If you have read this blog, you'll know that I buy old tools that I encounter when I do not know what they are for. I figure that if I haven't seen it before, it must be relatively rare. I found another. I recognized that it was a tool from the time before electricity. The attachment point at the top end of the tool was designed to be held in a brace bit. There are no maker's marks on the tool. But that is not uncommon for older tools like this. It appears that something is inserted in through the bottom and a cutting surface is brought to bare against what ever is in the hole. The cutting surface can be moved in closer to the center as needed. There is also a device on the tool that controls how far the material can be inserted in the business end.
After searching the web I found the patent for a Adjustable Hollow Auger. The Patent was to A. A. Wood and Sons. The tool was used in chair making. The purpose of the tool is to create a tenon on a stretcher. That is the supports that run from leg to leg of the chair. The tenon fit into a hole in the leg with glue and supported the structure of the chair.
The chair maker would first round off the end of the stretcher and then he would employ the auger. Using a brace, he would slowly plane down an edge around the stretcher. I have since found Youtube videos that demonstrate the use of the tool. Mystery solved.
