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Thread: Mystery Brace (p.s. and gloat?)

  1. #1

    Mystery Brace (p.s. and gloat?)

    Attached are pix of a spiffy 8" brace that just arrived from a UK seller courtesy of everyone's favorite auction site. I found it after missing out on a few 8" Stanley 2100/2101's which are going for $$$ these days.

    It's marked as a Stanley 925 made in New Britain with a nice Sweetheart logo (shown in the pix). Head is ball bearing, jaws are the interlocking alligator kind, chuck shell has interesting flat sides.

    The funny thing is that when I looked around a little to see how much to bid and whether these were any good - all the information I found said there was no such thing as a Stanley 925 brace, let alone a Sweetheart with nice cocobolo handles and the old-fashioned looking (pewter?) inset rings.

    Closest I came was on sydnassloot's excellent brace info page, which has an image of a 925-10 inch and says it wasn't in the Stanley catalogs (last one under the "Stanley" info page).

    Can anyone help fill in the blanks? Were there lots of tools not in the catalogs? Was this some kind of special run or shortlived type? Or do I have a Sasquatch brace? Thanks for any help,

    Dave
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
    I'm betting its a Fay brace restamped for Stanley after they boght them out..

    I have a 6" Stanley stamped Fay and Stanley and the pewter rings are a give away its a Fay
    aka rarebear - Hand Planes 101 - RexMill - The Resource

  3. #3
    Thanks - maybe that's it. I've heard about Spofford/Fray but don't know much about them. The ones I've seen do usually have the metal-inset handles. Anyone know when Stanley took them over? Or seen another brace like this? I know there are some brace-maniacs lurking out there... it's a growing club.

  4. #4
    I just picked up four old braces yesterday for $5. Plus 8 bits. Do you guys use yours much? The seller was just throwing them in my box after I bought a bunch of other o0ld tools.

    What are these things worth?

  5. #5
    Some of the handiest tools you can have. The cordless drill of its day. They come in different sizes or sweeps, but all give you a lot of leverage and control. Can turn large size bits easier than a power drill. Designed for the large, square-ended auger bits, most can take round or hex bits too. They made lots and lots of them back in the day, some better quality than others, which means there are still many kicking around, so good ones are fairly easy to come by, and it's pretty painless to have a few in different sizes... that way you can chuck a pilot bit in one, countersink or driver in another -- they're great for spinning in nuts and lag bolts. Or as an extra in the tool box when the batteries run out or you're not near an outlet.

    4 for $5 is a good price any day. You can find good users in the $20-$30 neighborhood, people pay more for very good or clean ones. Search this site and you'll find recent posts on which ones people consider best.

    -Dave, braceaholic in training

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    That is a nice brace. The grip certainly reminds me of a Fray. With their inlaid peuter, they have the best looking grips!

    For Yankee braces, you should try George Langford
    http://www.georgesbasement.com/galoo...2/htmlinks.htm

    I bought an 8" and 10" from him recently, and then he put together a set of Russell Jennings augers for me, specifically for hardwood...



    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Central NY State
    Posts
    899
    I have a 923 Stanley with a 10" sweep, looks very much like yours, but with a different shell, and no heart stamp. Same pewter rings. It's my favorite brace.

  8. #8
    Ken, Yep it's cool looking and the mechanicals seem top notch - nice weight for the size (not as heavy as a Yankee). There's another photo of an "odd" (unlisted) Stanley on Sandy Moss's site that sounds similar to yours - but marked 103. Guess a few stones remain unturned in Stanley history.

    Derek, thanks for the tip. First brace I got was a 10-inch North Bros/Stanley that works just as well as everyone says: rock solid and smooth. Didn't know anything about braces and stumbled across Sandy's site... and some eccentric gentleman who posted detailed pictures and descriptions of dismantling the brace ratchet, along with scholarly asides about the subtleties of 2100 vs. 2101 models and other arcana. It was the first time I saw the word "galoot." I still have it bookmarked... at the unpromising name of George's basement. I never knew there was more to the site or that he sold them - till now! Thanks, there are lots of goodies to explore there.

    OK I gotta go drill some holes...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    St Thomas, Ont.
    Posts
    553
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Shenk View Post
    I just picked up four old braces yesterday for $5. Plus 8 bits. Do you guys use yours much? The seller was just throwing them in my box after I bought a bunch of other o0ld tools.

    What are these things worth?
    To be honest they do not seem to be worth a lot in terms of antique value as there are so many of them about. I only have two family owned tools and one is a brace that belonged to my wife's grandfather. I have five now and three are chucked and ready to go for a dedicated purpose.

    To show how much of a galoot I am last summer I extended the deck in my back yard and did it all with hand tools saws, hammers and I drove all the deck screws with a brace. It had an attachment you can get from Lee VAlley that accepts screw driver bits. It was quiet, a bit tedious maybe but I sort of felt connected to the old guys from way back when, as my house is an 1894 Victorian.

    While we are discussing braces does anyone know a lot about them, I recently bought a Peck Stow & Wilcox that is abit odd. It has the same style chuck as their first brace they made, but has a racheting mechanism, which is supposed tom have come with the later knurled chuck casing. I assume it is simply that this one is early and they were using up the old parts but if that is the case it puts this one at about 1887 or so.
    Craftsmanship is the skill employed in making a thing properly, and a good craftsman is one who has complete mastery over his tools and material, and who uses them with skill and honesty.

    N. W. Kay

  10. #10
    James, Your guess sounds likely. You could look at the two sites mentioned above if you haven't already:

    Sandy Moss's site which is at sydnassloot dot com (look for the link to his brace collection and history)

    George's Basement above

    Both gentleman seriously know their stuff. Cheers,

    David

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    St Thomas, Ont.
    Posts
    553
    Thanks Dave;

    I revisisted those two sites and based on what I can find there, and assuming my assumption is correct then the brace would date to the latter part of 1884 or the first part of 1885. Not bad for $5.00 and it still works fine, and is 123 years old.

    Makes me wonder who did what with it over those 123 years, how many hands touched it, and what was built with it. Guess I will never know but it is interesting to speculate.
    Craftsmanship is the skill employed in making a thing properly, and a good craftsman is one who has complete mastery over his tools and material, and who uses them with skill and honesty.

    N. W. Kay

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