John Fray pewter Band Repair.
There have been a few opinions about the original installation and/or repair of damaged Pewter Bands on the handle of John S Fray braces. The handle is the type that was made in two halves and held in position on the frame of the brace by two pewter bands.
I believe that in the factory the bands were slipped over the two halves then compressed either in a press or between rollers.
On the Antique and Collectible Tools and Machines Forum the thread "One for Boringgeoff" at post #14 and 15 have tutorials by Will Myers and Scott Grandstaff on how they cast new pewter rings.
I recently removed a ring from a parts brace by stretching it slightly and transplanting it onto another with a missing ring. I did a write up about it on the HTPS WA website which may be of interest. Go to https://sites.google.com/site/handtoolswa/articles
Cheers,
Geoff.