IMPROVEMENTS IN BORING BITS, AND AUGERS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cornelius Whitehouse, of Bridgtown, near
Cannock, in the County of Stafford, Edge Tool and Auger
Maker, in the Employ of, William Gilpin, senior, and Company, of
Wedgesmills, and Churchbridge, Cannock, aforesaid, for the Inven-.
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BORING BITS, AND AUGERS."
Sealed the 27th November 1868, and dated the 13th June 1868..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cornelius Whiteliouse.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 13th June 1868.
.
I, CORNELIUS WHITEHOUSE;. of Bridgtown, near Cannock, in the
County of Stafford, Edge Tool and Auger Maker, in the Employ of
William Gilpin, senior, and Company, of Wedgesmills and Church-.
bridge, Cannock, aforesaid, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BORING BITS AND AUGERS," to be as
follows:-

page_text: Instead of making the boring bit or auger of a solid helical figure,
as usual, I make the said boring bit or auger hollow and somewhat of
a forked figure, that is, of a rectangular frame open on opposite sides,
the bottom end or nose of the said frame being provided with a helical
or inclined blade or blades, or cutting edges. The opposite end of the
frame to that at which the blades or cutting edges are situated is
provided with the ordinary stem or tang to be fitted to the handle of
the bit or auger. In the centre of the nose end of the frame described
an ordinary worm may be made, but boring bits or augers constructed
according to my Invention may be made without a central worm; the
nose or acting end of the bit or auger may be flat, or convex, or
pointed. The blades or cutting edges of the bits or augers are made
on two opposite sides of the nose, or on one side only. When the nose
of the bit.or auger is pointed and without a worm each side of the
pointed blade is made into a cutting edge; the inner sides of the
rectangular frame of the bit or auger are made flat and the outer sides.
convex.
In using a boring bit or auger constructed according to my Invention
the wood or material cut or bored out enters the fork or frame of the
tool, and thereby prevents the said cut out parts from offering any
resistance to the action of the tool. Instead of making the fork or frame
of the boring bit or auger with parallel sides the said bit or auger may
be made with taper sides, the taper fork or frame being widest at its
junction with the stem or tang, and instead of employing the two sides
of the fork or frame one side only may be used. I prefer to make the
forked part or frame of the bit or auger by rolling a strip of steel of the
required section, and making in its middle the inclined blade or blades
or cutting edges, and, if a central worm is required, also forming a
stud or projection from which the worm is to be cut. By bending the
strip at its middle upon a mandril, and welding its ends to a stem or
tang a bit or auger is formed, which is finished by grinding and filing
and cutting the central worm, should a worm be required.
I do not limit myself to any particular method of manufacturing my
improved bits or augers.
Boring bits and augers constructed according to my Invention are
less costly, and more durable, and more easily manufactured than boring
bits and augers of the ordinary construction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Cornelius Whitehouse in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CORNELIUS
5 WHITEHOUSE, of Bridgtown, near Cannock, in the County of Stafford,
Edge Tool and Auger Maker, in the Employ of William Gilpin, senior,
and Company, of. Wedgesmills and Churchbridge, Cannock, aforesaid,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in
the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Cornelius Whitehouse,
Her special licence that I, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Cornelius Whitehouse, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BORING BITS AND AUGERS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Cornelius
Whitehouse, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
the construction of boring bits and augers.
Instead of making the boring bit or auger of a solid helical figure, as
usual, I make the said boring bit or auger hollow and somewhat of a

page_text: fórked figure, that is, of a rectangular frame open on opposite sides, the
bottom end or nose of the said frame being provided with a helical or
inclined blade or blades, or cutting edges. The opposite end of the
frame to that at which the blades or cutting edges are situated is pro-
vided with the ordinary stem or tang to be fitted to the handle of the
bit or auger. In the centre of the nose end of the frame described an
ordinary worm may be made, but boring bits or augers constructed
according to my Invention may be made without a central worm
or point; the nose or acting end of the bit or auger may be 'flat,
or convex, or pointed. The blades or cutting edges of the bits or augers
are made on two opposite sides of the nose or on one side only. When
the nose of the bit or auger is pointed and without a worm ench side
of the pointed blade is made into a cutting edge. The inner sides of
the rectangular frame of the bit or auger are made flat, and the outer
'sides convex.
In using a boring bit or auger constructed according to my Invention
the wood or material cut or bored out enters the fork or frame of the
-tool, and thereby prevents the said cut out parts from offering any
assistance to the action of the tool. Instead of making the fork or
frame of the boring bit or auger with parallel sides the said -bit or auger
may be made with taper sides, the taper fork or frame being widest
at its junction with the stem or tang, and instead of employing the two
sides of the fork or frame one side only may be used.
Boring bits and augers constructed according to my Invention are
less costly, and more durable, and more easily manufactured than boring
bits and augers of the ordinary construction.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent side elevations taken at right angles to one
another, and an end clevation of a boring bit or auger made according
to one form of my Invention; and Figure 3 is a cross section of the
same taken through the line x, Figure 1. The body of the boring bit
or auger consists of a rectangular frame b open on opposite sides. This
frame I will herein-after call the barrel. On the bottom or nose end c
of the barrel b are two helical or inclined blades or cutting edges d, d;
and at the centre of the said nose end is a worm e. The blades or
cutting edges d, d, are made on opposite sides of the nose end c of the

