Spofford braces

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Spofford Braces: A Type Study
Some are still for sale by GeorgesBasement.com
Page updated January 25, 2019

These three of the earliest Spofford braces were made according to U.S. Patent No. 25,984,
issued to Nelson Spofford on November 1, 1859 as shown below, left.
The ten inch (Brace A) and eight inch (Brace B) below are priced at $75.00 plus shipping;
and the smallest (Brace C) has been SOLD.

10 inch, 8 inch, and 6 inch swing Fray & Pigg braces

These three were made by Fray & Pigg, Bridgeport, Connecticut. The 10 inch and 8 inch sizes are marked with the Nov. 1, 1859 patent date. The smallest brace simply states, "Spofford's Patent."

The ten inch brace has the swing cast into the underside of its pad; the eight inch one has no number, and the six inch swing brace has a faint "6" cast into the pad.
Chucks of the three braces, largest at left

Chucks of the three braces, largest at left

The smallest brace has notches for small drill bits; I have never seen another Spofford brace like this one.

The next of Spofford's improvements was a method of coring the mold for the frame so as to eliminate the necessity of splitting the malleable iron chuck casting with a saw, as indicated below, left, for US Patent 225,768, issued March 23, 1880. The ten inch (Brace E) is $80.00; the eight inch (Brace D) is $70.00, both plus shipping.

Cored frame Fray braces, pat. March 23, 1880

The larger 10 inch swing brace at left has bold markings; the smaller brace's markings are faint but indicate the date OK.

The swings are 10 inch and 8 inch, respectively.

John S. Fray signature on 10" swing brace.

March 23, 1880 patent date on 10 inch swing brace

March 23, 1880 patent date on the larger brace.

Fray & Pigg brace made after US Patent 225,768

Fray & Pigg signature, Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bold signature of the Fray & Pigg partnership.
Spofford's patent

The brace isn't marked with the patent date of the claimed patent.

The only defect in this fine brace is the chip taken from the underside of the pad, now deftly secured with hard resin.

Somewhere along the history of the Spofford braces made by John Fray, Horace Pigg found his name on the brace shown at left, which has such a straight split in its chuck that it was probably also made according to the March 23, 1880 patent.

Brace F is SOLD.

Sanford Moss has a similar brace that also has the Fray & Pigg signature.

A number of braces were made with wire frames and cast chucks, fastened to each other by forge welding. These are described in the next section, below.

The five braces below were all made after the expiration of the November 1, 1859 patent and before the adoption of the March 23, 1880 or February 15, 1881 patents, as they were made before these later improvements were applied.

They are priced as follows: Brace G (12 inch size): SOLD; Brace H (10 inch size): SOLD; Brace I (8 inch size): SOLD; Brace J (10 inch size) SOLD; and Brace K (8 inch size): SOLD. Braces G, I and J have slightly checked pads and/or wrist handles.

		These five braces all have no maker's markings, but they have the characteristics of Fray braces, including the slightly cupped lignum vitae pads and rosewood wrist handles. As well as their wavy chuck splits, these braces have another sign that they were made from malleable iron chucks forge welded onto steel wire frames: There is a "color" change in the patina at the interface between the two metals ... impossible to photograph.
		They all have wavy splits in the chucks as shown at left. You can look more closely by viewing the images separately in a new browser window. The eight-inch swing brace at far left has a replaced thumbscrew; it works OK.

The following cored-frame Spofford braces from the left: Brace L (10 inch): SOLD; Brace M (10 inch): SOLD; Brace N (8 inch): SOLD; and Brace O (10 inch): SOLD. See also Brace DD by John S. Fray & Co., Bridgeport, Conn., U.S.A.

		Spofford braces were made for quite some time with pewter rings holding the two halves of the wrist handles together and with the splits in their chucks cored into the molds for the malleable iron castings according to the March 23, 1880 patent. These can be discerned, not only by the pewter rings (even though the last Spofford patent that made the brace frames in two pieces again appeared already on February 15, 1881). The core must have produced important improvements in strength and reductions in production cost. These cored-mold brace frames can also be spotted because their chucks aren't flattened top & bottom like the chucks of the forge-welded brace frames (above). The Sweet- Heart era Stanley/Fray brace has a chipped cup.
	Stanley S.W. New Britain, Conn. Fray No.110 signature.	All these braces have rosewood cups with slightly dished undersides, but I suspect that Brace M (middle at far left) has had its cup replaced with an escellent substitute, as the metal flane isn't recessed like all the others. The markings on all three braces at left indicate their origin with the John S. Fray firm.

