Sharpening and restoring vintage auger bits | Part 2
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Spiral auger bits are one of the great achievements of the hand tool era. It's not uncommon to find sets of rusty vintage auger bits that are in poor shape. The majority of vintage auger bits I find have been filed improperly. Many of these bits were passed down for multiple generations and I think the art of filing auger bits was largely lost in later generations as electric tools took over in the middle of the last century. Luckily, with a few tricks it's possible to bring almost any auger bit back to perfect working condition and preserve them for future generations. In this two-part video, I'll sharpen and restore vintage bits from Irwin, Russell Jennings, and Millers Falls.
My goal in tool restoration is to make the tool clean and functional while preserving all of the unique signs of its age and history.
Thank you for this video!!! My boss has a bunch of auger bits that I use when wiring up signs, they've gotten so dull from overuse and I had no idea how to sharpen them. Thanks a bunch! You just saved me a bunch of $$
@thisolesignguy2733 Glad you found it helpful! Good luck sharpening!
Very useful.Thanks.❤
Thanks for showing us your method and sharing your knowledge. I would like to know what it is that you mean by numbering the auger drill bits No. 2 and thru No. 8? Was there a numbering system ? .... A nieghbor gave me a box filled to remove the rust....Is it important. Thank you again...Deeman OORAH!!
Hi @gunnyoorah1846, the auger bits are numbered by 16ths of an inch, so a No. 8 would drill a hole 8/16ths or half an inch in diameter. A standard set has all the increments from No. 4 to No. 16. Bits larger than No. 16 exists but are much harder to find. Good luck!
I am just beginning my woodworking journey and I’m taking a handtools approach. These 2 videos are SO helpful. Thank you!
Glad you found them helpful! Good luck on your journey!
Thanks a ton for this miniseries! I have a box of augers, some of which are bent. Your demonstration of straightening that Russell Jennings bit was very helpful. However, I was a bit confused by the step 'aligning the tang with the body'. How do you judge alignment, exactly - by eye or is there a more accurate way?
Cheers and happy Easter!
Hi Julius, To check whether the tang needs alignment I would first check by eye then confirm it by chucking the auger in a brace (once you're sure the shaft and twist section are straight) and starting to drill a hole. The chuck and the auger should appear to spin around a straight axis line running through the center of the hole. If the tang is out of alignment, the chuck will wander around in a circle.
My dude- thank you for these videos! I love that there's only text and no narration- makes it really chill to watch.
Thanks Bradford, glad you're enjoying the channel!
Thank you for your videos on maintaining these long-lasting tools. Do you have a preferred way of protecting them after the clean-up (light weight oil, wax, other)?
Thanks Brent! I protect them with paste wax.
Can't tell you how much I appreciate these two videos. I have several old braces and auger bits and have been hoping to find a good way to sharpen them. Thank you. I do have a question, though. If the threads at the point cannot be saved, is it possible to replace it with a screw? To keep from over heating the cutting edge and spurs, I was considering brazing and not welding. I like old tools as that is what I learned with at my grandfather's side. Gives a feeling of accomplishment and pride to see a project completely done with no power tools.
hi Louis, Thanks for watching! I think it would be extremely difficult to replace a worn snail with a screw. The screw would have to be exactly centered or the bit will become unusable, the threads of the screw would have to transition correctly into the cutting edges, and it would be hard to prevent the cutting edges from losing their temper. It might be worth preserving as-is as a piece of history in your collection.
Thank you for this video. I just picked up a handful of rusty bits at an estate sale thinking I might be able to fix them up. Looks like a challenging but fun project!
Sounds like fun! Good luck!
Great videos which I wish I came across earlier today before I ruined at least one auger bit:). While doing that I came across a number of issues which you addressed in the videos. A bit making a nice round edge but not advancing into the wood was the symptom of the bit that I ruined - I thought the spurs were too high and not allowing the cutting edge to reach the timber so I reduced them - it didn't help:). I did some work on the screw which did help but the reduced spur wasn't cutting cleanly anymore. I'll try your last straw solution. But after watching the videos I did manage to fix a couple of other bits which now bore well. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Thanks @johnlarkin9815, Glad to hear you got some bits working well! Good luck rescuing the one with short spurs!
Great video. I spent hours restoring my set of auger bits . I found that soaking in vinegar and water helped a lot, ok it was blooming messy but the results were very good.
Thanks Kelvin!
Nice to see dowel auger bits being restored which almost nobody understands what they are. Very hard to find even if they have been abused. Very nice. Thankyou.
Thanks Bryan!
Great Video and now I believe I'm brave enough to try to sharpen some of my Dad's Bits that are pushing 75 yrs. old and they have different styles of the twists running up and down them as they seem closer together. (I don't know what you call this twisted part of the bit) You are a valuable "Show and Tell" Teacher and Thanks~!
Hi Rick, thanks and good luck with your sharpening!
Excellent video. Thank you for showing this, I have a box of these auger bits to clean and sharpen.... one day!
>>>DITTO
Thanks Peter!
Thank you for sharing this. I inherited a brace and some rusty worn bits which worked poorly, and I simply set them aside and have used the brace as a screw driver - my portable, cordless, precision driver than never recharging - though sometimes the operator does. Your two videos have taught me a great deal about sharpening auger bits and I will be able to restore and more importantly use those tools (I'm not going to throw away my Porter-Cable hand drill though).
That is great! I'm glad you found the videos helpful. Good luck bringing your auger bits back into service!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on how to restore bits. Once I finish my brace then I can start on my bits. Thanks to your helpful videos!
Good luck!
