Patented & Distinctive Bit Braces
A Research Study
by George Langford, Sc.D.
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Stanley No.810-10IN. SW (Sweetheart) brace
Stanley No. 810 brace This is the finest brace Stanley ever made.  It has a sixteen-step ratchet mechanism that exhibits virtually no drag in the reverse direction.  It also has a ball-bearing chuck that will hold all bit shapes, including square shank augers, round shanks, and No.1 Morse taper. 

The ratchet mechanism is bewildering as seen in the patent drawings and only slightly less so as seen here.
Inside view of head Pad
View with ratchet taken out
 Rosewood pad
Closeup of chuck & ratchet selector
 Chuck patent, US Pat No. 1,270,754Although the drawing for H.E.Parker's US Patent No. 1,270,754 shows three jaws, the sliding sleeve (#12 in the drawing) that anchors the springs will acommodate any number of jaws.

Replacement of a spring would require complete disassembly of the spindle and ratchet mechanism in order to remove the sleeve from the spindle.  Don't try this at home ...  The sleeve is stamped with the 6-25-18 patent date.
Bartholomew's US Pat No. 927,478
 Smith's US Pat No. 542,448
 The ball bearings in the chuck are said to follow Bartholomew's US Patent No. 927,478 (far left) but to me they more closely resemble H.V. Smith's long-expired US Patent No. 542,448 (center).  The brace's outer shell screws onto the body, and then is affixed by a set screw (not seen above) at the rear of the outer shell.  In Bartholomew's patent, the balls are loaded into the space between the elements through a hole drilled in the outer shell, the hole later being closed with a headless screw.
The ratchet teeth on the spindle are at the upper end; the ratchet selector is at the bottom end, below:
 The ratchet setting in the upper cross section corresponds to the middle photograph below:
 Two set screws are used to hold the ratchet inside the head, below:
Bow marking
 The bow markings are shown at left.

The chuck marking is shown below
Bow markings
 Chuck markings
US Patent No. 1,825,362
 US Patent No. 1,825,936 US Patent No. 1,825,362
 If you squint a little, you can see the SW inside a heart on the chuck shell above, right.


The top of the ratchet housing below is stamped, "U.S. Pat. 11-24-25" and "PAT. PEND."

The pending patent turned out to be US Patent No. 1,825,936 as shown in the drawings at left.  The 11-24-25 patent date corresponds with the earlier US Patent No. 1,562,862.  Both patents were issued to Christian Bodmer.

 Patent markings on head


Right-click on any image on this page to view it at higher resolution.
Ratchet taken out,
with setscrews back in place:
 Ratchet set in drilling direction (clockwise), one pawl engaged:
 Ratchet in "undo" direction
(counterclockwise):
 Explanation of operation of ratchet,
looking towards the direction of drilling:
Ratchet taken out
 Ratchet in drilling direction
 Ratchet set in "undo" direction
 The narrow selector, seen best at far left, has cams inside which depress the lower (to the right in these images) ends of the pawls so that they won't engage the grooves between the ratchet teeth.  The active pawls then catch the teeth in the forward direction and glide over them in the reverse direction.  In the right-most image the ratchet is set for operation in the "undo" direction; one pawl drives at a time.  Four, thin, nearly flat leaf springs are used and can be seen in all three images.