How'd I do? (2101 brace)

[Richard Hart]

Keep scrolling down :grin:

Another marketplace grab.

20211211_173035.jpg

This one was really rough. Paid very little.

Here she is! And what a job… any nickel finish was totally gone. I sanded the hell out of it with finer and finer grades of paper and polished it with Mother’s mag polish, great stuff!
The ratchet box is brass, which I didn’t know. It is a bell system brace, so Bell was using these for a long time. Cleaned the pad and handle with mineral spirits and put on Minwax polyurethane.

I feel good about this one! It was tough. Had to let my hands recuperate for a day!

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Note the North Bros. on the ratchet. It's the real deal. Had to have been made before 1946.

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Yeah, it’s a Yankee, no Stanley in sight yet.

20211212_192948.jpg

Look for the characteristic enclosed ratchet if you look for these in the wild, unless I grab it first!


$15.00 on marketplace, guy didn’t know what he had.

What do you think?

(I couldn't delete the thumbnails.. that's a Yankee/Stanley from marketplace also which I did up.

[Edward Weber]

That looks brand new, nice job.
Do you want to clean mine up?

[Richard Hart]

That looks brand new, nice job.
Do you want to clean mine up?

I'd probably wanna keep it for my 2101-greedy self!

Can't do it for anyone else though. Just takes elbow grease, sandpaper, Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish, and Minwax polyurethane.

The purists will tell you to dismantle the whole ratchet to clean it all out, but not me! Everything is ball bearing and a bitch to work on. Man's got to know his limitations...
I just WD40'd everything to hell and gone, blew it all out with lung power, and put 3 in 1 in the oil holes at the end when I finished it.

If you do it yourself, you get a nice rush when you see your own handiwork.

[Jim Koepke]

Richard, looks like you did well for your "2101-greedy self."

For anyone who is interested > https://www.georgesbasement.com < has a section on cleaning/repairing the ratchet.

It is difficult to tell in the images, but it appears there may be patent information on the chuck. Usually patents ran less than 20 years so that could give a date window in to when it was made.

Sometimes it is also interesting to check with > https://www.datamp.org// < to find other information.

If you do it yourself, you get a nice rush when you see your own handiwork.

One of my favorite feelings that comes around almost every time an old tool restoration is in hand.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

Nice. I have the 12" version from North Brothers. It was $10 at a garage sale a few years back. Mine needs a good scrubbing.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

I bought mine from a guy who definitely knew what he had, a sucker willing to pay 10x what you did. oh to live in the land of tool plenty... gorgeous work btw

[Richard Hart]

Nice. I have the 12" version from North Brothers. It was $10 at a garage sale a few years back. Mine needs a good scrubbing.

Make sure you see me first if you ever want to sell. I'd love to get the 12".

Wire wheel on a bench grinder (fine only!) would make short work on yours.

[Richard Hart]

Richard, looks like you did well for your "2101-greedy self."

For anyone who is interested > https://www.georgesbasement.com < has a section on cleaning/repairing the ratchet.

It is difficult to tell in the images, but it appears there may be patent information on the chuck. Usually patents ran less than 20 years so that could give a date window in to when it was made.

Sometimes it is also interesting to check with > https://www.datamp.org// < to find other information.



One of my favorite feelings that comes around almost every time an old tool restoration is in hand.

jtk

Yeah, I checked that. There are two patent #'s. I'm gonna guess pre-WWII but that's it... just a guess.

[Edward Weber]

I'm not a rabid collector, I confine myself to mainly one brand of used and abused or neglected chisels and some other tools. I just have a run of the mill PS&W brace. I cleaned it up to be used, I don't typically "restore" items to new condition. I bring them back to usable condition and give them another life.
Yours looks new, mine looks 100 years old and they both drill holes. Gotta love the old stuff.

[Mike Brady]

Great job there! I'll second the recommendation on George's Basement. I have two sizes of that brace, but with hard rubber pad and handle. Rarely used however.

[Luke Dupont]

Very impressive. I usually just remove any red rust, and do any oiling, sharpening, flattening, or filing needed to make the tool function and go.

Maybe one day I'll properly restore some tools, but I would miss the nice bluish patina you get on old carbon steel.

[Richard Hart]

Very impressive. I usually just remove any red rust, and do any oiling, sharpening, flattening, or filing needed to make the tool function and go.

Maybe one day I'll properly restore some tools, but I would miss the nice bluish patina you get on old carbon steel.

Depends on the tool for me. I have a type 11 #3 plane that I did and I razored the rust and left the patina. I wanted it nice but showing its age without being a mess, so it's case by case. But 2101's? I want 'em factory.

Before
20211110_183847.jpg

Done
20211129_005042.jpg

[Luke Dupont]

Depends on the tool for me. I have a type 11 #3 plane that I did and I razored the rust and left the patina. I wanted it nice but showing its age without being a mess, so it's case by case. But 2101's? I want 'em factory.

Before
20211110_183847.jpg

Done
20211129_005042.jpg

Makes sense!

What does it mean to "razor the rust," btw?

I'm not actually that good with restoring tools and steel, and finishes. My repetoire consists of WD-40 and sandpaper. I'd love to know how to remove rust without removing a nice petina though.

[Jim Koepke]

What does it mean to "razor the rust," btw?

A single edged razor is often used to remove rust. It doesn't leave scratch marks like sandpaper.

One of my cheap chisels was ground with a 90º edge. It was pretty good at removing rust:

Scraping Rust w:90º Chisel.jpg

This worked fairly well.

jtk

[William Fretwell]

Stripped re-stained and on my fifth coat of varnish. Not going to remove the nickel, just give it a polish after removing rust. Doing two saws also. Gifts for the young folk.
After 7 coats I will post a pic.
Mine was $2.40 US.