Patented & Distinctive Bit Braces

Brace B&D-43
Price: SOLD.
Peck, Stow & Wilcox No.8014B SAMSON brace with ball bearing chuck.
About 30% of the nickel plating remains.  The brace is mechanically sound and works smoothly.
This is the next-to-largest available size of this model.  The rosewood handles are in good condition.
Use for a wide variety of bits: square- and round-shank as well as No.1 Morse taper !

	This chuck had a rough feeling, so I took apart the ball bearing mechanism, which is easily done by undoing the screw seen in the side view of the chuck at the bottom of this column.  There was not a full complement of balls, and so I replaced the entire set with 1/8th inch diameter hardened carbon steel balls from MSCDirect.com.  Don't be tempted to replace just the lost balls, as it's important that they all be close to the same diameter, or they'll tend to get in each others' way when the chuck is tightened.  The chuck now works nice & smooth ! The wrist handle was stiff, but after some oil lubrication and lots of elbow grease, it's a smooth operator again. The two images below show the markings on the chuck at left and the good condition of the ratchet mechanism at right, which only got hammered one light blow by some bloke who was too lazy to sharpen a bit.
	If you look very closely at the SAMSON trademark, you will see a faint circle to its left. Inside are the words, PS&W TOOLS and GUARANTEED. The chuck shown below also has the SAMSON mark.