>I am researching before purchasing auger bits for a brace that I have and am wondering if modern auger bits have any advantages over vintage ones. Irwin has made bits for many decades and the new ones appear identical to the originals. I am not hung up on having antiques for collectible value. I just want clean holes. I am aware that Irwin's products are aimed primarily at the trades rather than the craftman audience. What about so-called expansive bits? Any feedback is, as always, very much appreciated.
>the vintage ones are usually inexpensive. Sometimes they are pretty good and sometimes not. You need to get an auger file anyway because all (old and new) of them need touching up. As for the expansion bits, I never had much luck with them. Drilling holes with auger bits is a real art. You need a good brace with a good chuck. Normal bits have two cutters and are balanced. Expansions have one cutter and are not balanced. They can be hard to hold true.
>Check out the Jennings pattern as well, patented 1855 with double twist. the Irwins are single twist. I like the look of the Jennings but I am not sure there is much difference. Old bits can be found with different pitches on their lead screws. Coarse for softwood and fine for hardwoods. They also had one in between as well as one with no threads, just a spike. You will need an auger file to sharpen and you want to get bits that are bright, not rusty and pitted. Clean and bright bits extract the dross better. Light rust can be easily removed. Lay the bits down on a flat surface, roll them and test for bends and kinks.
>New bit's are alot heavier and cut differently. Seems to me they are geared towards green wood and electricans to quickly cut holes. My preference is Jennings for woodwork. My advice is to buy up a complete set trying to make a set up is a big PITA.
>I was in a local hardware store one day and noticed a square shanked auger bit on a shelf with round shaft bits of the same size. It still had the old yellowed price sticker on it.Since then I started asking at hardware stores around the state for old bits they still had in stock. I managed to get quite a few different sizes.
Auger bits will keep on a shelf indefinitely. So some of these could have been sitting around for years.This won't work for new chain type stores. Look for old family owned corner hardware stores.The prices are good.---Jack
>I have never had any problem with expansive bits in soft or green wood but they don't work nearly as well with hard woods I have a drawer full of them if any one want one let me know. and vintage augers can be picked up cheap I get several sets every year by the coffee can full for about a buck. Just picked up a nice set of vintage craftsman complete except for one of the larger sizes. Don't know why I buy them cause they don't sell well unless they are a complete set in the box.
>I have both new and old. My experience has been that bits are like augers, there are so many good, old ones around that the new ones make no sense. Some of the old Craftsman bits I have seem to be too soft. The old ones are available in three pitches and new ones (Irwin) only come in fast (meaning a course pitch). New Irwins are made in Brazil. They work just fine but need to be sharpened before use. Their quality of finish is much, much worse than the old Irwins. Clico still makes Russell Jennings type bits in England. I have no experience with them. I used to want to get complete sets of old bits but one can save a bunch of money by piecing them together. Who cares if they're different brands. Expansive bits take a little care to use. I've only used mine in poplar and pine and have been pleased with their results. When you need an odd-sized hole you don't have a lot of choices. Last year I won on the bay some American-made Irwin electrician bits that were new in the box. These were made when Stanley owned them. The finish was perfect and what was impressive to me was that the bits were hand sharpened and ready to go out of the box. I overpayed for them except that they were far less than the new Irwins and so much better. So did I really overpay?
>I am not finding what I would call "bargains" on vintage bits anywhere. Prices are roughly equivalent to new Irwin. Clico would be very expensive if priced like their hollow chisel mortising bits. Irwin has 6 pc. and 13 pc. sets available new and individual ones, too. Like any cutting tool, the edge is was matters. It sound like you have to provide that on whatever you buy. Maybe L-N will make some one day and they would blow everything else into the weeds. What I'm going to do for now is by some single bits in new, old, and get my sharpening skills up to speed. As time goes, I will get my set put together, I'm sure.
>He's been "retiring from woodworking and selling all his tools" for about two years now, and all though he has nothing listed at the moment (the first time I can recall that in the two years I've been watching his stuff), he usually sells used auger bits by the lot for reasonable prices. I'll bet if you do some searching on the bay you'll find lots of these for sale.
The linky below goes to Tools for Working Wood's web site. Joel sells the Cilco. In the larger scheme of things I don't find the prices unreasonable, at least if picked up in the most used sizes and added to over a period of time.
I may try one of these because they are the double-twist design like the old Jennings. If it works for me, it may be a good thing to just build a set, like you say.
