Thread: Cleaning auger bits

Originally Posted by Morbius

will citric acid eat the chrome off bits?

I'm not the resident expert. Borringgeoff where are you....?

I use citric acid for the initial de-rust - however I've never found a chromed one (nor nickle-plated). Maybe what you're looking at is a highly polished finish? If so, I wouldn't put it in citric acid (or any other acid), but give it a wipe down with an oily rag and use it. Almost all of mine have come with light, medium, or fatal rust - hence the citric acid bath - and even then I won't put the better ones through the acid.

HTH.

Cheers, Vann.

Thanks Vann
These are Irwin bits
Glad you told me about them being highly polished
Unless I hear otherwise I'll go with the oily rag option

Craig

Good morning Vann and Craig,

I've found a small publication from 1928 by Greenlee Tool Co, of Rockford Illinois, on the making of an auger bit and they claim that the polishing of their bits accounts for 30- 40% of the time and cost of manufacture. Various grades of emery are employed and various shapes of wheel to suit the different parts of the auger being polished. For instance, to get down into the throat, just behind the cutters, they use a slim belt run between two pulleys.
To polish the lead screw, "Since it is impossible to polish the screw point on a wheel, the bit is placed in an ordinary hand brace. After covering the screw point with emery and oil it is screwed into a plank of hard maple and is then withdrawn.This is usually done twice. Besides leaving the point with a polished surface, this operation also determines if the screw point will pull the bit into the wood".

Greenlee point out that there are about 45 steps in the making of an auger bit and they are all by hand where the operator uses a power hammer or other machinery for various steps. Throughout the process there is accountability so that "imperfect work can be traced back to the man who caused it". (I like their attitude.)

I hope this is of interest.
Cheers,
Geoff.