Great video! I have some, I think they are called spoon bits I picked up in a tool roll of drill bits. Any advice in restoration, sharpening and use? Thanks again for the great content!
Thanks Craig! Spoon bits were typically used for chairmaking (see www.pbs.org/video/woodwrights-shop-very-boring-program/). They're still sought after and pretty rare so you're lucky to have them! Is there a maker's name on the bits?
Best video on the topic! Really excellent in every way! Thank you!
Thanks a lot @larsfrandsen2501 ! Glad you enjoyed it!
Mate thanks so much for these videos, youtube just recommended your auger videos and I had to watch! I'll be keeping these videos mind to be used as a reffrence later, I've got a decent number of augers(and other brace bits) and tbh some of them are getting on my nerves, I had a feeling the cutting edge was further then the spur and thankfully I now know what to look for, and how to correct sharpen them, and I've never heard of a thread file before, and was wondering how the snail on an auger could be repaired. Some of mind are also bent and I thought they would snap if I tried to bend them back or hammer on them.
Thanks again for such an informative video.
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you found it helpful. Good luck with your auger bits!
Great video, thanks! I have a bunch of auger bits that need restoration and this gives me some ideas of where to get started! Are there specific files you use, or just something small and flat to do the job?
Never mind...I just watched part one where you answer exactly that question. Thanks again for the great info! Keep it up!
Thanks Sean! Good luck restoring your auger bits!
Great job on the Russell Jennings #8! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. This series is outstanding!
Thanks @ubioubiestveritas ! Glad you found it helpful.
excellent videos and facinating content! I now have the confidence to buy rusty old augers and restore em. And best part, I get to buy more new tools, auger and thread files! I immediately subscribed, of course.
Thanks a lot Dave! Good luck with your restorations!
Glorious. I have lots of inherited & purchased augers. Inspiring, thank you.
Where can I buy suitable auger files please ?
Hi @chaswarren7239, it looks like Lee Valley sells a proper auger bit file.
Thank you for shareing this knowledge, I have learnt a lot and most of this stuff is lost
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent, informative video. I was given about 4-5 bits in bad shape. I hope to put them to use. Some appear to have no spurs. Most do not advance into the work and this probably means I have to address the snail. I had never heard of or seen a thread file. Very interesting.
Thanks @MarkSWilliams27, Glad you found it helpful, Good luck restoring!
Excelente la forma de afilar y recuperar esas brocas.
Thanks Jose!
Great 2 part video set! I'm going to try (again) and restore the bits that I have.
Thanks! Let us know how it goes!
Thanks again.
These old augers are finicky and a lot more difficult to keep sharp than a new drill bit. They are also made of very soft steel, yet if sharp, straight and clean, they bore such nice clean holes.
Easily one of the most inetresting YT regarding this topie. I just started working wih these types of tools and got a lot of questions to ask...........These video's give me a huges start off, Thanks so much for uploading these video's!😊👌👍
Many thanks, glad you're finding the videos helpful! Best of luck with your hand tool journey!
Thanks
Thanks @warrenwatson3105 !
Have some of the same.Need a lot of TLC.This is my next project.Thanks for sharing.
Good luck!
Thank you, I have learnt a lot about sharpening auger bits. Now I can try again to sharpen my bits.
Gruß Tino
viel glück!
I consider you to be the best resource on TH-cam for sharpening. You have my respect for it. I also appreciate your calm manner in presentation. I do, however, find that the last test of the auger you sorted out, created some tear out. Do you consider that to be acceptable? There is no desire in me to be trite or sarcastic; I mean the question genuinely. Look forward to your answer. ps: thanks to you, I cleaned up several worn Forstner bits today, using these principles. I also learned that no matter how sharp an auger is, if you are within 5mm of another augered/forstener drilled hole, there will inevitably be tear out in the vertical spacing between the holes, if the grain is running horizontally. This is on dry SPF style soft wood.
Hi @LitoGeorge, I just tried that auger bit again in some oak and it left a stray fiber of tearout hanging on by a thread (not acceptable). I looked at the spurs and one was just slightly too dull at the tip. A few passes with the file sorted that out and it gave me a perfect result on the next hole.
@@thehandtoolworks thank you kindly for your response. I also want to thank you for your tip on clamping workpieces when boring close to the edge/ end grain. I used your tip to cleanly bore holes without any splitting after applying the clamp. This was very gratifying. Where did you learn all your woodworking skills from? Tx, LG.
You da man. Now I can get a user set of bits and try tuning them. Thank you.
Good luck!
excellent pair of tutorials, thanks for sharing.
@davestinyworkshop Thanks for watching !
Thanks a lot, very useful and clear tutorial!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for sharing this valuable info!
Thanks for watching!
I thought we Not to touch the spur when do you and When NOT to
hi Bruce, we don't touch the _outside_ of the spurs since that would reduce the diameter of the bit. You should file the inside leading edge of the spurs when they get dull from use. To maintain the life of the bit, try to remove as little metal from the spurs as possible when you sharpen them so that they don't become too short.
👌👌👌
Thanks again. Subscribed.
Welcome aboard!
This is helpful, thanks for doing it!
Glad it was helpful!
Great videos! Do you know of a way to restore a blunted snail? Or would you just sharpen it back to form a point?
Thanks! If the threads are good and the snail is still pulling the bit into the wood, I'd probably leave it alone. It can be difficult to sharpen a blunted tip back to a point using needle files without harming the threads, possibly making the snail worse off. If the snail isn't pulling, my preference would be to use a thread restoring file (if you can get your hands on one).
Just an FYI, thread restoring files can still be found by several makers and at reasonable prices via Amazon.