Nice little brace, but no clue as to whom made it...

[steven c newman]

With to a little weekend camp-out, swap meet, meet& greet with a few friends of mine. I took along a Stanley No. 932 10in brace ( among other things) and came back from with a 8" brace that needed a little TLC ( alnog with quite a few other tools, of course). Cleaned it up, looking for a maker's stamp.......nada.
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The "Jaws" even look like...well..JAWS. Kind of inter-locking teeth when viewed from the side.

Wood seems to be a Rosewood sort of thing. The handle in the middle just has thick washer-like keepers welded to the arms. When you "shift" from forward to reverse, a small pin will appear in the rear of the chuck. All seems to work as designed, just can't find so much as a patent date.

Note: BTW, these items also came home..
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SheltonNo. 4, an eggbeater, craftsman bandsaw, Dunlap No. 3D BB. There was also four wood handled (Yahooo!) screwdrivers, including a shorty Millers Falls one. An Official Scout Axe by PLUMB. and a "basket case #3 something or other. Traded away a couple Dovetail saws, a "Vintage" 8 sided handled 16oz hammer, a hatchet heat that I rehandled AT the getogether. Gave a few classes. Ate a LOT of food. gave away a keyhole saw blade and a couple saw handles. And had one whale of a good time. More photos available....IF anyone wants to see them.....

So, any ideas what type of hand brace maker made that 8" brace?

[steven c newman]

The brace MAY have been a Stanley? Doesn't look like a Millers Falls. There is no middle "stop" to the ratchet part, it is either a forward or reverse. If the teeth are closed up with out a bit, the jaws have a tooth-like appearence from the side. Wood seems to be a Rosewood type of material. At one time, there was a name of some sort stamped into the arm, just a bare trace is left. Was just curious about who might have made this nice 8" brace......

[Karl Andersson]

Steven,
most of the Stanleys I have were stamped pretty deeply with the name in the upper arm of the brace, although maybe a newer one would have a fainter imprint (but tropical hardwood, of course, implies older). Of the pile of braces I have for future restoration, the ones with those flat washers are some Millers Falls and a Red Diamond; my older Stanleys have the cone-shaped washers.

None have the selector mechanism you describe, so can't help you there, although lack of a non-ratchet setting ("all on?") is strange because most brace mechanisms go into a non-ratchet mode halfway between forward and reverse, simply because both pawls engage the ratchet wheel simultaneously- if both your pawls' springs are working, it might just be a matter of having to eyeball the mid-point, unless someone thought it a great idea to not have a non-ratchet setting.

I've had early Stanley Fray and Stanley braces that have the interlocking teeth on the chuck jaws - I believe they had a patent on it starting around the time they took over Fray. If the jaws are sprung and nickel plated, it could be early Stanley or Fray - or someone switched jaws- or it was made after the patent expired. Look online for the Georgesbasement article on the Stanley Fray X-3 6-inch brace; I think he shows the jaws and you can compare.

good luck
Karl

[steven c newman]

Yep, looks like it. Mine is the 8" version. Otherwise, it look like the same model. Stanley X-3 8 inch brace. The jaws are a Mitchell patent type...1911

[J. Greg Jones]

That's not a Stanley X-3 8" brace. The X-3 braces appear to have been made only in a 6" version, and the ratchet is partially boxed. Your brace looks like it could be a PS&W 3308.

[J. Greg Jones]

I also just saw a 'Stanley "SWEETHART" BRACE 8"swing' item #171823141984 on the auction site that looks like your brace. Perhaps more likely this is a match, rather than the PS&W I mentioned earlier.

[steven c newman]

Looks like it. Will try to raise some sort of lettering later today. Now that I have an idea what I'm looking for.

[steven c newman]

Ok, no trace of any lettering stamped into metal parts. Sooo, how about a slide show of what parts there are?
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Aligator jaws? There is a pin as a hinge
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Top handle. The washer in front is straight sided, not beveled. Two screws to attach the wood knob
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Same with this handle's washers. Wood appears to be a rosewood
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The "gearbox". There isn't a slot. The teeth stick out a bit. There is a pin to stop the selector from going clear around. There is a center point where there is no ratchet action going on. Sides of the gearbox have a bevel/champfer to the edges.
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Top of the selector is a little shorter than the others I have.

Any ideas out there? Stanley? Millers Falls? Merrit? Someone else? This is just an 8" brace. Traded a newer Stanley 923 10in for this....

[steven c newman]

I guess i'll just call this a User Brace, and put it to work. Doubt IF it is a collestor's item.....

[Maurice Ungaro]

Good call. If you like it and use it, just keep it and enjoy it.

[steven c newman]

Ok, after a little more digging around, looked at the Millers Falls line up on their Home Page.....No.32 looks to be a match!

[J. Greg Jones]

It's not a Millers Falls 32 (10" brace) or a 33, (8" brace). Almost all of the braces in the Millers Falls 30-34 line had full-boxed ratchets, and the few that did not (from the 1800s) did not have alligator jaws. The Millers Falls Barber chucks are also more slender and elongated than the chuck pictured.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Nothing like those little braces for driving screws!

[steven c newman]

I see, and, do you have a clue as to WHAT this one "really" is? Until then, I sticking with what the Millers Falls site says....

[steven c newman]

Regardless of whom made this 8" brace..

Needed a bit more torque to remove a couple stuck screws in a Bailey No. 28 plane. Wanted to remove the iron frame works to better clean them...and the wood screws, too
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So, I chucked a screwdriver tip into the brace. It simply walked the screws right out. Plenty of torque to spare. I even used this same set up to re-install the cleaned up parts. Worked like a charm. Might leave this one set up for this sort of thing.
As for that rehabbed plane?
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It is the shorter of these two planes.