My newest old tool

[Joe Bailey]

I've been looking for a nice 6" bit brace for quite a while.They're far more scarce than 8s,10s or 12s, and when found are often in poor repair.Finally got me one. A 1911 Millers Falls No. 34.In pretty nice shape for 101 years old:228224228225228226228227

[Jim Neeley]

You suck!!! ..but that's good!! :)

Beautiful brace!!

[Andrae Covington]

Cool. I have a 6" that was sold to me as a MF #34, but as there are no visible markings I can't be completely certain. Yours is prettier for sure, but mine works just fine. I usually keep a 1/4" hex brace driver from LV in it for driving screws.

[Joe Bailey]

Funny you should mention that Andrae - but that's why I wanted one - to use as a slower speed driver of screws (I have a pretty fair collection of square taper-shanked screwdriver bits), and countersinks.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Nice! That's a great looking one.

I have a 6" Stanley/Fray, and it's not in as nearly as nice condition as yours, but they're a great size to have around. I use mine all the time. Great for screws, as you said. Also terrific with a countersink. I also like it for small holes (I have a few square-shank twist bits, but also with a 1/4" auger if the wood isn't too hard - I also use it a lot with a hex end bit of the pilot-hole countersink combo variety on the rare occasion I'm doing something with a lot of screws.) as I find I do better at keeping holes square and plumb with a brace than with an eggbeater.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Joe

Yours is much nicer than mine, but mine is 5" ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Drills/Bun19.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Drills/Bun20.jpg

Alongside a 10"

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Drills/Bun18.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Joe Bailey]

Derek -
I have never seen a 5" bit brace before - very cool. (Great - now I have to try to find one of those!).
BTW - from here, the condition of both of those looks pretty darn good.

[Jim Koepke]

I am still looking for a 6" and Derek goes and messes with my day. :p

My 8" gets most of the use in my shop and I would buy another if one came my way at a good price.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

It seems like there are more 6" size braces when you look at the older braces, like spofford-style ones, but then you lose the ratchet, (not a huge deal in my opinion, for a tool this size) and often limit yourself to only square shank bits, which may or not be a big deal depending on what you've got kicking around for bits.

I snagged mine on eBay for a song - the listing wasn't very well written, so it didn't draw many views.

228255

It doesn't look as purty as Derek or Joe's, but I like the patina.

At the time I was looking for a 12" brace, which mine was listed as on the ebay. Of course, I still don't have a 12" brace. (Could have used it last night, augering 1" holes in maple . . .)

[Charles Bjorgen]

Yes, I'm also watching the bay for a 12" brace. They seem to get higher prices than similar 10" models. I did, however, just get a nice Millers Falls 773 Lion Bit Brace with 8" sweep through the classifieds here from a fellow Creeker. I'm also amazed at the prices that the Stanley made braces for the Bell Phone Co. are commanding. Many are going for over $100.

[Jim Koepke]

I snagged mine on eBay for a song - the listing wasn't very well written, so it didn't draw many views.

That is one of the best ways to snag an item at a good price. If you have enough descriptors in a search to make the bad listing show you can get some good stuff at low bids.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

That is one of the best ways to snag an item at a good price. If you have enough descriptors in a search to make the bad listing show you can get some good stuff at low bids.

jtk

yup, that's how I snag things.

If you've the patience, looking for misspelled items helps; (there's actually programs out there that help you do this)

I also do searches with the "minus" operation - doing a search in a category with something like " -Stanley " in the search field will turn up the all the results that don't have Stanley in the title.

So as I start doing searches, I start putting in a lot of "minus-something" in my searches just to get rid of a lot of the junk listings; the sort of things that don't belong in that category and there's thirty of pretty much the same thing listed. Usually end up throwing in a few minuses to get rid of the power tools too. And then I do things like " -plane " if I'm looking for a drill and I don't want to look at all the old handplanes that are listed mistakingly in the drill category. Then I start doing " -Stanley -Millers -Yankee " etc., to get rid of the obviously listed stuff that's going to attract attention of people looking for a specific thing. I keep doing that until there's a reasonable amount of listings to search through, leaving me with just the stuff that's listed as "old drill", etc. I just start scanning through the pictures, and anything that looks decent gets opened in a new tab. Takes a little longer, and you have to wade through some absolute junk, but you can find a lot of things for cheap - I got an 8" Yankee Brace for a song, because there were next to no keywords - it got something like 15 views over a week or two.

[Joe Bailey]

What make is yours Joshua? Just out of curisosity, is that how you store yours? And while we're on the subject of short-throw braces, here's one I should never have parted with.
Before the Bell system brace there was the Western Union Telegraph Co. Brace (see stamped handle). A cocobolo-handled Stanley 903

http://www.klassykar.com/ebay/bit_brace 010.jpg

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

What make is yours Joshua? Just out of curisosity, is that how you store yours? And while we're on the subject of short-throw braces, here's one I should never have parted with.
Before the Bell system brace there was the Western Union Telegraph Co. Brace (see stamped handle). A cocobolo-handled Stanley 903



Oooh! That one's purty. Yeah, I wouldn't have given that up.

