tools in small diameters. Not quite so much fun when trying to drill a one inch hole through hardwood.

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

paul womack

>Also, are certain brands ment just for soft wood?

I know conflating brand with design is common in the USA (I use "Danish Oil", but Americans almost always say Watco).

But Jennings is a design of auger as well as a brand.

Ditto for Irwin.

But you can find Jennings pattern augers made by Irwin, and Irin pattern augers made by Jennings.

And both patterns by many manufacturers. There are more patterns than "Jennings" and "Irwin", BTW, but they're rarer and specialised.

BugBear

coarseness and end grain

jerome bias

>Does the coarseness of the lead screw affect the bit's ability to be used in end grain?

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

Ron Smith

>A major consideration in auger bit selection is the size of hole bored by the bit. I bought a nice ten-piece boxed set of Irwins some years back. I always had bad luck getting dowels to fit the holes drilled by these bits. Seems this is a very common problem and the dowel stock is usually blamed. Page 5 of the comprehensive Handbook supplied by Irwin says, in part, "All auger bits, except those made expressly for doweling work, are ground approximately 1/64 oversize. This is done . . . . ." (So pipes and cables can be easily fitt6ed). Note it says "approximately 1/64 oversize" . . mine were a little greater oversizer. But even a 64th makes a very lose dowel fit. Wish I had read the Handbook before I made the purchase.

Well ! . . . . So much for 'bad dowels' . .and my poor boring technoque being responsible for my lose joints. My ten-piece boxed set of Irwin bits is, after 12 years, still brand new . . and will probably remain so . .forever. I do not know if this 'over-sized' practice is limited to Irwin . .but it is sure worth knowing about.

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

Ernie Miller

>I was just thinking last week I should sell a set of bits. I pick them yp at sales and auction usualy for 5� or less each so I got them all out of the differant boxes and cans. If you put them in a can make sure the point is up. and way there must have been 80-90 of them suckers and I managed to pull out several complete sets all differant types coarse and fine thread and decide I have better put them aside for myself never know when you may need a set of bits for a special purpose. so with the 35-40 bits I had left I couldn't make a complete set with out mixing makers I could get types maybe but not makers? so I decided to put them all in a box and forget about it. So after putting the box back out on the stuff to sell shelf I came back into the shop and saw a big canvas roll of bits that I had not taken into account I know there are at least 2-3 bits in each pocket. dut I lef it ther and went on to doing nothing else. Some days I work hard at getting nothing done this was one of them. Some day I am going to soart that pile o braces.

end grain boring

Bob Hackett(Mainely,Bob)

>An auger with a leadscrew is more apt to follow the grain especially when boring a deep hole.The best and most available tool for this type of work is a common twist drill.

Wood boat builders favor an auger called a "barefoot" auger(at least here in Maine).These have no leadscrew and need a short starter hole or counterbore to be drilled first.

MB

Re: end grain boring

paul womack

>An auger with a leadscrew is more apt to follow the grain especially when boring a deep hole.The best and most available tool for this type of work is a common twist drill.

Are you sure about this? I know the woodturners don't use a twist for lamp-cable holes, and the gun-barrel-drillers use a "D" bit.

BugBear

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

Fred Peake

>The practice of oversizing bits wasn't limited to Irwin, I think it was done by all. The good news is that doweling bits do exist, they are just more difficult to find. I have managed to find a few on e-bay, and they are well worth looking for. They are easily recognized by their shorter lengths. They are exact size and were produced in 1/32" increments as well. Other auger bits to be on the lookout for are the square shanked Forstner bits for use in a brace. These are exact size and bore very clean holes. Two manufactures were BGI (Bridgeport Gun Implement) and BF (Benjamin Forstner).

Re: Help with auger bit brand selection.

John Clifford in Chicago

>Thanks for all the info, it helped a lot. Ernie, if you get around to selling some auger bits let me know. You also said you've got braces to sort out. I'm always looking for Yankee braces in any size other than 10 inch. Thanks again to all, John.