A reader sent in these images of an old auger he has, with the question, what is the tool's actual name?
It seems to be (more or less) a 1/2" spoon bit but with a flat end, it makes a nice 90° square corner hole. As a hand-operated auger, it would seem to be not a very efficient way of drilling a hole, but it does give the advantage of not having a lead screw to limit the drill depth.
4 comments:
I think it's a shell auger; specifically a lamp auger. After a wooden lamp post was turned on the lathe, the tailstock was cleared and the auger was held against the bottom to bore a hole through the center. The lathe did the work and the "shell" provided clearance for chip build-up.
Here's a picture of a new one you can buy (not Sorby):
https://woodworker.com/38-shell-auger-bit-mssu-153-314.asp
and here's a pdf of the original Sorby instructions:
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/library/manuals/sorby/Use-and-Care-of-the-Lamp-Standard-Shell-Auger.pdf
Dang! The ONE time I recognize something I get beat to the punch to describe. lol.
Excellent! Thanks!
I'm still thinking about this. It looks like a 19th C tool to me and when "lamp" is referenced, I can only think of an electric table lamp, turned on the lathe with a hole up the center for the cord with possibly a flat bottomed hole for washer and nut. But they would not have come into being till much later?
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