51/703

Nothing is known of the origin of this shell auger. An auger is a boring tool used in a variety of woodworking trades, such as carpentry, wheelwrighting and ship-building, to bore long deep holes. It consists of an iron shank with a T-shaped handle at one end and a boring device at the other. A shell auger has a half-cylinder blade with an in-bent horizontal cutter on the nose. The sharpened edge of the nose acts as a cutting edge when the auger is turned clockwise and the unsharpened edge of the nose acts as holder for the shavings when the auger is pulled out from the hole.

1 shell auger; wood and metal; good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'This shell auger has a wooden handle 12.6 inches in length, into whose centre the metal part of the auger is hafted. That metal section is at right angles to the handle. The square metal stem of the auger is 7.5 inches in length and widens into the half cylindrical spoon itself which has a diameter of 1.2 inches along its parallel edges. This spoon is 5.5 inches from top to bottom. It has a notched tip, one projection of which is sharpened and acts as a cutting edge when the auger is turned in a clockwise direction. The other nose is unsharpened and acts as a holder of the shavings when the auger is pulled out from the hole. The total length is 15.3 inches. // The date and the place of use of this auger are unknown. // See also 51/55M.', No Lavinia Smith No. recorded.

Wood, Metal

Rippon, Miss Dorothy May Lyddon (Agent)