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Goodell-Pratt No.2510 Brace with Fred Farley's Patent Ratchet Mechanism
Described by George Langford
March 7, 2007
Goodell-Pratt No. 2150 ratchet brace
Top view of Fred Farley patent brace
Wrist handle
You may notice the shiny spot above at the juncture of the lower bow and the ratchet housing.  The brace as found had a loose bow because the pin securing it to the ratchet housing had sheared off.  Someone tried to tighten it with a spot of welding, but that was ineffective.  I took out the remnants of the pin, used a taper-pin reamer to clean up the hole, and then drove in a taper pin, which I subsequently peened over at both ends. It should stay tight now !
September 16, 1924
 Fred E. Farley Ratchet Mechanism
 US Patent No. 1,508,512
Farley's Figure 2
 Farley's Figure 1
 Farley's Figures 4, 5 & 6
Fred Farley's US Patent No. 1,508,512, issued September 16, 1924, and reproduced at left, was for the ratchet mechanism of a breast drill, also made by Goodell-Pratt, but it applied equally well to the ratchet mechanism of the present brace.  Think of the chuck spindle as Part No.2 in the drawings at left and the brace's bow as Part 9.

The ratchet's directional selector had a deplorable tendency to come apart, because there wasn't much to keep the fastener from coming unscrewed.
Ratchet selector with Sept. 16, 1924 patent date
Lloyd Miller US Patent No. 1,595,908
Miller patent Figure 1
 Miller patent Figure 2

Miller patent Figure 5
 The two springs in the figure at left fit in thin slots cut into the chuck body as shown in the figures above and below this note.

Miller patent Figure 4
Lloyd Miller and his attorney's signatures

The chuck design below as well as the general outline of the brace both follow Lloyd L. Miller's US Patent No. 1,593,908, which by law had to be filed within the year after this brace was first manufactured, making the present brace date between September 16, 1924 and March 12, 1925, a period of only six months.  That patent is reproduced in part at left.

The chuck does not have ball bearings, but Goodell-Pratt thoughtfully made the shell with six wrench flats so there is no problem tightening it sufficiently to grip cylindrical twist drill bits.  It will also grip square-shanked auger bits and the No.1 Morse taper drill bits.

Braces which are marked with this patent's issue date have the date stamped on the end of the chuck shell.
Chuck apart

Referring to the images at the top of this page, the wrist handle's bearings are cones on the ends of the two ferrules that hold the handle in place.  The ferrules in turn are secured with set screws that bear on inclined flats cut into the bow.

The US  Patent No. 488,691 in which this wrist-bearing design was disclosed was granted to Albert D. Goodell on December 27, 1892, so it had expired long before this brace was made.