Now educate me on braces

[Derrell W Sloan]

Now that I have a Miller Falls hand drill (#2) I would like to get a Miller Falls brace to keep it company. I have lots of auger bits but no brace. So, anyone have a favorite model of Miller Falls brace you would recommend or suggestions on what to look for? Thanks in advanced for the info - I love this place!

As an after thought, anyone know how much torque you can get from a brace? I wondered how it would compare to a cordless drill or impact driver.

[brian c miller]

Torque is highly dependent to your biceps.

[Mark Dorman]

My favorite is a Millers Falls 731 12" brace that is the hold all series. Has the Leland chuck and holds tapered and round bits.
I also have A 10" that has the tappered jaws and I keep a bit holder in it for driving screws. Plenty of torque.
Have you been to old tool haven? Lots of info there on Millers Falls.
http://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/brace5.htm

Mark

[Johnny Kleso]

Stanley 923 (get with cocobolo handles) or a 918G I like for big chucks
Or Best Brace Ever Made a Yankee/Stanley 2101a Bell Systems

10" swing is most common but I like to have a 8" too..
I also own one 6" Swing but they are pretty expensive..

http://www.georgesbasement.com/fs2101a.htm

[Jim Koepke]

You might find it easier to find a good Stanley brace than a Millers Falls.

I have about a dozen braces and only one of them is a Millers Falls. Most were bought at yard sales or antique shops. Most of the time they are available for less than $15. I would pay more for a Stanley 2101.

These are often available at yard sales if you show up early. No reason to by broken or bent models. You do want to buy quality models. Some of the lesser makers will not hold a bit without wobbling. The chuck may have a little play, but it should not feel floppy.

You will also likely find you want multiple braces. For starters if you want to drill bigger sizes you will want one with a 16" sweep. That would be 8" from center of chuck to center of handle.

The 10" sweep is most common. An 8" is handy for small size bits. The 6" sweep is rare. If you find one cheap, buy it and you will either like it or be able to sell it to someone like me for a profit.

Also if you are doing different things with the braces, it may be handy to have two sizes of bits and another fitted with a screw driver bit or a counter sink.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

My favorite is a Millers Falls 731 12" brace that is the hold all series. Has the Leland chuck and holds tapered and round bits.
I also have A 10" that has the tappered jaws and I keep a bit holder in it for driving screws. Plenty of torque.
Have you been to old tool haven? Lots of info there on Millers Falls.
http://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/brace5.htm

Mark

Mine is a Millers Falls 732 which is the 10" with the Leland chuck. Nice, just a bit rusty.

jtk

[Andrae Covington]

Now that I have a Miller Falls hand drill (#2) I would like to get a Miller Falls brace to keep it company. I have lots of auger bits but no brace. So, anyone have a favorite model of Miller Falls brace you would recommend or suggestions on what to look for? Thanks in advanced for the info - I love this place!

As an after thought, anyone know how much torque you can get from a brace? I wondered how it would compare to a cordless drill or impact driver.

As Jim said, it may be easier to find a Stanley brace. However, I have a Millers Falls 730 (14"), 731 (12") and 34 (6"). The Holdall chucks on the 73# series work pretty well, though my favorite brace is a Wards branded Stanley 813 with a very robust ball-bearing chuck.

As Brian said, torque depends a lot on you, but the larger the sweep on the brace the more torque you can generate as well. You can keep driving large screws or lag bolts long after your cordless drill battery has slowed to a crawl. I drove some 1/4" lag screws into douglas-fir a while back and easily generated enough force to crush the wood when the heads reached the surface.

Millers Falls are far left and two on the far right.

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[Harlan Barnhart]

As an after thought, anyone know how much torque you can get from a brace? I wondered how it would compare to a cordless drill or impact driver.

Unless you are boring large holes (more than 1") in very hard wood, a brace will generate far more torque than you will need. I find it necessary to use restraint to avoid snapping screws. I doubt a cordless drill can equal the torque of a brace but it is certainly faster. I find the slower speed and better feedback of the brace makes for more accurate work.

I use a brace with standard bits designed for a brace, forstners to produce a smooth bottom hole, reamers to produce tapered holes, bits to drive screws, and a counter sink. If you are boring blind holes, a depth guage that clamps on the twist bits will increase your accuracy.

