OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

271391 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑07‑04 Re: Hand forged auger bit, how old?
> 
> Chris:
> 
> Could the twist be the remains of a left-hand screw thread, used for screwing
on another piece? The idea in my mind is that it might be the handle segment of
a wooden pipe auger, maybe ten feet long overall but made in segments so that it
could be broken down for easy carrying from farm to farm. Either George Sturt or
Walter Rose has a chapter on making wooden well pumps, which involved long pipe
augurs. If the segments connected with left-hand screws but the cutting end was
right-hand it would tighten in use; if everything was right-hand, it wouldd come
apart in use, potentially leaving the cutting end stuck in the log.
> Tom ConroyBerkeley


I’ve showed this before but it is so cool that I will again

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Ship fitter and pump maker, late 17th c, Rotterdam.  Ships used pumps too
because at the time they leaked pretty horribly.  And using trunnels to fasten
planks, one of them sprung pretty often.  The pump augers appear to be all one
piece, but in Wilmington DE where I lived for 3 decades, they would still dig up
a piece of wooden pipe underground, sometimes 20 feet long.

Ed Minch

Recent Bios FAQ