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Thread: Brace bits

  1. #1
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    Default Brace bits

    In an effort to make my bench top both visible and useable I am attempting to clear some of the clutter that fell into the too hard bin during previous efforts.
    One such item was a 3 litre tin of auger bits from my late grandfather's collection. In sorting out the bits there seem to be two types. Those with 'wings' (pretty sure that is the correct technical term) at the top and those without, as per the photo. My question is why the difference and what are the correct applications for each type?
    There were also couple of other bits. Two of them seem to be for predrilling wood screws. They are stamped with a 6 and 8 which I am guessing is the screw gauge. The other bit seems to be for countersinking.
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  3. #2
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    Although I'm no auger bit expert (so stand to be corrected) I believe the wings/ spurs are to score the perimeter of the hole to mitigate tearout whilst drilling. Much like that found on spade bits and some forstner bits.



    Kind regards,
    Lance

  4. #3
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    I have just become interested in Bits n Brace and have acquired 4 braces, all but one had problems, one may have been run over by a truck and others had damaged jaws and bent springs in the jaws.the one good one is an engels, probably german made and works fine , from the local mens shed , I made a donation, I went back and they produced a box of bits, I bought 6 for a dollar each, larger sizes , all had been sharpened in a manner to render them useless, luckily a mate who is a tech trained saw doctor from the old days worked his magic and they cut well and fast, I chose ones with wings to start a clean profile, there must be heaps of them out there rusting away and im on the lookout for a mint Stanley brace,if you drilling a hole over 18mm or so they are a great alternative , Cheers , Ross

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    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    I would say the one on the left is a Russell Jennings bit in fact I think I can see a bit of his name on the shank and a part of the Stanley logo.Lance is correct about the purpose of the wings.
    The right hand one is called a "scotch bit" nothing to do with Scotland but old English for score or gouge. These are more frequently found in Aus' because they were cheaper to buy and if you didn't need a perfect hole bored they were "good enough".
    The second photo is a pair of gimlets or nail bits as you said useful for predrilling for screws or nails. The numbers stamped on the tang are probably the size in mm being the bits are made in Germany one by Fr. Eduard Engels the same mob that made Ross' brace.
    Finally the countersink, also by Engels, a friend of mine pointed out a set of bits for boring cast iron of the same profile. I have my doubts about boring cast iron with a brace and bit, so lets stick with counter sink.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

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    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Found this countersink in a 1931 Henry Boker catalogue.
    Cheers.
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    Brace and bits in the antique section of the forum. Starting to feel slightly old here. It is all we used in my apprenticeship workshop to fasten and undo screws from 1980-84. Best braces had the least off set from the handle to the centreline as they were the quicker ones.

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    I believe the auger bits without wings are for boring into end grain.
    New Zealand

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    Quote Originally Posted by artful bodger View Post
    Brace and bits in the antique section of the forum. Starting to feel slightly old here. It is all we used in my apprenticeship workshop to fasten and undo screws from 1980-84. Best braces had the least off set from the handle to the centreline as they were the quicker ones.
    Same here in 65 to 69 plus of course a Yankee pump screwdriver.
    You had to be carefull of the brass screws as they’d shear off.
    Surely they had battery screwdrivers in your day.
    Hang on! Sydney Uni Civil Engineering Pattern/modelshop didnt have one until about 2004 when I bought them one at the Sydney WWS. Still got the freeby Hitachi umbrella.
    H.
    Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)

  10. #9
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    Bits with spurs were for softwoods and the ones without were for hardwoods., sometimes using softwood augers to start the first 5mm then switch.

  11. #10
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    I've got some NOS Titan and Stanley Australia bits. One has a copyright date 1982 on it, doesn't seem all that long ago to me. Jennings pattern claims "clean fast cutting action in all woods". Titan Scotch pattern says "specially ground and sharpened for all hardwoods" and Stanley Scotch says "specially designed for hardwoods and rough timber".
    Coles price tag on the 8/16" is marked down twice from $2.25 to $1.25 finally $0.75, I wonder how long they sat on the shelf. Also advised "for best results use a Stanley bit brace"
    Cheers,
    Geoff.
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  12. #11
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    Thanks Geoff.
    I cleaned up all my bits over the last couple of days to try and find out what I had.
    Group 1 were all branded Alrfrid, Sheffield. They just had numbers stamped on the boss (?) which I later worked out was sixteenths. They all have 'wings'.
    Group 2 were all 'winged', sizes were stamped in differing positions and were branded Russell Jennings Stanley, Titan and no brand.
    Group 3 without 'wings' had sizes stamped in differing positions and were branded Morrison, Titan, Wm. Ridgway, Alfrid, Gilpins and Mathieson.
    The Alfrid bits have a different corkscrew pattern.
    Are you able to identify the brace? There doesn't appear to be a brand on it.
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  13. #12
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Your brace looks like a generic Japanese brace frequently found here and quite usable but I couldn't put a brand name to it.
    The solid centre bits are Irwin pattern after the patentee Charles Irwin in the US in 1889 (US Pat 404,197). This style were first patented by William Dimitt in 1884 (US Pat 306,907) and assigned to Charles Irwin.
    A researcher in the US, James Price, tells an interesting story about these bits, from memory goes like this. Soon after they were in production a travelling salesman was touring the USA promoting the bits. He encountered a man who said " there's nothing new about them, I've got some I've had for thirty years". He showed them to the salesman but wouldn't give him an example to take back to Ohio to show the boss. Was this a case of parallel invention 30 years apart or theft of an unpatented idea, we'll probably never know.
    Mr Price has, for many years, been looking for examples of the earlier version to verify that story.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

  14. #13
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    Hi there. Just discovered I have the same brace in a box of tools my dad gave me. Has anyone got any more info on the brace?

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    Years ago when I worked on cattle station there were a heap of old braces on the wall there the old bloke had made out of old 303 barrels with a wedge in them to hold the bit for drilling holes in fence posts. Wish I had paid a bit more attention to those sort of things instead of cursing using them when the electrics weren’t working

  16. #15
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    That's the sort of thing I like to come across Cam.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

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