[Jim Koepke]

I find it necessary to use restraint to avoid snapping screws.

Having snapped a few myself, a few things have been learned to prevent this.

Pilot holes of the right size and depth do help. Rubbing the screw threads over a piece of wax also helps.

These two things have helped me to not have to spend time extracting broken screws.

jtk

[Johnny Kleso]

They are the best cordless screwdrivers..
All you need is a 1/4" Hex Bit Adapter, not the expennsive brace bit screwdrivers

http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/pi/mp/3198/2009296201p?src=http%3A%2F%2Fcommon1.csnimages.com %2Flf%2F1%2Fhash%2F4026%2F3510639%2F1%2F1.jpg&d=cf16374a700e4702a4e5e19dcae1d3446d288db1

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[Bill Houghton]

They are the best cordless screwdrivers..
All you need is a 1/4" Hex Bit Adapter, not the expennsive brace bit screwdrivers

http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/pi/mp/3198/2009296201p?src=http%3A%2F%2Fcommon1.csnimages.com %2Flf%2F1%2Fhash%2F4026%2F3510639%2F1%2F1.jpg&d=cf16374a700e4702a4e5e19dcae1d3446d288db1

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and if you really want to get fancy, Lee Valley sells a 1/4" hex adapter with a tapered square end that will chuck up in any brace, except maybe some of the really old models. Free shipping until tomorrow.

[Johnny Kleso]

Here is a Pic of a Stanley 6" that is also stamped Fray a maker Stanley took over..
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[Dan Andrews]

If I could have only one brace, it would be my 10" Millers Falls 772 Lyon Brace. It has the ball bearing chuck. A ball bearing chuck has nothing to do with its operation while in use. The ball bearings are between two halves of a two part chuck shell. What this does is allow you to tighten the jaws onto a bit without having any friction from the rubbing of the nose of the shell against the jaws. The nose of a bearing chuck does not rotate, only the top of the chuck does.

This is a little complicated to explaine, but it allows you to get the chuck much tighter on the bit with less effort. Of course getting a chuck this tight doesn't matter with square tang bits, but if you are going to drive round bits it matters a great deal.

I also have a Stanley Victor (Stanley's cheaper line) 8" . Ironically, this is the brace I probably use the most. I say Ironically because I collect Millers Falls tools, and usually lean towards the top of the line models for thier beauty and function. However I find the size and light weight of this brace to be very convenient for most aspects of woodworking (as opposed to carpentry).

I have an early MF # 34 6" brace that I leave chucked up with an ancient single cutting edge countersink. I think this type of countersink is called a rosebud. This countersink produces shavings instead of the dust you get from the multi edges countersinks that are meant for high speed use.

My 12 and 14" braces are Peck Stowe & Wilcox. They have a unique chuck and jaw system that I find very quick and easy to load a square tang bit into. The jaws look like they might be vulnerable to breaking, but I have only seen one broken ever.

My conclusion is that if you buy a brace from a good manufacturer, and in good working condition, you will probably be happly.

Great brands are: Millers Falls, Stanley, North Brothers, PS&W, Pexto, Goodell Pratt. MF and Stanley produced many Sears and Wards drills.

I love the older drills with rosewood or cocobolo handles. 1910 to 1935 I consider to be the Golden Age of many hand tools including drills of all types. If asthetics are not important to you, the major manufactures (those surviving) made good braces up into at least the 1960's.

Older braces and cheaper braces came without springs to spread the jaws in the chuck. Springless chucks take a few seconds longer to load up with a bit, but work every bit as well as spring type chucks. I stronly recommend getting a ratcheting brace. A lot of times you will not be able to swing the crank all the way around.

Be careful that the bug doesn't bite you, or you will end up with a dozen braces or more, and spend most of your woodorking time making racks to hold them. (I speak from experience).

[Johnny Kleso]

The Miller Falls 772 is almost the same as the Stanley 813G

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Myself I would buy the best looking for the cheapest price..

[Dan Andrews]

Good point Johnny.
I have an old Stanley 813 with ball bearing chuck also. It appears very simmilar and every bit as good as the MF chuck.
I agree that either brace is an excellent choice. I just have an irrational prejudice in favor of MF.
The Stanley 923 though not a ball bearing chuck is also a fine heavy duty brace and quite common.

