An auger is a device to drill wood or other materials, consisting of a rotating metal shaft with a blade at the end that scrapes or cuts the wood.[1]

Painting by Georges de La Tour of St. Joseph operating an auger.

Types

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Study of a man using an auger, from The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin, by Albrecht Dürer, c. 1496.

The classical design has a helical screw blade winding around the bottom end of the shaft. The lower edge of the blade is sharpened and scrapes the wood; the rest of the blade lifts the chips out of the way. It is powered with two hands, by a T-shaped handle attached to the top of the shaft.

More modern versions have elaborated auger bits with multiple blades in various positions.[2] Modern versions also have different means to drive the shaft, resulting in various tools such as braces, wheel drills (the "eggbeater" drill), and power drills.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "auger". ldoceonline.
  2. ^ Cox, George William (1906). The little cyclopaedia of common things (12th ed.). S. Sonnenschein & Co. p. 31.
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