Home Made Brace ideas

[Dan Hulbert]

I'm in the process of making a set of tools and had the idea that I could actually make a brace. I have quite a supply of bits for a brace and would like to make an old style wooden brace. My metal working skills nad tools are pretty much limited to a hacksaw and files. Does anybody have any clues on a design for a basic set of jaws?

[ray hampton]

I believe that the first brace was a simple handle with a round hole drill into it to hold the bits, the tang of the bit was heated red -hot and force into the hole until the hole was square but taper to match the tang

[Dan Hulbert]

Elegant solution. I'll be testing it this weekend.
Thanks!!

[John T Barker]

sheffield_brace.jpg If I were going to make one, which I would love to, I would try to get a hunk of six sided brass like is seen in the lower left. I'd shape it to fit the wood, drill a hole in it for the bits which I would file square, and then use a thumb screw to hold the bit in place. I think this brace uses a spring catch of sorts. It would be much easier to machine those parts, of course, but I would like to try it by hand.

[David Turner]

Dan:

I have a complete set of plans for constructing a wooden brace. They are probably 20 plus years old and I have never made the brace. It has the brass six sided jaws that John mentions above. I would be happy to provide copies of the plans for the cost of reproduction and mailing. As I recall there are 2 sheets of 11 1/2" x 15" or 12" x 18".

I am away from my home in Michigan for Christmas and will not be back until after january 7, 2015 if you are interested.

David Turner

[Alan Schwabacher]

You can use brass plumbing fittings. The bit can be held by hardwood, with brass screwed around it to tighten the chuck because of the tapered threads. You can turn part of the brass fitting round on an ordinary wood lathe using a HSS scraper.

I have turned brass pipe fittings to make ferrules, but have not made such a brace. I have seen braces made this way by others.

[Dan Hulbert]

Thanks for all the help, but I went with the burn in technique. I may need to add a catch/latch to keep the bits in place, but early testing shows the burned in recess working fine. I'll try to post pictures when I'm done.

[Dale Schafer]

Be nice if those brace plans could be posted up as a PDF