Timber Brained, not sure if you are a professional or an owner builder. I am the latter. I personally love bit and brace, the old school method, for making peg holes. An old mortising machine is also a great way for making peg holes in the mortise and it keeps your bit properly aligned. I really discovered how well these tools work when I took Collin Beggs workshop, nearly as fast as powered tools, and you have better control. Jim Rogers in the Tool Form has good bits and boring machines available. Every tool I've purchased from him or seen of his has been sharp and a good working tool. There are also a lot of old braces on ebay for not much money. I just love the holes the old bits make, nice and clean due to a sharp spur. I'm a convert, albeit I'm not framing full time so I don't know the effect that would have on me. The control the hand tools give, and the fact that they are not slow were the selling points to me. Heck, if you have not, just get a brace and sharp bit and try it. Even if you don't use it full time, you will find times when you'd rather just grab it rather than run and extension cord and get the drill out. No noise either. I really like the Russell Jennings bits, but my mortising bits aren't marked and I like those too(from Jim).
Last edited by brad_bb; 01/20/10 02:42 AM.
