My Garage Sale Yankee Hand Brace

[Kenneth Wedebrand]

About a month ago, I got a Stanley "Yankee" 2101A hand brace, with a 10 inch sweep, at a garage sale here in Des Moines. It has the Bell System stamp on it. It came with a 9.5 inch long Stanley steel bit, that has the number 12 stamped on it. The brace is in excellent working shape, with no rust or noticeable problems when I rotate its handle or screw its chuck up and down. The word "YANKEE" in parentheses is still visible on top of its upper handle. The brace and bit cost fifty cents each, for a total of $1.00. What kind of oil should I put in each of its 3 small holes that are marked "oil"?

[Rob Luter]

Nice! This is the best brace out there in my book. I scored one under similar circumstances a couple years ago.

[Mike Brady]

Check out a site called "George's Basement" to get directions on how to properly clean and lube this brace. It uses grease rather than oil.

[Jim Koepke]

Kenneth,

Welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't indicate a location. Where do you call home?

The 2101 is a great brace. As Mike said, "George's Basement" @ http://www.georgesbasement.com/fs2101a.htm has useful information.

Does the ratchet work?

I have an 8" swing with a stuck ratchet and a 10" swing with a working ratchet. I do not use the ratchet much on an 8" brace so I haven't bothered to try and fix it.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Check out a site called "George's Basement" to get directions on how to properly clean and lube this brace. It uses grease rather than oil.

Hey Mike? I got curious and went to that site. Pretty darn neat! But I cant figure out how you'd apply grease through a small hole after this tool is assembled? Did I just miss it? I mean, I know why he uses grease while it's disassembled especially with the ball bearings. But how do you apply grease after assembly? Is there a tool or a technique? Don't get me wrong - I'm not qualified to argue - I'm just trying to learn something useful.

Best regards,
Fred

[Bart Nadeau]

There were two lubrication methods over the years for North Bros - Yankee braces. The oil holes as your has - I use 3 in 1 in mine - and a packed grease type, semi permanently lubricated one as developed for the Bell System, who evidently didn't think their linemen would keep them lubricated. The grease type ones don't have oil holes and some types of the grease have solidified, requiring the rehab described in George's article.
You have, IMHO, the best brace ever made - I have a set from the 8 inch all the way up to the 16 inch. Yankee's were substantially more expensive than comparable braces from Stanley, Millers Fall, Pexto, etc.
The 12 on your bit refers to 12/16ths or 3/4 inch. Bits were usually measured in 16th's - a number 4 would be 1/4 inch, a 20 is 1 and 1/4 inch.
You got one hell of a deal.

[Joe Rogers]

You deserve a "you suck" for the find...
Joe

[Michael Ray Smith]

You deserve a "you suck" for the find...
Joe

Kenneth -- in case you haven't learned it yet, "you suck" is what Neanderthals say when someone manages to buy a great tool for a particularly low price. It means something along the lines of "congratulations," but tinged with a bit of envy.

[Joe Rogers]

Heh...more than a bit of envy... only a buck...$1....100 pennies....and a bit too!
:-)
Joe

[Kenneth Wedebrand]

Dear Mr. Koepke: This is Kenneth Wedebrand. Regarding your question about the excellent Yankee 2101A brace that I got for a dollar (does the ratchet still work?)-yes, it does. It's operated by a pin that's on the side of the ratchet, which has three different positions.