Hand powered drilling tools and machines
It&#x27;s really sad that auger bits for braces aren&#x27;t manufactured any more as far as I can tell. There are places that sell new old stock, and there are Irwin bits available but only in sets worth $500 (not sure if new or old stock). You might have to pay $30 for a single bit.<p>I bought a bunch of random sized new old stock and I was lucky to obtain some untouched bits when I bought a dead man&#x27;s tool chest a while back.<p>I do woodworking exclusively with hand tools and the brace and bit is just a great tool. It&#x27;s much nicer than hassling with power drills or trying to wrestle the work piece on the drill press. A cordless drill can get holes drilled just fine (although there&#x27;s a risk of tearout on the opposite side) but for removing waste from mortises or other joinery a cordless drill is useless because you don&#x27;t have a reliable depth stop.<p>I also have an egg beater -style drill but unfortunately the chuck is broken. I won&#x27;t bother buying a new one because I&#x27;ll almost certainly get one when buying a set of old tools from someone in an online auction.<p>Some old hand tools are much nicer to work with than their modern counterparts. It&#x27;s not usually even much slower unless you&#x27;re doing some mass manufacturing operation with a thousand similar holes or sawcuts. I could never afford a full shop of power tools or the space to put them in but I&#x27;m able to do almost anything with hand tools at a fraction of the money and space required.