Pexto brace with a Samson chuck

[Cody Cantrell]

A couple weeks ago I read a post saying that PEXTO braces with Samson chucks were very good braces. This weekend while at an antique store I bought an 8012 D. It is a 12 inch brace which I dont have one of so I picked it up. It is in good shape, ratchets in both directions, and the head doesnt wobble. It does need a good cleaning and I am a little apprehensive to just tear it apart. Does anyone have a picture of a disassembled one or maybe some patent information on the chuck? Or just some helpful advice? Thanks for any help.

Cody

[Jim Koepke]

My recollection is the Samson chuck comes apart by just unscrewing the shell.

There is a tendency to want to take things apart to clean them up, but often there is nothing to be gained in so doing.

Often an easy way to clean ratchets and such is to flood them with mineral oil or some other light oil. Keep adding oil and wiping it down until the oil comes out clean. Some folks like to use WD-40 for this, but it doesn't provide the lubrication of oil, so give it oil when done cleaning.

jtk

[Andrae Covington]

I agree with everything Jim said. I don't have one of these, but I believe Jim is right, you can just unscrew the shell if you want to take it apart and see what's inside.

See this page on George's Basement (http://www.georgesbasement.com/braces/PEXTObracesII/PextoBBChuck12/PEXTONo8010BbraceNo12.htm) for some photos, including the disassembled chuck.

Also this page on Sydnassloot (http://www.sydnassloot.com/brace/psw.htm) has some history about the development of Peck, Stowe & Wilcox / P.S.&W / Pexto braces. The Sampson chucks start about halfway down.

Here is the original 1895 patent (http://www.google.com/patents/US542448), though changes were made in production over time.

BTW sounds like a great find.