5 ms·

It's really sad that auger bits for braces aren't manufactured any more as far as I can tell. There are places that sell new old stock, and there are Irwin bits

by exDM69 9y ago

It's really sad that auger bits for braces aren't manufactured any more as far as I can tell. There are places that sell new old stock, and there are Irwin bits available but only in sets worth $500 (not sure if new or old stock). You might have to pay $30 for a single bit. I bought a bunch of random sized new old stock and I was lucky to obtain some untouched bits when I bought a dead man's tool chest a while back. I do woodworking exclusively with hand tools and the brace and bit is just a great tool. It's much nicer than hassling with power drills or trying to wrestle the work piece on the drill press. A cordless drill can get holes drilled just fine (although there's a risk of tearout on the opposite side) but for removing waste from mortises or other joinery a cordless drill is useless because you don't have a reliable depth stop. I also have an egg beater -style drill but unfortunately the chuck is broken. I won't bother buying a new one because I'll almost certainly get one when buying a set of old tools from someone in an online auction. Some old hand tools are much nicer to work with than their modern counterparts. It's not usually even much slower unless you're doing some mass manufacturing operation with a thousand similar holes or sawcuts. I could never afford a full shop of power tools or the space to put them in but I'm able to do almost anything with hand tools at a fraction of the money and space required.

cr0sh 9y ago
You mentioning mortices reminded me of a machine we had in our woodshop class in high school - we had a morticing (?) machine! It basically looked and worked like a drill press - but for "drilling" square holes! How you might ask? Well, pretty simple, actually: The "bit" was a drill bit fitted inside a piece of square tubing large enough to allow the bit to fit. At the working end of the tubing (or maybe along the length actually) were slots/holes to allow waste material to eject. The ends of the tubing were beveled (and likely hardened) to act as "chisels" to remove the remainder of the waste for a square hole. I never had a need to use the machine, so I don't know if these "bits" were removable and could be changed out for larger ones, etc - but I now suspect that to be the case; the bit I saw was around 1/2" wide - the machine was very large, and could probably handle up to 1.5" wide bits easily. Most all of the machine tooling in that large shop dated from years back. My high school was originally built to be the community college of the town, back in the late 1890s (IIRC). It was this way until around the 1940s, when it became the main high school of the town (lots of WPA structures on the campus as well). The city streets used to run thru the campus, but when I got there, they had blocked off the streets, but the campus was still "open" (my senior year was the last year of an "open campus" - afterward, they put fencing around the entire campus, and kids can no longer go off campus to eat during lunch). The industrial arts shop area was it's own self-contained unit, in a building right in front of the railroad tracks (the high school abutted the Santa Fe switch yard of the town); trains would go slowly by, rumbling the entire building. The woodshop was huge, easily a 2-3000 sqft space, two stories tall; the upper level was a storage space around a couple sides, but the rest of the floor was open to the ceiling. Built-in vacuum system with ports on the floor (sweep your wood shavings toward them to be sucked up and deposited outside). Lathes, joiners, drill presses, sanders, table saws, band saws, planers, a spray booth - you name it, this shop had it all. Most of the equipment dated from the 1940s and 50s, all in great working shape. Plenty of hand tools, etc. There was a metal shop too; from what I understand (I never got to see it) it allowed for a complete set of operations - casting, forging, bending, cutting, etc - and was as large as the woodshop and fully stocked as well. Also in the same building was the drafting class - whether you wanted to learn architectural or mechanical drafting, you could do it. This was before cheap computer-aided drafting was easily available, so everything was done on paper, and we got to make real blueprints as well! There was also shops for small-engine repair and automotive shop. So - in theory - that entire building had almost everything needed to