Hand forged lefty twist drill mystery!

[Cleave]

This odd drill bit followed me home recently. Its hand forged, with a square taper at the top to fit a brace. Then there's a nice twist, and hand forged cutting edges. A quick check with a file shows its hardened at the business end. The diameter is very nearly 1/2". The really odd thing is, its a left handed drill, and the tip was never sharpened after forging. 

I tried to drill through 3/4" thick pine, and gave up about halfway through - only one cutter was cutting (scraping actually) and it was slow going.

Why did he make it left handed? Was it a mistake? Was he just getting practice? 
If he wanted a lefty bit to remove a stuck bolt, why was it never sharpened? If this was its purpose why the effort to make a long twisted section to remove chips from a deep hole?

Or maybe he was a lefty and want to rotate his brace in a more natural direction?

Now - do I leave the mystery as is, or sharpen this up and see how well it works then?

Any thoughts out there fellas?

[Frosty]

Looks like a mistake to me, we all twist things the wrong way now and then. If it's decorative it usually doesn't matter much but a twist drill? Oh yeah it matters.

I think the smith or student had just roughed the edge faces when he or the instructor noticed it was left handed and it went into the drop bucket. The lip and chisel edge is only forged, I'd call it a preform at this stage, it won't cut until you finish grinding it. Do you have a drill gauge? It'll let you set the chisel point to center get the lip angles right and even. It needs relief or it will just rub. 

The long a shank and 1/2" dia. says it's for setting long lag screws. Hand drills want you to clear the cuttings by pulling the bit frequently, especially in a deep hole. Steel self clears better but even then you need to retract the bit when you hear it loading up.

The real question here is, 'do YOU want to finish it?'

Frosty The Lucky.

[Cleave]

I'm no master but no stranger to freehand sharpening drill bits. Being a lefty bit I'll have to mirror my muscle memory at the grinder but it'd be fun to see how well this thing works once sharpened....

If it were for setting lags in wood, why not use a wood auger? Unless the man just didn't have the right one.

Also, if it were a mistake, why not heat it up again, untwist, and retwist the right way around? Whenever it was made, steel was cheap enough they didn't bother I suppose.

[Frosty]

Sharpening left hand bits bits comes easier than it would seem, the brain is better at reversing motions than a person would think until they try. It's like driving a right side car with a manual transmission. Everything's backwards, gas and brake under the left foot, clutch under the right, etc. The trick is not to think about it, just drive. The real "bad" thing is working the brake with your clutch foot, can we say slam the brake to the floor? 

No telling what or why it was made but my voices are saying 'OOPS, twisted it the wrong way! No point finishing it.'

If you're setting lag screws flush or recessed you drill the large hole first with a spade or Forstner bit and the hole to take the screw last. That provides a flat surface for the washer and screw head to fetch up on. If finished that bit may never have drilled more than an inch or so.

It could well have been intended to drill steel, etc. or for removing broken bolts. No telling. I sharpen lefties for backing screws out with a steeper edge so it'll grab rather than cut. That's an old trick Dad showed me.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

To answer all those questions, one would have to contact Carnac The Magnificent. 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

[anvil]

Lol, the greatest mystery in old blacksmith tools is wondering just what and why it was made for and what reason.  

[Frosty]

Not only in old blacksmith tools Anvil, I ask myself. Just WHY did you do THAT? All the time Anvil, ALL THE TIME. 

Maybe that's humanity's actual purpose on Earth, figuring out why things are the way they are.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Les L]

The blacksmith forge at Colonial Williamsburg has a hand cranked drill press, like an overgrown brace and bit, that uses bits like this. The crank is mounted to a long overhead beam, with a movable weight to adjust pressure on the bit. When I tried it out it was set up to drill a 1/2 inch hole in a steel plate and worked perfectly. The bit was hand forged in their forge. If the operator is right handed he would want to crank in a counter clockwise rotation and would use a left twist bit. 

When I visited I was lucky to know a young smith, that was a summer intern working at the forge, who is now an apprentice there, who gave me a nice tour. I wasn't able to enter the forge working area, but he was able to show me all work areas, explain the history and rebuilding of the forge plus introduce me to all of the smiths working there. the drill press is located out of the forge area, behind the tourist viewing area, so it is not noticed by most entering the forge. Great place to visit if you are in the area.

[anvil]

I visited there with my family around '75. Both, but particularly the gunsmith, were inspirations and still are today. Wallace Gussler had moved higher up the ladder by then. I saw his movie around '73 and that pretty well cinched my pathway as a blacksmith. 

[Les L]

The gunsmith shop was closed when we were there, they had a table set up outside for you to view some examples from a distance, but you couldn’t get close enough to see the details, my only disappointment during the time we were there 

[BillyBones]

Could be for use in a lathe or something similar. If the lathe turns clockwise a right hand drill will not cut. We use left hand drills all the time in the machinery i run.