Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

Thanks,
Stephen.

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

None of the ones that require center guidance will work.
You can fill the hole with a scrap of dowel or similar and then use a spade
if you want.
Or you can put a scrap of wood over the hole and drill trough it with a
spade.

In article ,
Stephen writes:
Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

I doubt an auger bit would be much more successful.
I would expect particuler difficulty getting it started.

What size and depth hole are you wanting to increase,
and to what new size? A router would be a good option
in some cases.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
Stephen wrote:
I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

Non are really suitable as they all use some form of centering.

Could you glue a bit of dowel in the hole and start again, as it were?

Other way might be with a router and suitable cutter.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 5 Nov, 09:40, Stephen
wrote:

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

You can do this with an auger (a helically twisted one at least, not
an old spoon bit) provided that you give it a start by bunging the top
of the hole up with a temporary plug that's at least one diameter
deep. Once you have it started, it'll carry on guiding itself from the
sides (for knife-and-fork levels of quality).

A spade bit OTOH won't guide itself from the hole walls at all, and it
needs a centre point all thwe way through.

If you're getting fussy about quality, buy yourself a cheap set of
sawtooth bits (similar to Forstners). If you also do some work on
their edges with a small diamond hone beforehand, the "tenner a set"
happy-shopper ones are usable.

On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:40:05 +0000, Stephen wrote:

Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

Thanks,
Stephen.

=========================================
A Forstner bit would be a better bet as it has a cutting edge on the outer
perimeter of the bit. Success would depend to some extent on the original
hole size and the planned new hole size. Example he

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/92393/...t-Set-5-Pieces

Cic.
--
==========================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
==========================================

"Cicero" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:40:05 +0000, Stephen wrote:

Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

Thanks,
Stephen.

=========================================
A Forstner bit would be a better bet as it has a cutting edge on the outer
perimeter of the bit. Success would depend to some extent on the original
hole size and the planned new hole size. Example he

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/92393/...t-Set-5-Pieces

Cic.
--
==========================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
==========================================


Even they require a central support for guidance.
He needs to plug the hole first or route it wider.

On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:10:19 +0000, George wrote:


"Cicero" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:40:05 +0000, Stephen wrote:

Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

The diy faq says that you cannot use spade bits to enlarge an existing
hole. It doesn't say anything about augers. Can augers be used to
widen a hole or do you need a hole saw for that?

Thanks,
Stephen.

=========================================
A Forstner bit would be a better bet as it has a cutting edge on the outer
perimeter of the bit.
Success would depend to some extent on the original hole size and the
planned new hole size. Example he

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/92393/...t-Set-5-Pieces

Cic.

------------------------------------------------

Even they require a central support for guidance. He needs to plug the
hole first or route it wider.

=========================================
No, they don't.

Positioning the bit centrally over the existing hole can be done by
measurement but the main cutting edge is the outer edge and doesn't need a
central gimlet to pull the bit into the wood.

I've just done a test hole - 20mm hole enlarged to 35mm giving a perfectly
clean cut with no central guidance from the enlarging bit.

Cic.
--
==========================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
==========================================

On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:06:25 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

None of the ones that require center guidance will work.
You can fill the hole with a scrap of dowel or similar and then use a spade
if you want.
Or you can put a scrap of wood over the hole and drill trough it with a
spade.

Thanks for the fast replies.

I drilled a 25mm hole for some Pb 22mm pipe. I would think filling
such large holes would be tricky? I was interested in the second idea
about covering the hole with a scrap of wood, but what happens once
the spade breaks through that? Surely it would just start to bounce
everywhere?

Anyway, I used a holesaw and that did the trick. I might still pick up
some augers though, I understand they are neater than spades. What is
the Screwfix own brand "erbaurer" like?

Thanks,

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:06:25 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

None of the ones that require center guidance will work.
You can fill the hole with a scrap of dowel or similar and then use a
spade
if you want.
Or you can put a scrap of wood over the hole and drill trough it with a
spade.

Thanks for the fast replies.