manufacture something - from design to actual part. I wish I hadn't been such a geek back then; I really wish I had taken more of an interest in the metal arts, automotive, etc. All I ever took was the drafting and the woodshop class. And for what its worth, the woodshop class I did as a night class to earn extra credits I didn't need (I just wanted to use the shop). At the end of the class, our "final assignment" was to clean out that upper storage area. We all went up there to find a uniform layer of sawdust about 3 inches thick! Amazing the place never burned down! Anyhow, up there were also a ton of old student projects from years gone by - just left there, whether by accident, or because the person had no way to get them home, or maybe the rule at one time was you had to pay for the materials, and they had no way to pay? We found fine examples of student work, some of it dating from the 1950s onward; most had the name of the student and a date penciled on it somewhere (I went to high school from 88-91). Desks, a pew, tables, chairs, a grandfather clock. We even found a "US Civil Defense" pamphlet (with the Turtle guy in a GI helmet, telling you what to do in the event a nuclear bombing! That was another thing about this school - most of the buildings were designated fallout shelters in the basements - and some had "sub-basement" fallout shelters that were locked). We cleaned it all up, and left the woodwork in place. It was like a time capsule that we opened, cleaned up, then closed up again. I don't know if any of it still exists, if kids there are taught that stuff any more - or if any of them care to learn it. I know I missed out (I was always taking computer-oriented electives) - so today I've had to learn from others or self-teach myself stuff (fortunately I had some great people to learn from, and the internet today).
- exDM69 9y ago
  Sounds like a fantastic shop space! Mortising machines are not that uncommon in shops, we had one in my school and also a school I went to take woodworking classes as an adult a year or two back. Those machines tend to be high maintenance (requires skill to sharpen the bits!) and at least where I took classes they were out of order. > with the Turtle guy in a GI helmet, telling you what to do in the event a nuclear bombing! Hah! I know that guy. I was visiting the US recently and the San Francisco public library (best library I've ever been to!) had a cold war exhibit and some videos of that GI Turtle! > I don't know if any of it still exists, if kids there are taught that stuff any more I've heard that shop classes are in a decline (sad), but I there are regularly students showing off their high school shop class projects over at reddit's /r/woodworking, so at least some places have that as an option.
vlehto 9y ago
I seem to be wandering into tool making currently. What hand tools are you most missing that are not produced anymore? EDIT: Just noticed your other comment. I'm located in Finland too. I've had huge trouble finding hand drill with three jack chuck. I'm seriously considering making a small run of completely new ones.
- exDM69 9y ago
  Are you interested in tool making professionally or as a hobby? Or a small side business? I'm short of a chuck for an egg beater hand drill so if you intend to produce some, I'm interested. If professionally, I suggest thinking about cloning old fashioned auger bits because I'm pretty sure you could sell them in batches big enough to be commercially viable. If as a hobby - well do whatever you need. There are quite a few hand tool manufacturers appearing in the past few decades and business seems to be booming. There are new premium tools that sell for a nice price. A problem for commerically viable production is that there are so many old hand tools out there, hiding in sheds and shacks, on antiques stores, kept as decorative items, flea markets that the supply will last for at least a century before there's going to be a shortage. I personally need a router plane and/or a plough plane. There are new premium ones available at $150-$200, but I'm hesitant pay that because I know I'll run across an old Stanley 71 sooner or later. Leave your contact information if you want to geek out about tools & crafts.
  - vlehto 9y ago
    Sorry I'm late to the party. My idea was to make hand tools with a twist of some sort. As a small side business at first, but maybe get bigger over time. Currently I'm working on bit different type of pruning shears. I'd like to make "tactical" brace drill aimed for off-road enthusiasts and military personnel.

