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Thread: Brace Fanatics

  1. #151
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boringgeoff View Post
    I found one similar to your "unmarked fellow' in my spare parts/unknown pile which is unmarked apart from "British Made Patents Pending" in a circle on the top of the head.off.
    Yep I missed that mine has the same. I think it might be the one to get the chop!

    Mike

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  3. #152
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    I'll look forward to seeing the result Mike.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

  4. #153
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    I spotted an interesting brace for sale locally here in South Africa today, I thought I’d post a link and a copy of the pics on the listing for reference. I couldn’t get the pics to download to my phone so I just zoomed a bit and took screen grabs, so the quality isn’t the best.

    https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/4109...que_drill.html
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  5. #154
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Hi Colin,
    This appears to me to be an interesting, neatly done, repair to the old Scotch brace. I particularly like the trouble that the repairer has gone to to lay the row of indents around the edge of the metal cladding of the head. I've had minimal experience with this style of brace but of the three I've got two have the head retained by a nut on the end of the quill inside the head which are accessed by unscrewing the brass caps on the upper surface. The third brace uses a three screws through a flange on the underside of the head to retain it. This one I suspect to be a modification but have no proof of that.

    Cheers,
    Geoff.
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  6. #155
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Having the suspicion that one of my Scotch braces may have a modified head I decided to pull it apart for a look. This is by Thomson of Glasgow a maker I know nothing about. Pics 6 & 7 show that the head assembly is relatively modern with the hub having an external thread to fit tightly in the head and internally the end of the shank is peened over a washer to retain the hub. This is a style frequently used on braces from the mid 19th into the early 20th century. Also in #6 can be seen that the three screw holes are asymmetrical, the head having the same screw pattern which causes me to reverse my opinion and decide that this brace is original. (Was I a politician this would be considered a back-flip by the media rabble)
    While I was at it I decided to check out the head assembly of one of the other Scotch braces this time by Mathieson Edinburgh. Using a pair of circlip pliers the brass cap in the head was unscrewed to reveal a split nut on the end of the shank, this was also removed by the use of the circlip pliers. Below the split nut is a thrust/lock washer which sits over a square shoulder on the top of the gently tapered shaft. (pics #8 & #9) The wear on the bottom of the hub makes me think that it should perhaps have a thrust washer between it and the shoulder of the brace but if it had one its been gone for a good while so I didn't bother looking for a replacement.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.
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  7. #156
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    I had a go at restoring a Stanley no 78. And did a video of it.

    From what I can see I took the brace down a lot further than I have seen on other videos and it took quite a bit (hours) of head scratching to work out how it came apart.
    This was also my first attempt at Nickel plating and I am pretty happy with the results though I think there is room for improvement.

    https://youtu.be/GXl4YRMCQVY

    regards
    Mike.

  8. #157
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Well what can I say Mike, as a certified Brace Fanatic I watched your video and am happy that the brace you butchered was a common Stanley No 78 and not some older, scarcer and more collectable model. To me your nickel plating result looked fine specially for a first attempt. I have from time to time thought of having a go at plating but never got round to it. I had thought that electro-plating could be undertaken without affecting wooden components which would have obviated the need to remove the wrist handle on your brace.
    Although I am not a big fan of your restoration methods the video does have a place in showing how all the components go together.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

  9. #158
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    Thanks Geoff I think . Yes you should be able to electroplate without affecting the wood I reckon it isn't in the solution for long. The plating is dead simple to do. Having said that you'd be lucky to tell where I split the handle after it was glued up. Around here you can get three braces like this for a dollar so there wasn't too much at risk. The ones I actually use I normally just wire brush off the rust and give them a light oil and that's it.
    Regards
    Mike.

  10. #159
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Default Handle cleaning guard.

    To avoid damaging the handle of the brace when cleaning the metal components on a wire wheel I made this guard. It is simply a small baked bean tin, or similar, ends removed and cut in half. The end is a piece of 0.25mm steel shim material with a recess wide enough to slip over the brace frame soldered onto the end of the tin. In use the shim is pushed down between the handle and the retainer and held in place with your hand. Evident in the last photo the soldered joint is starting to wear through from use.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.
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  11. #160
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    Hi all.
    Picked up a couple of braces recently..the first is an 8in brace that I thought was a Skinner with the pot metal selector.. after a clean it turned out to be a Master Brand !...should clean up OK.
    The other appears blacksmith made.. 12" sweep... fairly crude, but they put a lot of work into the pad...may have been originally off something else.
    Ken.
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  12. #161
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Kenny, I've got one very similar, clearly marked "SKINNER MADE IN SHEFFIELD ENGLAND". There are three differences from mine to yours, there's an oil hole on the housing between the chuck and the ratchet wheel, the head retainer is the old peened washer style and the teeth of the jaws is different. Other than that it looks exactly the same, perhaps Skinner made it for Master Brand? I'm assuming there are eight facets on your chuck?
    In his book Directory of Sheffield Tool Manufacturers 1740 - 2018, Geoffrey Tweedale devotes all of 1/3 of a page to Skinner, since the book doesn't have an index I'm unable to search for Master brand.
    Why does the pot metal ratchet selector make me instantly dislike these braces? Catch phrases these days are sexism, racism, am I guilty of metalism?
    Your other brace I reckon is a real beauty, I think the pad is from a breast drill perhaps, you can see from the wear pattern of the handle that it's done a lot of work in its day.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

  13. #162
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    Yes Geoff... chuck is 8 sided...also the gear is held on with a roll pin..hopefully our UK readers can enlighten us about Master Brand.

  14. #163
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Default U-Bolts.

    I needed to make some U-bolts from 10mm round bar. I rigged a jig in the vise and using the oxy torch to heat, pulled the bars around to the correct size.

    U bolts 002.jpg U bolts 001.jpg

    I can hear you saying "What's this got to do with braces? He should be posting this on the metalwork forum". Ignoring the rude comments for a moment.
    After cutting the long leg down to the correct length I clamped the U-bolt in the vice preparatory to cutting the threads. But wait... Houston we have a problem... I can't get a full turn with the Die. U bolts 004.jpg Now what? Then I heard it, a wily rustling in the undergrowth ...err... tool room. Yes, there's the answer to my problem, a Wiley & Russell die holder with a square tapered drive tang to fit a brace! U bolts 005.jpg Patented in 1884 by A. Smart of Wiley & Russell (US 303060) an improvement on the 1871 patent of J Grant (US 120266) This brace driven holder fits 1 1/2" round dies, is a real handy piece of gear and coupled with my 14" John S. Fray, Spofford style brace is an absolute winner.U bolts 006.jpgU bolts 007.jpg

    I hope this has had you-U bolted to your chairs.

    Cheers,
    Geoff.
    Last edited by Boringgeoff; 2nd August 2020 at 04:10 PM. Reason: punctuation.

  15. #164
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    When I started reading your post, I was pretty sure there was going to be a brace involved at some stage. Quick lateral thinking there, me lad!

    I didn't know there was a tool designed expressly for the job. I'm continually being reminded of the extent of my ignorance, round here....

    That die holder you're using looks pretty good - but not ratcheted, obviously?

    Cheers,
    IW

  16. #165
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Not ratcheted Ian but could be used in a ratchet brace. One downside to it would be that it only allows you to cut a thread of 2 3/4 inches long as opposed to unlimited length with a conventional Die handle.

    Cheers,
    Geoff.

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