Wobbling Braces

[Jim Koepke]

No, I do not mean my suspenders!

Was PMing with another Neander about braces and he mentioned his had a bit of a wobble when drilling.

So, remembering a few old braces of mine that are no longer seeing use I was going to offer them up for a trip via the postal service.

Well, they are probably going to stay in the shop junk for the big yard sale pile.

Gave them a check out and low and behold, they really are kind of junky. One is only marked BAKER. When drilling a hole if the lead of the bit is held straight, the shaft of the bit at the chuck can be seen to travel in a small circle. The jaws of the chuck do not close down all the way like my Stanley chucks do. Also a close look at the jaws reveals that one jaw is much heavier than the other. One jaw has a pin at the base that fits through an elongated hole in the other jaw. There is not a spring to open the jaws when the chuck is loosened. Probably was a lot cheaper to make that way.

The other brace has a decal with the name Dunlap still pretty much intact on the wooden sweep handle. It does have spring jaws, but they are straight sided and do not grip very well on the tang of the bit. This allows the bit to slip back and forth while drilling a hole. Maybe they were thinking of a ram hammer effect for getting a bit out of a hole if it got stuck? These jaws also do not hold the bit centered in the chuck which translates into a wobble.

A third brace that was tried is marked Samson. It has a 12" sweep and was a rust hunt gloat. Since I was trying all my braces, this one was tried and found to have a little wobble also. When it was later disassembled, it was found that the jaws were of different design and size, but turning them around in the shell corrected the wobble. The part that slides in the shell is flat and filing was a consideration, but it looks like the manufacturing took care of the difference. Most likely the wobble was caused by someone taking it apart in the past and changing the orientation of the jaws in the shell.

All of my other braces are Stanley except on that is a Millers Falls. None of them displayed any wobble. From the oldest to the newest model, they all seem to hold the bits securely.

Anyone else notice wobble problems or find other causes for concern on finding old braces for the shop?

jim

[Eric Brown]

Got a sampson brace on E-Bay that looked real good in the picture and the seller said everything work but they failed to mention that someone had taken the head off and lost all the bearings. Sure it still turned but....

Had another that the brace itself was bent from someone pushing really hard.

Got a new one from Garret Wade with removable chucks. Don't get it!
First it was bent but even worse is that the machining on the chucks is terrible. Cheap plastic handles too.

Most of the braces I've gotten needed to be taken apart at the chuck and clean and the rest just oiled.

As far as which one I like the best, I would have to say my 10" Peck Stow & Wilcox with the Sampson chuck. I like the Stanley/North 2101 series too but I find the chuck requires more playing with to get some bits seated correctly.

Eric

[harry strasil]

I use mostly Spofford Chuck braces, but like most old tools they have been used and abused. Older braces are made of Wrought iron, which is much softer than mild steel and other more modern steels, so each one was checked with a NEW auger bit and straightened using a machinist type vise and usually an old Monkey Wrench to get the bit so it is straight with the handle and oriantated in line with the handled other end. FWIW

[Jim Koepke]

I like the Stanley/North 2101 series too but I find the chuck requires more playing with to get some bits seated correctly.

My most used brace is an 8" 2101A. I guess I have gotten used to the chuck.

It is a later model with plastic handles and a frozen ratchet. One of these days I will get a boat load of round tuits and fix the ratchet. But that likely will not happen until I actually need an 8" brace with a ratchet.

jim

[Bill Houghton]

Some do get worn out; same came from the factory worn out. That's one of the tests when buying a brace, for me.

[Dave Matson]

I wanted an 8inch ball bearing chuck brace and was looking for a millers falls 773 but ended up bidding on this mysterious brace. The seller stated "normal wear and tear" which should probably have been a red flag. The chuck/ratchet assembly is loose on the shaft - there are a few degrees of play off center as seen in the pic. I'm not certain how to fix it. How were these things assembled to begin with? Seems like it should be more complex than a press fit given all the torque they are subjected to. In addition to the play, the ball bearings are missing out of the head just like Eric's brace.

The brace is interesting in that it is marked "mephisto" which is a small company that is still around making caulking irons, cold chisels and augers in new york. It is clearly rebranded brace made by Peck, Stock and wilcox, as evident by the Samson chuck. It has inlaid pewter rings in the wrist handle like a knock off of a fray brace. Its similar to the keen kutter brace here: http://sydnassloot.com/Brace/Keen.htm

[Jim Koepke]

Got a sampson brace on E-Bay that looked real good in the picture and the seller said everything work but they failed to mention that someone had taken the head off and lost all the bearings. Sure it still turned but....

[snip]

Eric

Not sure if this could still be the case, but in the old days many bicycle shops had the individual balls for bearings in stock. This is what was used in old head sets and such. I mention head sets because those were the smallest and would likely be the right size for a brace.

Another thing that I noticed was chucking a large nail and holding the brace by the pad and turning the sweep to see if the head of the nail would stay in one place. This was fairly easy to do with the better braces and impossible with the wobbly braces.

jim

[lowell holmes]

I recently took the jaws from an old junker brace and put them in a newer Stanley brace that wobbled. The old jaws in the newer brace don't wobble. It doesn't hurt to play around a bit.

[harry strasil]

sometimes ordinary BB's will work to replace the bearings in old braces. FWIW

[Ray Sheley]

Eric,
I've found a lot of different sized Ball Bearings on the 'Bay. The problem for you is knowing what size is in the head if all are missing. Perhaps you should list the model number to see if anyone here has a similar brace to measure a ball for you.

[Eric Brown]

I have another Peck, Stow & Wilcox brace I bought for parts as I wanted the Sampson chuck for a special project. It has a good head and bearings. The crank handle was busted and the ratchet really messed up but for $10 it was worth it for me.

BTW, to remove a Sampson chuck, remove the jaws. Now put a square bar into a vice that fits the jaw slot and place the ratchet onto the bar. With the brace ratchet locked turn the handle counter-clockwise. The chuck has a female 1/2" fine thread. The brace ratchet has the male thread. To remove the ratchet you need to drive out a tapered pin.

Eric