I drilled a 25mm hole for some Pb 22mm pipe. I would think filling
such large holes would be tricky? I was interested in the second idea
about covering the hole with a scrap of wood, but what happens once
the spade breaks through that? Surely it would just start to bounce
everywhere?

No more than when it is breaking through a normal hole as the scrap
stabalises it a bit.
It works even better with forstner bits which is what i think you probably
want as they are more versatile than augers,
Something like http://www.screwfix.com/prods/17412.
They will stay centered when you go through the scrap as they are pretty
round.


Anyway, I used a holesaw and that did the trick. I might still pick up
some augers though, I understand they are neater than spades. What is
the Screwfix own brand "erbaurer" like?

I have no idea.
I have some cheap aldi forstner bits and they are OK for what I do.

,

Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

Bear in mind that many of these auger sets have 13mm shafts and might not
fit your drill chuck.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are their
"erbaurer" brand any good?

Bear in mind that many of these auger sets have 13mm shafts and might not
fit your drill chuck.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk



Are you from Lancashire Chuck. :-)

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message om...
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I am thinking of buying a cheap set of augers from Screwfix. Are
their "erbaurer" brand any good?

Bear in mind that many of these auger sets have 13mm shafts and
might not fit your drill chuck.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk



Are you from Lancashire Chuck. :-)

Thankfully no. :-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On 5 Nov, 12:10, "George" wrote:

Even they [Forstners] require a central support for guidance.
He needs to plug the hole first or route it wider.

They don't. They'll even drill a clean hole if they're only drilling
timber abbout 2/3rd of the hole diameter (i.e. a chord of the hole is
overhanging the edge). Obviously starting the cut needs _either_ a
centre guide point, or a fairly rigid drill press to hold it together.

However most "Forstners" for sale are actuallt sawtooth bits (teeth on
the edge). These are less stable and self-guiding than the true smooth-
edged Forstner (as Screwfix sell), but they'll still do a reasonable
job.

On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:44:05 GMT, Cicero
wrote:

A Forstner bit would be a better bet as it has a cutting edge on the outer
perimeter of the bit.

Thanks for the tip about the shank size.

I have not heard of forstner's before, so I will look into those. One
obvious disadvantage is that they look quite short, so they can't
replace a 400mm auger.

It's a shame that the Screfix sets have a 15mm rather than 16mm bit: a
15mm hole might be a bit tight for a 15mm pipe.

I had a quick read on wikipedia and it seemed to suggest they require
some force and cannot be used in hand drills. Is this so?

It looks as though they are like hole saws but with the advantage that
you can drill to any depth, whereas with a hole saw you have to come
out the other side.

On Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:30:07 +0000, Stephen wrote:

On Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:44:05 GMT, Cicero
wrote:

A Forstner bit would be a better bet as it has a cutting edge on the outer
perimeter of the bit.

Thanks for the tip about the shank size.

I have not heard of forstner's before, so I will look into those. One
obvious disadvantage is that they look quite short, so they can't
replace a 400mm auger.

It's a shame that the Screfix sets have a 15mm rather than 16mm bit: a
15mm hole might be a bit tight for a 15mm pipe.

I had a quick read on wikipedia and it seemed to suggest they require
some force and cannot be used in hand drills. Is this so?

It looks as though they are like hole saws but with the advantage that
you can drill to any depth, whereas with a hole saw you have to come
out the other side.
=========================================
They are quite short - typically about 90 / 100mm overall. They do require
some force AND a fairly strong grip if you're using in a hand drill. My
technique is to press the bit firmly into the wood and start the drill on
a slow speed whilst maintaining strong pressure. If you're trying to
enlarge an existing hole you do need strong pressure to prevent the drill
wandering off. If you've got a woodworking brace you can use a
Forstner bit in that but it is very hard work. If you're using a bench
drill it's easy work and the depth of hole is only limited by the length
of the bit.

If you only have one or two 15mm holes to enlarge to 16mm it would be
easier to use a file saw in your drill, a round wood rasp or even a
blacksmith's drill. Blacksmith's drills are quite expensive but rasps are
usually available from cheap shops like Poundland.

Cic.
--
==========================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
==========================================