by exDM69 9y ago

cr0sh 9y ago

You mentioning mortices reminded me of a machine we had in our woodshop class in high school - we had a morticing (?) machine! It basically looked and worked like a drill press - but for "drilling" square holes! How you might ask? Well, pretty simple, actually: The "bit" was a drill bit fitted inside a piece of square tubing large enough to allow the bit to fit. At the working end of the tubing (or maybe along the length actually) were slots/holes to allow waste material to eject. The ends of the tubing were beveled (and likely hardened) to act as "chisels" to remove the remainder of the waste for a square hole. I never had a need to use the machine, so I don't know if these "bits" were removable and could be changed out for larger ones, etc - but I now suspect that to be the case; the bit I saw was around 1/2" wide - the machine was very large, and could probably handle up to 1.5" wide bits easily. Most all of the machine tooling in that large shop dated from years back. My high school was originally built to be the community college of the town, back in the late 1890s (IIRC). It was this way until around the 1940s, when it became the main high school of the town (lots of WPA structures on the campus as well). The city streets used to run thru the campus, but when I got there, they had blocked off the streets, but the campus was still "open" (my senior year was the last year of an "open campus" - afterward, they put fencing around the entire campus, and kids can no longer go off campus to eat during lunch). The industrial arts shop area was it's own self-contained unit, in a building right in front of the railroad tracks (the high school abutted the Santa Fe switch yard of the town); trains would go slowly by, rumbling the entire building. The woodshop was huge, easily a 2-3000 sqft space, two stories tall; the upper level was a storage space around a couple sides, but the rest of the floor was open to the ceiling. Built-in vacuum system with ports on the floor (sweep your wood shavings toward them to be sucked up and deposited outside). Lathes, joiners, drill presses, sanders, table saws, band saws, planers, a spray booth - you name it, this shop had it all. Most of the equipment dated from the 1940s and 50s, all in great working shape. Plenty of hand tools, etc. There was a metal shop too; from what I understand (I never got to see it) it allowed for a complete set of operations - casting, forging, bending, cutting, etc - and was as large as the woodshop and fully stocked as well. Also in the same building was the drafting class - whether you wanted to learn architectural or mechanical drafting, you could do it. This was before cheap computer-aided drafting was easily available, so everything was done on paper, and we got to make real blueprints as well! There was also shops for small-engine repair and automotive shop. So - in theory - that entire building had almost everything needed to manufacture something - from design to actual part. I wish I hadn't been such a geek back then; I really wish I had taken more of an interest in the metal arts, automotive, etc. All I ever took was the drafting and the woodshop class. And for what its worth, the woodshop class I did as a night class to earn extra credits I didn't need (I just wanted to use the shop). At the end of the class, our "final assignment" was to clean out that upper storage area. We all went up there to find a uniform layer of sawdust about 3 inches thick! Amazing the place never burned down! Anyhow, up there were also a ton of old student projects from years gone by - just left there, whether by accident, or because the person had no way to get them home, or maybe the rule at one time was you had to pay for the materials, and they had no way to pay? We found fine examples of student work, some of it dating from the 1950s onward; most had the name of the student and a date penciled on it somewhere (I went to high school from 88-91). Desks, a pew, tables, chairs, a grandfather clock. We even found a "US Civil Defense" pamphlet (with the Turtle guy in a GI helmet, telling you what to do in the event a nuclear bombing! That was another thing about this school - most of the buildings were designated fallout shelters in the basements - and some had "sub-basement" fallout shelters that were locked). We cleaned it all up, and left the woodwork in place. It was like a time capsule that we opened, cleaned up, then closed up again. I don't know if any of it still exists, if kids there are taught that stuff any more - or if any of them care to learn it. I know I missed out (I was always taking computer-oriented electives) - so today I've had to learn from others or self-teach myself stuff (fortunately I had some great people to learn from, and the internet today).

exDM69 9y ago
Sounds like a fantastic shop space! Mortising machines are not that uncommon in shops, we had one in my school and also a school I went to take woodworking classes as an adult a year or two back. Those machines tend to be high maintenance (requires skill to sharpen the bits!) and at least where I took classes they were out of order. > with the Turtle guy in a GI helmet, telling you what to do in the event a nuclear bombing! Hah! I know that guy. I was visiting the US recently and the San Francisco public library (best library I've ever been to!) had a cold war exhibit and some videos of that GI Turtle! > I don't know if any of it still exists, if kids there are taught that stuff any more I've heard that shop classes are in a decline (sad), but I there are regularly students showing off their high school shop class projects over at reddit's /r/woodworking, so at least some places have that as an option.

vlehto 9y ago

I seem to be wandering into tool making currently. What hand tools are you most missing that are not produced anymore? EDIT: Just noticed your other comment. I'm located in Finland too. I've had huge trouble finding hand drill with three jack chuck. I'm seriously considering making a small run of completely new ones.

exDM69 9y ago
Are you interested in tool making professionally or as a hobby? Or a small side business? I'm short of a chuck for an egg beater hand drill so if you intend to produce some, I'm interested. If professionally, I suggest thinking about cloning old fashioned auger bits because I'm pretty sure you could sell them in batches big enough to be commercially viable. If as a hobby - well do whatever you need. There are quite a few hand tool manufacturers appearing in the past few decades and business seems to be booming. There are new premium tools that sell for a nice price. A problem for commerically viable production is that there are so many old hand tools out there, hiding in sheds and shacks, on antiques stores, kept as decorative items, flea markets that the supply will last for at least a century before there's going to be a shortage. I personally need a router plane and/or a plough plane. There are new premium ones available at $150-$200, but I'm hesitant pay that because I know I'll run across an old Stanley 71 sooner or later. Leave your contact information if you want to geek out about tools & crafts.
- vlehto 9y ago
  Sorry I'm late to the party. My idea was to make hand tools with a twist of some sort. As a small side business at first, but maybe get bigger over time. Currently I'm working on bit different type of pruning shears. I'd like to make "tactical" brace drill aimed for off-road enthusiasts and military personnel.