Brace Handle Needs Losening

[Richard Line]

I picked up a well used brace, no manufacture's marks, just a stamp of 'Germany' on the crank. It is in decent usable condition, except for the wood handle on the crank. That is stiff to turn. It feels as though there is dirt, gunk, dried oil, or whatever in it.

Any suggestions on how to clean it out so it turns easier.

Thanks.

[Karl Andersson]

Richard,
Depending on what kind of "washers' are on the ends of the handle, you may be able to push them out just a little by using a thick, dull knife blade pushed in gradually as you rotate it around the shaft. I have used an old short machete for this - nothing with a high-carbon blade that will snap, and I don't recommend a screwdriver if you want it to look nice. Once you've pushed them out about 1/64" on each end, it may work well enough without more cleaning. If not, or if you can't budge the washers, slide an old scraper between the wood and the washer to get the dried grease, etc. out, then liberally brush kerosene or mineral spirits on both ends, alternating which end is up, and rotating the handle on the shaft until it loosens up. Repeat this several times to wash out the crud, then oil it several times on each end, rotating between applications, to work the oil in. I don't recommend acetone; it tends to dry too quickly and takes old finishes off, plus the grease would just solidify again as soon as the solvent dries.
Karl

[Pat Barry]

I picked up a well used brace, no manufacture's marks, just a stamp of 'Germany' on the crank. It is in decent usable condition, except for the wood handle on the crank. That is stiff to turn. It feels as though there is dirt, gunk, dried oil, or whatever in it.

Any suggestions on how to clean it out so it turns easier.

Thanks.
Lube it up with WD40, secure it in your bench vise, and crank it for a while . It will be free and easy in no time

[Richard Line]

Thanks. I was afraid to go that simple, but wasn't coming up with anything else.

[Richard Line]

Well I've tried the suggested approaches and with rather limited improvement. I wasn't able to move the washers at all; they act as though they are actually fastened to the shaft. A small gap between the washers (they are cup shaped) and the wood handle was opened, about 1/32". Tried the WD40, then soaking in mineral sprits. The soaking made a minor improvement, but not really free as my other braces. I don't think the gunk could drain out because of the restricted openings at the end of the handle.

I'm thinking the next step is to try to split the handle along the grain to remove it, and then really be able to clean the area. My thoughts on trying to split the handle is to use a chisel along the grain (what would be the quarter sawn area). By splitting along the grain, hopefully I would be able to glue it back together.

Other thoughts.

[Jim Koepke]

Other thoughts.

A question, why go to so much trouble when good quality braces can usually be found for under $20?

jtk

[Richard Line]

A very reasonable question, especially as I have a very serviceable Stanley 10" sweep, and this is also a 10" sweep. Oh, and this brace came with a tool box with an number of useful tools for $10. The best answer I can give, is I just want to see if I can make it a good worker, and right now I have the time.

[Moses Yoder]

If it is a wood handle I would remove the finish by sanding, soak in water for an hour or so, then dry at 250° in an oven for a while. If this does not work you have learned something and not really lost anything of value. If it does work, report back.

[Bart Nadeau]

Before I split the handle, I'd try squirting 3 in 1 oil in the gap every hour/ half hour with the brace held vertically. After that for a few hours, I'd hold the brace by the handle and swing it around to try and get it loose. It's worth it to save the handle if you can.

[David M Anderson]

Try using a spray type brake cleaner.
Follow up with some Blast, had a similar problem.

[lowell holmes]

A question, why go to so much trouble when good quality braces can usually be found for under $20?

jtk

Because we, never have enough tools!!

[Richard Line]

Well, I decided to take the handle off by splitting it along the grain. I used the thinnest chisel I had. That worked fairly well, but there was some damage as the chisel sank deeper. There were small chips raised at the entry point. Next time (if there is a next) I'll try a knife, probably a lambs foot blade. The handle split cleanly and came free nicely. The inside was a bit messy, with dirt (saw dust?) mixed with oil that had sunk into the wood. Tried several ways to remove the gunk, scraping with the blade from my 3/8" round plane, the edge of a drill bit, not very successful. Then some 80 grit sand paper wrapped around a drill bit, that worked pretty well, but the paper loaded up fast. My final (desperate?) move was to put the handle back together, holding it with a heavy rubber band, and running a drill bit through by hand - nothing. So on to the drill press. Clamped in a hand screw and started with a drill that was as close as I had, but still under size, turning the arbor by hand - not much. Tried the next bit size up, it wouldn't go by hand turning, so adjusted the drill press to the lowest speed and turned it on. This went much better and controllable than I had expected, and it cleaned a lot of the dirt out. Well, if that was good, more must be better - so the next size up bit. Again that worked quite well, and really did a good job cleaning the bore.

Holding it on the brace, the fit seemed good and no drag. Glued it back on using liquid hide glue, maybe I'll have to take it off again. Once the glue was fully cured, gave it a real try - worked the way it suppose to work.

Here are some pictures. The inside of the handle after splitting, one side has had a little scrapping done, the other hasn't been touched. The inside of the handle after clean up. A close up of the repaired handle's outside at the glue line. And a picture of the full brace.
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