Russell Jennings

No, not a relative! This is Russell Jennings Manufacturing, who made a set of tools that Henry O'Grady used for years.

I've borrowed these from John for a house project.

What is amazing to me is that I can recall how quickly Dad could drill through ANYTHING! And certainly quicker than the time it takes now to get the drill, get an extension, etc OR, in the case of battery/cordless drills, wait for the battery to charge!

The first true 'cordless' drills:

Close up:

Text:

ONE SET 32 1/2 QUARTERS

RUSSELL JENNINGS

EXTENSION LIP AUGER BITS

WITH STANDARD DOUBLE THREAD 

THE RUSSELL JENNINGS MFG.CO

The drill / auger itself is not a Russell Jennings original (is the correct term brace?):

Good old Sears!

I think the bit set must be from 1940 or so, but possibly earlier. Need more research.

Links with more history:

http://www.sydnassloot.com/brace.htm#index

http://www.sydnassloot.com/Brace/RJennings.htm

https://www.georgesbasement.com/braces/RussellJennings/RussellJenningsAugerBits.htm

12/4/21 update: with help from John, I had to use the auger/brace to drill 6 holes through the pilings that hold up part of the rear of the house (Thanks John for the wood and the tools and all the help and of course all the advice!). 

While my forearms were burning, I thought how my father and his father could have done this without a sweat, which reminded me of this:

Link to "Digging" by Seamus Heaney 

Specifically, the lines:

"By God, the old man could handle a spade.   

Just like his old man.

...

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them."