Brace and bit restoration project...

My little weekend project has been working with an old brace and bit, and set of auger bits. I picked them up for about £15 all together, and there are about 30 different bits. Some of the bits are damaged and they were all blunt. The brace itself seems to be in excellent working order, if a little tarnished in places. It has a ratchet mechanism which is working well, and a blessing when using the bigger diameter bits.

I bought a tiny file and found a youtube video with instruction on sharpening. An hour or so later I had salvaged 10 really nice bits that sharpened up and cut nicely. I'm pretty pleased.

We finished the evening making a mini-rocket-log. I bored a hole down vertically into the end grain of a log, then one to meet it horizontally into the side. The wood was a little on the green side, so it took a lot of coaxing to get get going, but then stayed burning steadily for about three hours at what would probably be best described as a "low simmer" - no rockety flames, but steady heat from embers lining the burn chimney. I'm thinking about fishing a bunch of logs out of the woodshed, drilling them now in advance, and letting them season for longer. The extra holes should speed it up.

Any ideas for simple bushcraft type projects? I'm thinking a split log stool with legs might be next. I also need to get a few longer bits, and at least one wider one. My widest is currently 1", but I'd like a 1.5".

Here are the videos I used as a guide

I use a brace and bit for chair making.  Christopher Schwarz has some interesting "staked" projects that you should check out.

I love Bit and Brace, so good for you for restoring one...and the bits that go with it!

I met Christopher Schwarz one day back when I was a machinist for Lie Nielsen, and from what little bit I got to know him, he seemed like a really nice guy.

I've never met him but I'm a fan of his work (my entire dining set was built based on his designs) but he seems like someone I would grab a beer with if I had an oportunity.

Thanks for the tip on the staked furniture stuff. I've watched a few videos. Very nice, and simple to do with hand tools! We occassionally slab up logs, so getting some nice pieces to use as benches etc... should be easy. Any idea where to get that conical reaming tool? Or the pencil sharpener thing with the conical profile?

Michael Cox wrote:Thanks for the tip on the staked furniture stuff. I've watched a few videos. Very nice, and simple to do with hand tools! We occassionally slab up logs, so getting some nice pieces to use as benches etc... should be easy. Any idea where to get that conical reaming tool? Or the pencil sharpener thing with the conical profile?

I ordered mine from Lee Valley tools.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,180,42288,54835&p=54835
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,180,42240,53317,54864&p=54864

Thanks for the link. At least I know what I'm looking for, but I'd rather find a supplier closer to home. I will shop around here in the UK.

Awesome