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handful of old auger drill bits

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Tools and Hardware3634 of 9815Grandpa B's 2-man logging sawold flame-heated soldering iron
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    Posted 7 years ago

    AnythingOb…
    (1778 items)

    And here's (probably) the last of the (hopefully) interesting 'dumpster dive' items.

    Eight assorted old auger type drill bits, for use boring holes into wood with an old fashioned "brace". The original 'cordless drill'. ;-)

    The five pointed upwards in pic 1 have brand/maker's marks, the other three are unmarked but for a size number stamped on the shank of the two long ones. All are either 8-1/2" or 18" long except for the totally unmarked one (far RH) which is 10" long.

    Pic 2 shows makers stampings from bottom to top. (as seen L-R in pic 1)

    RUSSELL JENNINGS
    WINCHESTER -TRADE MARK- MADE IN U.S.A. 1406 6
    TH[E JA]MES SWAN CO NO 40 U.S.A.
    The IRWIN Bit Reg. U.S.Pat.Off. MADE IN U.S.A. [?T]AINBOR[E]
    IRWIN US OF A 10

    (letters appearing within [ ] cannot be made out, and are my guesses)

    Pics 3 & 4 shows the totally unmarked 10" bit which might be the most interesting of all. Unlike any of the others, this one looks particularly like it could have been 'hand forged' to me, with its not uniformly round shaft and rather crudely formed (or joined?) initial 'twist'. Most of the length of its 'twist' and cutting point, on the other hand, seem much more uniformly (machine) made. If nothing else, I'm betting this one is the oldest of the whole bunch, from the early 1900's or maybe even older.

    The newest is likely the long IRWIN #10 example having an octagonal section in its shaft and the remains of a shiny factory finish remaining. It is probably a product of the 1960's (or even newer) but I'm guessing the rest of them range within the first half of the 1900's instead.

    I'd known of IRWIN bits (they still make 'em, AFAIK) but have never heard of RUSSELL JENNINGS or The SWAN CO before -- and didn't realize that WINCHESTER ARMS also made tools in addition to firearms. If anyone has further info handy about any of these, please share!! :-) :-)

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