Boring bit tip protector

Jim_Rogers · August 25, 2006, 04:56:10 PM

A while ago, I traveled to a timber framing school in Western MA. I noticed something strange when a student walked by with a boring machine bit in his hand. It had something on the end of the bit.

I stopped him and asked what was up, with the bit?

He showed it to me:

He said it was a regular plastic bottle cap, and that they were using it to protect the wings and threads on the lead screw of the bit.
In this position, shown above, the cap protects the lead screw from being damaged if the bit is left in a tool box.
They said there was a lot of discussion of this as this really doesn't protect the wings of the bit, and that the cap should be the other side up, so that the wings would be protected as these are the parts that cut the wood when the holes are bored.
But others argued that the tip and lead screw needed protecting as this is what pulls the bit into the wood.

We have solved this problem here at my shop:

We just used two caps.
The plan was to super glue two together and then bore a small hole in the center for the lead screw tip to thread into but I didn't have any new super glue on hand so I just screwed both of them onto the tip.....

Now while traveling in a tool box the bit tips are protected.....

Just a different way to store bits, I thought you might like to see this.....

Jim Rogers

Raphael · August 25, 2006, 07:45:25 PM

Nice... That's a really simple solution... I've got big corks screwed onto a couple of mine but like the single cap they don't protect the wings.

One of my best bits rides in an wax coated (Anchorseal) cardboard tube blocked w/ a styrofoam plugs, the guy I bought it from shipped it this way (minus the wax) and I thought it was pretty handy. I drop a couple of dessicant packs in with it to prevent rust.

Don P · August 25, 2006, 09:00:30 PM

I've got lipped and unlipped just banging around in a box. I guess there'll be single and double baggers :D. Thanks, that's a good tip.

logman · August 25, 2006, 09:06:23 PM

I just keep mine in the plastic sleeves that they come in. I also keep my corner chisel in one of the sleeves, it fits perfectly, I think it's a 1" sleeve.

Raphael · August 26, 2006, 01:00:46 AM

I keep my ship augers in their original plastic sleeves as well.
I wish I could buy new boring machine augers... I saw a complete MIB 10 bit set of Russell Jennings boring machine bits get split and sold individually for $50-120ea.