A tale of two augers

 Lots of work outside right now, so not much happening in or near my shops, except a bunch of fall maintenance on garden tools: Cleaning, sharpening, oiling spades, shovels, chainsaw etc.

Between all of these, been experimenting with using a piece of ABS drain pipe 1-1/2 with Evaporust for handling more efficiently long pieces.  Quickly found out that tapping the plastic test cap on the ends is asking for a leak.  Just hand pressure, good seal, working great.  I've been soaking...

I have a small collection of hand augers, they had a quick de-rusting at the wire wheel, but never past that preliminary stage.  That was one reasons I want to try this.

Amazingly, it stays securely up, even 

with grand kids and dogs running above.

Later I took the handle off and kept alternating soaking ends

Yeah, it does stays up, but need something's more secured and with different length and sizes.  Some sort of rack.

That particular auger was bought recently, it looked 

promising under the rust, paid $5 for it

At first I was using old blackened Evaporust and it was going slowly, so I dumped it on the grass (lots or iron, grass loves it) and pour fresh new stuff, much faster.  After a few repeat soakings, wire brushing, rinse and repeat until satisfied, looked pretty good

As found.

The up wing spurs are presents and complete.

Threaded tip not damaged.

No apparent damages, except for rust 

Cleaned up pretty good and freshly sharpened

I gave the handle a quick sanding to remove the grunge,

then my usual Howard products routine.

I paint the interior of the eye with rust proofing paint.

Found no markings but it bore a 1-1/4 in holes

You can clearly see how the eye was forged

But how does it cut?  It has no scoring abilities, just a clean inside scooping action.

Boring along the grain

It does kinda chew a hole thru, it cannot score the hole perimeter, lots of leverage and chipping action.

No surprises there. 

So what does it do?  It is designed to cut on the end grain.

The up wing spurs and the bottom cutter act like a gouge

in each corners

Much easier action and better results, faster.

This is dry and splintery PT wood

So it beg the question, not all holes are bored end grain, so, there must be a counterpart auger?

They will be sporting scoring spur(s) at the bottom of the cutting action in order to severe the fibers around the hole before the router (cutting edge) scoop them up.

There are many variations in both varieties, but the one I am working on right now is a modified Jennings pattern.

The cutting spurs action makes all the difference.

Big difference along the grain.

Hard to see but the spirals diameter reduced as the spirals goes up,

making it almost jam proof, but more wobbly.

Boring end grain

The up turned spurs one bore quickly, while the lower spurs one (Irwin) is stalling.

The screw point cannot overcome the force required to push down the fat spurs into the wood.

With power and pressure you could overcome the Irwin stalling  problem 

but it would overheat, not designed for end grain. 

So there you have it, know your auger, their pointy ends tell you their specialty.

Understanding their cutting action is key to understand how and where to file.

The pair I just restored

Top one is 1-1/4, bottom is 1 inch.

If the bright metal "colour" annoyed you, not to worry, it will tarnished

Traditionally they came in bright metal or black oxide finish.

Modern ones come painted.

The smaller one is stamped STAG and 1 (inch)

I have a few more awaiting longer and bigger tubes.  There is currently a different type of auger soaking.

Can you make a bit geometry that could incorporate both qualities? Yes, its called a Scotch eye bit.

It has only one spur sometimes thinner (more fragile), allowing you to more easily overcome the difficulties of two spurs.  The vast majority of hand augers made today have this type of cutting action, a Scotch eye bit.  Yes, they are still made marketed to the woodsman type persons.

They are still relevant today and if using the right one for the intended application, Quick and efficient. no power cord, no battery, then refresh yourself with a cold one and admire the holes you bored by your own power:-)

In construction, they would be boring the holes for the wooden peg used in draw boring the framing members together.

If you are only boring a few holes, a hand auger is your best bet.  If you requires lots of holes, building a complete barn structure or something, a Beam Boring Machine is your better option.

Finally watch how they were made, at Footprint Sheffield England 

Bob