[Johnny Kleso]

I like the 923 for the Cocobolo handles..
If I had to pick my dream brace it would be the Parsons De Luxe brace
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In 1938, the Millers Falls Company introduced one of the finest braces ever mass produced. The brace, shown at top left, was designed by William J. Parsons, the “dean” of the design and engineering staff, to celebrate his fiftieth anniversary with the company. The Model 5010 Parsons De Luxe Brace features a full ball bearing chuck with Leland’s universal jaws (http://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/braceimg/UniversalJaws.jpg).
The ratchet is fully boxed, the handle floats on oilite bronze bearings. The head also runs on an oilite bearing but features a full thrust bearing as well. The transparent red plastic (permaloid) heads and handles used on these braces have been extremely durable. The plastic on most examples looks much as it did over seventy years ago.
A permaloid head and handle do not necessarily a Parsons brace make. The lower brace in the picture lacks the Parsons marking—even though it has permaloid components and bears the model number 5010C. The chuck on this model is decidedly inferior to that on the Parsons brace. The large screw holding the ratchet assembly is exposed rather than enclosed. The shell is shorter, displays less knurling is equipped with economy-type universal jaws (http://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/braceimg/EconUniversal.jpg).
Permaloid-handled braces were dropped from the product line in 1967.

Since I not rich I stick with the Stanley 1201a :)

[Pam Niedermayer]

My favorites are all Fray Spofford braces, elegant simplicity, fast to use. Here's a sample:

[Johnny Kleso]

I was checking eBay out and was shocked at the prices of the Stanley 1201s $100 for 10" and $150 for 8" braces..
I just gave one away last year that just needed jaws ...

It looks like all the folks that discovered eBay in the last 10 years are running out of Grand Dad's Tools and prices are getting expensive..

Tools run in trends they go up and down as I remember seeing push drill bits at crazy prices and I seen a few push drills with boxes reasonably priced..

Maybe someone will be rich when I die, I'm not that lucky hehehe

[Dan Andrews]

Johnny, The Parsons doesn't come to mind when I talk about braces because I have never seen one in person. No doubt a real prize to own.

Pam, Aesthetically probably the most graceful brace since the wood and brass braces. I am glad to hear that they are good to use. I currently have a bid in on one with ebay. I have bid on several before, but they have always gone for more $ than I am willing to pay. Due top lack of a ratchet, this is not the brace I would buy if I could only have one... but like Lay's Potato Chips- nobody can have just one.

[Pam Niedermayer]

...Pam, Aesthetically probably the most graceful brace since the wood and brass braces. I am glad to hear that they are good to use. I currently have a bid in on one with ebay. I have bid on several before, but they have always gone for more $ than I am willing to pay. Due top lack of a ratchet, this is not the brace I would buy if I could only have one... but like Lay's Potato Chips- nobody can have just one.

I've also got a couple of ratcheters, one of them a MF (newish, much, much more expensive than the Fray); but my goto is the Fray, all the time, never even pull out the others. I was lucky, was accumulating the majority of my tools in the 2000-06 time frame, when they were much cheaper than now.

Pam

[Erik Manchester]

Pam,

I echo your sentiments WRT the Fray Spoffard brace above. I have one just like your photo and they are great for easy drilling on the bench, etc. I have a number of other Millers Falls and Stanley braces from 6" to 16" sweep that cover all possible reqrs and I really should get rid of some, however, I will likely outfit my daughters someday with some basic tools and this will take care of some of the extra ones. The best feature common to all of them is that there are no batteries to worry about or cords to trip over.

[Johnny Kleso]

Erik,
I have to add that I love that I don't have to wait 30 mins to charge the batteries
In fact about 10 years ago I got a great deal on the biggest De Walt cordless tool set and since I have sold off all the saws execpt the Jig saw and bought corded versions of the saws and drills..

I don't know how many times I had the batteries go dead in the middle of drilling a big hole..
I work at home and really see cordless minus these days unless its a hand powered tool..

Also let me add if you have dead De Walt batteries like I did.. I left my batteries on charge 24/7 :(
You can replace the DWs with the HF batteries for a 18v pack.. They are less than $20 a pack and you just have to re-solder the batteries in the correct order as the old to fit the pack and add a little cardboard at bottom to fill in difference in hieght.. HF packs are much cheaper than buying singles off a battery site..

I think the HFs last longer than the De Walt's :(