THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 403 



but always on the inside, so that they will mark out the size of 

 the hole, and cut so large that the pod will not fond, or be 

 " pinched " in the hole. As augers and bits cut with a crushing 

 stroke, (see Par. 543) after filing the lips whet them a little with 

 a small piece of oil-stone, to give them a keen edge. 



DEFECTIVE AUGERS AND BITS. 



592. Good augers and bits are sometimes rendered almost 

 worthless by improper filing. If the under side of the lips is 

 more prominent back of the cutting edge than at the edge, the 

 screw will not draw it in, and a workman must necessarily bear 

 on in boring. (See the remedy, Par. 591.) Sometimes the screw 

 has become very dull, and needs -a little filing in order to make it 

 draw in when boring. Sometimes the pod is larger than the hole 

 which the lips cut ; and sometimes it has been bent a little, so 

 that it binds on one side of the hole. In either case the pod 

 must be dressed off true, so that it will not bind in the hole. 

 Sometimes one lip cuts a chip twice as thick as the other. Bore 

 a hole close to the end of a stick, so that you can see which lip 

 cuts the thickest, and file it off a little on the under side. Should 

 the screw of a large auger get broken off, if there is substance 

 enough in the auger another screw may be put in for a few dimes 

 by a gunsmith or watchmaker. 



BORING HOLES. 



593. In order to bore holes straight and true, the stick to be 

 bored should lay about level, both endways and sideways ; for an 

 auger can be kept in a vertical position much easier than it can 

 be inclined a little to correspond with the inclination of a stick 

 that does not lie level. Carpenters, when framing a building, 

 always want their timber to lie as nearly level as practicable, so 

 that they will be able to bore the pin-holes more exact. In bor 

 ing a hole diagonally, the tyro will be able to bore it truer if the 

 stick be held level one way and inclined the other way, so as to 

 bring the auger in a vertical position. In boring a hole length 

 ways through a stick, put it in the vise and plumb it, and then 