Four large Spofford braces, 14 inch & (3) 17 inch swing

Brace S has strong markings & the size designation, "N-114".

Braces Q, R, P & S; the undersides of the pads of braces R & S have cupped shapes. Brace S's is stamped, "J.E. Rhodes."

The "big boys" at left have these price tags (from left to right): Brace S (14 inch) SOLD; Brace P (17 inch): SOLD; Brace R (17 inch): SOLD; and Brace Q (17 inch): SOLD.

Brace S has lost all but 5% of its nickel plating but has the smoothest patinated surface. Brace R retains about 75% of its nickel plating (No "Bridgeport" stamp, but a "No.117" size mark). Brace P has a rough patina but good stamp markings ("No.117"). Brace Q has weak manufacturer's markings (a strong "N-117") but retains about 5% of its nickel plating.

The Whimble Brace T below (Price: $65.00) was made to the dictates of U.S. Patent No. 237,780, granted to Nelson Spofford on February 15, 1881. It has a twelve inch swing.

Whimble style Fray brace T, 12 inch swing

The patent is worded so as to permit any one of several connection mechanisms; in this one the wire portion of the frame was pinned to the malleable iron chuck casting. Brace B&D-40's connection is also pinned, but the malleable iron chuck isn't bent at the connection like the one above.

This brace also has metallurgical interest; the hole for the thumbscrew is cracked, but shows considerable toughness.
See the following two images: Image 1 ... Image 2.

There are two more Spofford braces of less certain parentage. Brace U (8 inch and Price $30.00) is at left; Brace V (also 8 inch and Price $30.00) is at right.

Brace U (at left) has a Fray stamp; Brace V is unmarked

Brace U (at left) has its 8 inch swing size cast into the pad; Brace V has no size or manufacturer's markings, and its pad has been remounted onto a shortened or formerly worn out frame which now works OK.
Replaced adjustment bolt of Brace U

Brace U's thumbscrew has been replaced with a nicely fitted bolt and thumbnut.

Brace U was made according to the original Spofford patent, but after its expiration (i.e., later than 1866) and carries a faint John S. Fraymanufacturer's mark, but it has had its thumbscrew replaced with a bolt and wingnut.

Brace V either had its pad worn out from long or unlubricated use, or it had to be shortened. I favor the "shortened" hypothesis because its pad also has two small holes drilled into the rim and a drilled center hole, which were probably used to hold the brace in a blacksmith's stationary boring device.

There are unmarked grey cast iron braces dedicated for such use on the market which have the added advantage of much greater weight so as to smooth out the drilling process.

Brace V's pad was thus remounted a very long time ago, as the fastening mechanism is no longer visible.

Here's the 14 inch Brace W, a latecomer to the family; SOLD

This brace long ago suffered a bout of cleaning with some rather benign abrasive, not sandblasting, because the iron surface is rather smooth. The wood was quite well protected from that process and shows no ill effects. Just visible in the plan view at far left is a little spot of dark oxide (remnant magnetite) that the cleaning process missed. The brace is fully functional. The close-up view at far right shows the lip at the opening of the chuck jaws that is meant to retain the bit while withdrawing it from the hole being drilled. This brace has never been used with a round-shank bit. The swing is fourteen inches.

The cleaning at least left the maker's marks clearly legible. Some additional images can be seen here: Wrist; Pad.

Five More Spofford Braces

From left to right:

Brace X: 10 inch swing Fray & Pigg/Spofford Patent, Bridgeport, CT, smooth frame: SOLD

Brace Y: 10 inch swing John S. Fray & Co. illegible patent date, pitted frame: $30.00

Brace Z: 8 inch swing Fray & Pigg, Bridgeport, CT, pitted frame: $35.00

Brace AA: 108, otherwise unmarked, lignum pad, rosewood wrist, smooth frame, replaced thumbscrew: SOLD

Brace BB: 108, otherwise unmarked, lignum pad, rosewood wrist, smooth frame, repaired thumbscrew: SOLD

Brace DD, shown below, was made by John S. Fray & Co., Bridgeport, Conn., U.S.A. with a malleable iron frame and rosewood wrist handle in two halves, secured with cast-in-place pewter rings. Except from some toolbox dings on the wrist handle, it is in otherwise perfect condition, with a black magnetite patina replacing the long-lost nickel plating. It's the "108" size (eight inch swing). Price: SOLD.

Note: Brace-EE has been SOLD; Brace-FF is also SOLD - descriptions pending.