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1930–1959
ANKER-BOHRER No. 71, 12 mm auger bit (Gebrüder Heller)
Gebrüder Heller, Schmalkalden · Germany
Item passport
- Maker
- Gebrüder Heller, Schmalkalden
- Country
- Germany
- Dating
- Presumably 1930s–1950s; not confirmed by a catalogue.
- Condition
- Signs of age and use; the historical dark patina is preserved and the maker stamp is deep and clearly legible. In a test it cuts wood but slowly and unsatisfactorily; careful…
Dimensions
- Length203.5 mm
Single-twist wood auger bit with a screw lead for a hand brace, card no. 3. Steel, with a pronounced helical flute for chip removal, a central threaded lead screw and a cutting part of nominal diameter 12 mm. Length 203.5 mm, mass 62 g, square tang. The round…
Read the storyHistory
Single-twist wood auger bit with a screw lead for a hand brace, card no. 3. Steel, with a pronounced helical flute for chip removal, a central threaded lead screw and a cutting part of nominal diameter 12 mm. Length 203.5 mm, mass 62 g, square tang. The round shank carries a deep stamp: an anchor in a double circle, the words ANKER and BOHRER either side of the emblem, and No. 71.
Dating. Presumably 1930s–1950s; not confirmed by a catalogue.
Marks and stamps
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probable
-
documented
Restoration
Careful cleaning with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool, then wiped; the metal is preserved with ISO VG 68 oil. The stamp and patina are retained. Not yet sharpened.
Sources
Research status
Attribution to Gebrüder Heller, Schmalkalden, is highly confident on the strength of the mark. The ANKER-BOHRER mark (anchor in a circle) was registered on 19 September 1930 as no. 423521; the available record gives the registration as ended on 23 August 2001. Registration does not fix the year of manufacture. On the registered image the words are above and below the circle, on the tool they are at the sides: this may be a variant of the stamp for a cylindrical shank; identity of the particular punch with the archive sample is not confirmed. The meaning of No. 71 (probably model or version) is not decoded from a factory catalogue, and no catalogue entry was found in the available digital material. Historical sample and registration data: the collection of historical tool marks by Wolfgang Jordan (holzwerken.de); the Gebrüder Heller holdings in the Thüringisches Staatsarchiv (archive-in-thueringen.de). Bought at a flea market in Frankfurt am Main. Card dated 17 October 2026.
Purchase and price
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