I'm pretty sure Ms Newman's name is " the Boss".

I should have looked sooner.

I'm not sure if what I was told is true or not.

 

While the wife and I were out browsing the antique shops about 30-35 years ago I saw what looked to be identical to this item.

When I picked it up to look at it an older gentleman saw me looking at it with a puzzled look on my face. He had to be in his mid 60's to early 70's. He said that he remembered his grandfather having one of those, and that he kept it hanging from the straps on his bib overhauls. He told me his grandfather was a trim carpenter and that he used nothing but hand tools while doing his job.

He said it was used for marking then drilling the holes for hanging doors. After making the mark he would remove the half of the hinge from the door then mark where to chisel out the frame to set the hinge into the door frame.

He said that he also used it for the same purpose when he built cabinets in place

 

I played around with it for a little while, and discovered that the mechanism with the brass knurled nut somehow locked the auger bit into position so it wouldn't fold back against the handle. I thought it was pretty cool but wasn't willing to shell out $100.00 for it.

Congrats Steven. Well earned with the time you invested doing/providing research.

I also appreciated all the knowledge you shared about cannons. Thanks!