W. A. Ives 13/16" Auger Bit Repair

I didn't think this was possible, but I was able to repair the lead screw of an auger bit.  I got this auger bit in a box of tools that I bought for $10 at a mini auction.  When auger bits are not stored properly, the lead screws (and spurs) can take a beating.

There it is in the middle

The bit was made by W. A. Ives and Co. and shows a patent date of Feb 28, '69 (or maybe '89).

Makers mark

Patent date

There was a little information on Sandy Moss' website regarding W. A. Ives.  William A. Ives worked in and around New Haven, CT and received over a dozen patents for braces and other boring tools between 1868 and 1884.

The bit as found was useless.  When I tried to bore a hole with it, it stalled after the lead screw was embedded in the wood.  The flutes of the screw were so worn down that they wouldn't pull the bit any further into the wood.  And little bits of wood got stuck between flutes, rendering them even more useless.

The bit in question at left, next to a bit in good condition at right

Look at the difference in the two lead screws above.  The lead screw flutes of the Ives bit were rounded over and very worn.

I have wondered if it is possible to rehab the flutes of auger bits.  Bob Rozaieski has an article on his website about sharpening auger bits.  Most articles I've seen about this topic only cover sharpening the spurs and cutting edges.  But Bob shows two things for the lead screw flutes.  First, he uses a triangular file to clean up the lead screw and second, he puts a bunch of polishing compound on the lead screw and twists it into wood several times to polish the threads.

I only used the file technique here, but I didn't think a triangular file would get as deep into the flutes as I needed.  Earlier this year I found a bunch of very fine files at a garage sale.  The file I used was a 3 1/2" half-round file with extremely fine teeth.

Small file with very fine teeth

"Half-round" is a misnomer here, as the round part is not a half circle - it's more like 1/6th circle.  So the angle the file has at its edges is much smaller than the 60° angle of a triangular file.  It took me probably 10-15 filings to get the teeth to look better and allow the bit to bore a hole, but I finally got it working.

Here it is after a little bit of filing

And a little more

And here's how it ended up

I realized after a couple rounds with the file that the bit is "double-helix" fluted.  I had only been filing half the flutes.  After filing the other half, things improved quickly.

If you don't mind a little close-up work with a file, don't throw out those auger bits whose lead screws are poorly shaped.  Maybe they can be fixed!