Gouges from brace bits

[Philip Davies]

Here are some gouges I have made recently from spoon bits, shell bits, etc. The handles are homemade (with one or two exceptions)
These type of bits were a cheaper alternative to auger bits, but they are not very good, I think.

Here are a few I have salvaged, before treatment. There is a third type, which has a lip or hook at the tip. I just ground off the lip, and sharpened them in-channel.
At first I thought I would reforge the tangs, and I did do some like that, but without a specific swage, it was difficult to form a bolster, so in fact it turned out more efficient to grind the tangs back (efficient, but not very pleasant)

Of course, I could have just inserted them as they were into handles, but then the handles would have to be large, and therefore disproportionate.

Here are some before buffing and sharpening.
I prefer to ream the handles out using tapered drills (easily ground on the bench grinder if rotating them in a drill) Then I usually square the holes with a chisel, before selecting an old file or other tanged tool which has the approximate taper. This I heat, with a blow torch, a push it into the handle, until the seating is a tight fit on the gouge tang. I think that this is better than heating the tang of the tool itself, particularly if you want to replace a broken handle on a good chisel.
I made quite a few, but I shan’t keep more than 6.