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Yankee Braces -  A Type Study of Sorts
by George Langford
February 17, 2007; updated September 27, 2008

Group B - One Brace made early, before the 2nd pair of patents issued;
two braces made after the fourth patent was issued - all in the twelve inch size;
and one brace made after the acquisition of North Bros.
by Stanley Tools and after all the patents had run their course.

The chuck of the topmost brace has no markings whatsoever, because two of the four patent applications had not yet been approved by the US Patent Office.  The patents applying to the ratchet mechanism and general arrangement of the brace are marked on the lower knurled closure, adjacent to the chuck, along with the statement, "other pat's pending."  See Group A for the timeline for this brace.  The pad of the topmostYankee 2100-12-IN brace is fitted with ball bearings that are installed differently from the later models represented by the bottom two braces.

The next two braces, marked 2101-12 IN, are marked for all four patents, so they were made after July 31, 1928, and before North Bros. was acquired by The Stanley Works.  The chucks' two patent numbers are on the front end of the shells, and the brace & ratchet patent dates are marked on the lower knurled closures, adjacent to the chuck.


The fourth brace, marked No.2101-12IN, has no patent numbers or dates and was made by North Bros. after their purchase by Stanley Tools, but before Stanley moved the factory away from Philadelphia.

The upper brace, designated B&D-B1, is in good condition and has been SOLD.

The left center brace, designated B&D-B2, also has been SOLD.

The bottom right brace, designated B&D-B3, is SOLD.

All three braces are fully & smoothly functional.


The fourth brace, B&D-B4, is shown at the bottom of the page; it is priced at SOLD.


Pad of top left brace

Pad design for topmost brace

Yankee braces with two patent dates No. 2100-12 IN

All three heads in order as at left

Pad of left center brace

Pad design for bottom two braces

Pad of bottom right brace

The pad of the topmost brace has a one-piece center section and a full-width metal plate between the composition pad and the center section.

The pads of the bottom two braces have a two-piece center section and a composition pad shaped as though it had a full-width plate, but there is actually no plate at all - just a wide flange on the center section.




This is the fourth brace, B&D-B4, SOLD.

Overall view of brace B&D-B4
Chuck & ratchet box
 The cover of the ratchet housing has suffered only minimal hammering and can be unscrewed easily for inspection of the ratchet mechanism.  The jaws look essentially unused but are original to the brace. The ball bearings work smoothly.  The shell of the chuck has one small dent.
No.2101-12IN stamped on bow The wrist handle (far left) is fastened with the "tube and nuts" method of the original US Patent No. 1,473,423.
The thermosetting resin pad and (to a lesser degree) wrist handle have become somewhat bleached, probably from exposure to the sun.  Their surfaces are smooth and hard nevertheless.
"YANKEE" molded into pad
 Underside of pad

YANKEE on chuck
 YANKEE on ratchet housing
 North Bros. Div. of Stanley Tools
 In addition to "YANKEE" molded into the pad, it is also stamped into both the chuck and the ratchet housing. The ratchet housing also memorializes the acquisition of the North Bros. factory in Philadelphia by Stanley Tools.