page_text: barrel 6 of the boring bit or auger, as seen in Figures 1 and 2, the said
blades or cutting edges starting from or being continuations of the
thread of the central worm e. The opposite end of the barrel 6 to that
at which the blades or cutting edges d, d, are situated is provided
with a stem or tang * to be fitted to the handle of the bit or auger.
The inner sides of the barrel bare flat and the outer sides are convex,
as seen in Figure 3. In using the boring bit or auger the central
worm e is first driven into the wood or material to be bored, and when
the said worm has been driven home the helical cutting edges d, d,
commence to act, and cut or bore a circular hole, the wood or material
cut or bored out entering the fork or hollow barrel b, and thereby
preventing any resistance to or impeding the action of the tool. The
said tool makes a clear cut as it leaves the material operated upon
instead of a jagged or splintered edge, as when using boring bits or
augers of the ordinary kind.
to
say,
I prefer to make the forked part or barrel 6 of the bit or auger in
the manner represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6 of the Drawing, that is
I roll or forge a strip or blank of steel of the required section,
as represented in plan and end elevation in Figure 4, the said strip or
blank having a stud or projection f at its middle. I take the strip,
Figure 4, and by a stamping process I make on opposite sides helical
notches and depressions 9 (from which the helical blades or cutting
edges are afterwards to be made), as represented in the plan of upper
and lower sides of a strip, so treated in Figure 5. The prepared strip,
Figure 5, is next bent at its middle upon a mandril so as to form a
roughly-shaped barrel, as represented in Figure 6, and the stem or tang e³
is finally welded to the top end of the barrel. The auger or boring
bit so made is finished by grinding, and filing, and cutting the projec-
tion to form the central worm e.
Although I find that the method of manufacture which I have
described answers very satisfactorily, yet I do not limit myself to any
particular method of manufacturing my improved boring bits and
augers.
I will now proceed to describe various modifications of my improved
bits or augers represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 7 represents in cross section the nose or acting end of the
barrel of a boring bit or auger constructed according to my Invention,

page_text: having one helical cutting blade or edge marked h, the said blade h
being made on one side only of the nose end of the barrel.
Figure 8 represents in side elevation and end clevation a boring bit
or auger made according to my Invention having a flat nose c with two
cutting edges. The cutting edges are marked i, i, and form a con-
tinuation of the thread of the central worm e.
Figure 9 represents in elevation and cross section a boring bit or
auger made according to my Invention, in which the nose end c of the
barrel is pointed and without a worm. In this form of my Invention
the two opposite sides of the pointed nose end are made into cutting
edges marked k, k. The apex of the nose of this boring bit or auger
is provided with a leading point marked 1, that is, one of the cutting
edges k projects over the other at the apex of the nose, as seen in the
side elevation of Figure 9.
Figure 10 represents in side elevation and cross section a boring bit
or auger made according to my Invention, provided with a convex nose,
and without a central worm or leading point. The nose end c of this
boring bit or auger has a helical cutting edge m on one side only. This
form of my Invention is particularly suited to be used in boring
machines.
Figures 11 and 12 represent side elevations taken at right angles to
one another of a boring bit or auger for boring taper holes made
according to my Invention. In this form of my Invention the barrel b
is made of a taper figure, the nose end of the said taper barrel having
a central worm e and a helical blade or cutting edge n, the said blade
or cutting edge n forming a continuation of the thread of the worm e.
This boring bit or auger may be made without a worm or point, in
which case the bit or auger will cut on one edge only.
Figure 13 represents in side elevation and end elevation another form
of my Invention, in which one side only of the forked frame or barrel
is used. In this form of my Invention the cutting blade or edge q is
made on the inner side of the projecting nose piece p and the worm e is
situated at the centre of the said nose piece p. The nose piece p may be
made flat instead of convex. I prefer to make the inner side of the
half barrel b concave, as represented in the cross section, but it may
be made flat as in the barrels of the boring bits or augers already
described.

page_text: The other forms of my Invention represented may also have their
inner sides made concave. In this case the tools are particularly
applicable for morticing purposes.
In the several forms of my Invention in which a central worm is
employed a central bit or a plain point may be substituted therefor with
ncarly the same effect.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and repre-
sented in the Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention the
improvements in boring bits and augers herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making the
said boring bits and augers of a forked-shaped frame or hollow barrel
open on opposite sides, the said frame or barrel being either parallel or
taper, and providing the nose or acting end of the said frame or barrel
with a helical blade or cutting edge, or helical blades or cutting edges,
and either with or without a central worm or point or leading point
whether the said nose end be convex, flat, or pointed, substantially as
described and illustrated; also making the boring bit or auger of a
half forked frame or barrel with a helical blade or cutting edge at the
nose end, and either with or without a central worm or point, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cornelius Whitchouse, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
icht
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CORNELIUS WHITEHOUSE. (L.S.)