I for one would love to see plans and a build of that bit box with the flip top and drawers. Or at least dimensions

The ratchet on a brace is also a big help when using a large bit. It lets you use only the part of the rotation of the brace where you are pulling it toward you, maybe 45 degrees. Then ratchet it back to where that segment of the circle starts again and repeat until done. The clockwise ratchet on several large sweep braces I have are so worn that they no longer engage, possibly from being used that way.

Another overlooked addition to the tool box to replace power drills are Yankee push drills. I discovered them decades ago, very handy for making pilot holes and other small diameter drilling tasks, my go-to for simple installs, picture hanging, and other repairs around the house. The bits are easy to re-sharpen. Used push drills can be found at garage and estate sales for low prices as there's not much demand.

I just used a brace with the ratchet for the first time the other day. My shoulder has been messed up and I was boring a 7/8" hole through willow and I couldn't make a full rotation without searing pain, so I made many 1/4 rotations and got the job done without the pain. This is a great video. Thanks!

Rex sent me. Great vid!

The subject, boring. The content, drilled through the history. I know that's was lousy. I very much enjoyed and learned watchng this video. ty

Are the shavings by the door acting as a draft excluder? :)

You bored a board!! Nice Vid😀 I worked in an old boatyard back in the 80’s before battery drills..the brace was used with a screwdriver bit and the guys had ratchet braces to drive the screws in the ribs of wooden boats.

“Awl return to it” at 2:59 was either a he best pun ever made or a huge missed opportunity

I love center bits even though the only one I have is a 1 inch Japanese made, round shank one from I guess sometime after WW2? Maybe 60’s to the 80’s? It’s rather rough in terms of manufacture, but it still cuts very well! Oddly, you can find pictures of them online by googling “Japan spade bit”. I wish I can find more or a complete set.

Very interesting thank you, many of these tools and bits I still have, though most unused for many years now. Many thanks for posting, greetings from the UK.

The history of this joint is deep in time. It took me a good year to cut one right.

No mention of ship's augers, and the under-appreciated barefoot ship's auger. Thanks

Would like to see some more close up photo work.

I presume even with the hand drill or bow drill type of device with a flint or rock chip fixed to the spindle was a next step too. Actually faster or as fast as an electric drill, they home made brace and bit. I really don't like going over 1-1/4" hole on a large throw brace. it just become a grunt, T-auger is the way to go for sure. If I am not mistake the feed screw was developed around early 1800's maybe 1790's? I have the chance to attend a TFGuild event where we build a geometric designed frame, a lot of hand tools and we got to use a Nose auger bit a step up from a spoon bit in that it had a flat bottom, half exposed as a bottom cutter, we used a gouge to tap in a circle as a starter, this was performed to bore a single hole in a mortice where all the rest of the mortice was hand chiseled into that one hole. It would be cool to look into the bottom of an old mortice and see a single hole with no feed screw tip evident, just the flat bottom. Also a way to help aid the joinery time of the building. With my hand crank barm beam boring machines I have accumulated many bits with a selection of different tpi on the feed screw from course to fine as an additional aid in harder or softer wood to ease or speed up the chip lifting ability. Nice save on the chips at the door for draft control.

Not boring at all. :) Thanks for the info.

Very interesting video, thanks for making it! Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the bits you were talking about too well. I’m watching your vids on a phone, and you didn’t make any close-up shots. They would have been very helpful. And, you kind of hid the hand-made bit every time you took it out of it’s brace, so I didn’t get an idea of what it’s structure looked like or how it worked/ connected in.

Excellent

I'd been wondering about the new wooden brace on the back wall

That's awl folks

Great video, awlthough we couldn't see awl of Mike's face awl the time.

Do you use Forstner bits?

I did not see the method of making holes that was used by my father and his forefathers forever in the highlands of Scotland. They just used a red hot Iron of different sizes to burn the holes through the wood. If the iron did not go all the way through they reheated the iron until it was red hot again. Ian Greig

If youwere using a brace for plumbing, you would require that ratcheting feature every day.

y no forstener bit

contrary to the title, it was not boring!!! No pun intended

...... or you could say; the boring history of holes. LOL

😅

Matt Yglesias sent me here

So boring...🤣

Kind of an awl or nothing video.