Seven inch swing brace with Draper patent chuck, made by Quimby Backus.
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Brace B&D-53 Price: $40.00 plus shipping. Randy Roeder's OldToolHeaven website has an excellent page on braces made by Quimby S. Backus, including larger versions of the present diminutive brace. This brace has seen next to zero use and has only a few scratches & dings to show for its advanced age. The chuck's massive external parts act only as grippers to retain the bit in the brace's socket. The socket does all the hard work, and the jaws only keep the bit from falling out of the socket; there is no excuse for overtightening the chuck. The chuck has its limitations, as tightening does not firmly seat the bit's tang, so it will slip partly out of the socket when the bit is withdrawn forecfully from the workpiece. Nor will the chuck keep a cylindrical bit (without any tang) from spinning under load; however, someone may have tried ... as one jaw's pivot pin appears to have gotten bent by such effort. |
