Hello fellow knuckle draggers. I need help identifying the right loose bearings size for this bit brace.
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But a little background first, because that's half the fun... This brace was handed down to me by my dad. He inherited it from his father-in-law, my grandpa Harold. Judging by it's suspected age I suspect the original owner could have been my great grandpa, Olaf. Not only is it prized by myself as a family heirloom, but over the years of collecting and using some super cool vintage braces and coming to appreciate some of the finer things about them, I've come to objectively appreciate this brace's upper tier quality.
Strangely, it's unbranded. However, I'm all but convinced it's of Stanley heritage, and an early iteration of the No. 813. However, it does share similarities with the MF 771 Lion and a couple Pextco's.
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There are a lot of Stanley peculiarities about it, like upside down stampings, typeface, etc. See "OIL" and "10 IN MADE IN U.S.A." in the two photos above.
The detail, fit and finish is unmatched. It's been heavily used but still solid and tight. I've not done much with it yet but degrease it.
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I've had to rederive how the chuck functioned as it came to me dissasembled without bearings.
Inside the outer shell is a slot that forms the outer race as seen in middle photo. The jaws collar (for lack of the actual term), pictured at lower right of right photo and loosely assembled in the left photo, has a slot that forms the inner race.
Bearings are dropped through he hole (see left photo) of the shell into the race. A set screw (missing) is applied at this hole which retains the bearings. The bearings lock the shell and jaws collar assembly together. Quite ellegant. (Later Stanley No. 813's have a retention ring on the outside of shell instead of the set screw.)
Now, my dilemma. How do I determine bearing diameter?
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As a starting point and visual aid, I made some measurements with the caliper representing a couple common bearing sizes within the inner race. Left photo I have calipers set at 3/32". Right photo I have them set at 1/8". Hopefully this enough for someone more experienced with bearings to make a recommendation.
Thanks for any help. I'm excited to get grandpa's bit brace back in action. If you know anything about this brace or have any observations about it, please let me know those thoughts as well.
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