Mine is marked both Stanley and Fray:
228268


STANLEY
New Britain Conn USA
228270

FRAY X3 - 6 IN. (I've no idea what the X3 is.)
228269

It's also marked with Stanley Rule and Level Co., New Britain, Conn., USA on the chuck, and "O.D. USA" on the outside of the ratchet. Curious about the O.D., I looked it up - my brace looks surprisingly like this one: http://www.georgesbasement.com/braces/StanleyX-3OD.htm although I see no patent # anywhere on it. I guess the O.D. means the brace was for the Ordinance Department, which would date it to pre-1950, when it became the Ordinance Corps. The handles look beech, and were originally painted, I guess. I think Stanley purchased Fray sometime at the turn of the century, but I don't know how long they produced tools with both names.


As far as storage, I just keep it on a cluttered shelf in my workroom (this is as far a zoomed out shot I'm going to post of this side of the room until I finish organizing. I mean, don't the rest of you keep your braces in a small pile next to a few clamps, your beeswax and plastic dinosaurs?

228267

[Andrae Covington]

I think Stanley purchased Fray sometime at the turn of the century, but I don't know how long they produced tools with both names.

1906, according to sources I've read. They continued to market some items with the Fray name for a few years, but I don't know how long. I have a McIntosh Heather #4410 brace that I think was made by Fray shortly before or after the Stanley buyout, as the Heather trademark first appeared in 1906 and McIntosh Hardware was sold and renamed in 1911. If my conclusions are accurate, kind of a neat snapshot of the time.

Well if we're gonna post pics, here is my 6" that I believe is a Millers Falls #34. Based on the oldtoolheaven info mine probably dates between 1895 and 1903, with McCoy's jaws, half-boxed ratchet, and I think ball bearings in the head.
228289
As noted in my post above, I have the hex adapter from LV in this brace. Wait, is that one of those blue bits for deck screws? Horrors.

P.S. Nice dino.:D


Yes, I'm also watching the bay for a 12" brace. They seem to get higher prices than similar 10" models...

10" is far and away the most common size, so all the others, larger or smaller, tend to be relatively more expensive. But sometimes...


I snagged mine on eBay for a song - the listing wasn't very well written, so it didn't draw many views.

... you get lucky. About three years ago I picked up a MF #731 (12") and a MF #730 (14") in a couple listings that no one seemed interested in. The shipping was as much as the winning bids (and USPS was cheaper back then). Unfortunately the 14" had a hard life and is kinda wiggly. The 12" works pretty well though.

[Derek Cohen]

Great for screws, as you said. Also terrific with a countersink. I also like it for small holes (I have a few square-shank twist bits, but also with a 1/4" auger if the wood isn't too hard - I also use it a lot with a hex end bit of the pilot-hole countersink combo variety on the rare occasion I'm doing something with a lot of screws.) as I find I do better at keeping holes square and plumb with a brace than with an eggbeater.

I totally agree Joshua.

I don't have many braces, just one in each size, but they get more use than the egg beaters.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Drills/ToolCabinet1.jpg

From left to right in brace sizes: 5" Stanley, 10" Spofford, 8" and 10" Yankees, and 12" Miller Falls.

The MF is particularly interesting. Similar to a Spofford but with bling!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Drills/IDeclareThisBenchFinished_html_795dc9c9.jpg

My enjoyment in using these tools lead to building a couple of braces, both with a 4" throw (for screws). One I gave to a friend, the other I kept:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Tools that I have made/competition brace/1Covershot.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Tools that I have made/competition brace/2Completedtoolbox.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Tools that I have made/Brace.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

As noted in my post above, I have the hex adapter from LV in this brace.


Does the magnet in yours do a decent job holding bits in place? I don't remember if I got mine from LV or somewhere else, but mine seems to leave bits behind in the screw more than I'd like. Almost seems the magnet is recessed a little more than it should be. I could probably easily drop another tiny one in there and remedy the situation, but all my little magnets are busy holding packages of coping saw blades to the side of my toolbox . . .

[Andrae Covington]

Does the magnet in yours do a decent job holding bits in place? I don't remember if I got mine from LV or somewhere else, but mine seems to leave bits behind in the screw more than I'd like. Almost seems the magnet is recessed a little more than it should be. I could probably easily drop another tiny one in there and remedy the situation, but all my little magnets are busy holding packages of coping saw blades to the side of my toolbox . . .

Yeah now that you mention it, the magnet could be a little stronger. The bits don't fall out, but they do sometimes stick in the screw instead of staying with the brace.

Derek, I like the look of that early MF brace you have. I had forgotten the little wooden ones you made... with a presentation case and everything, nice. Did you consider steam bending to make the offset? I guess on a small brace the forces wouldn't be strong enough to compromise the short grain.

[Joe Bailey]

It appears that Derek's bling-y MF brace is a Rose Brace
see here:http://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/FeaturedBraces.htm#Rose