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Braces -  Another Type Study of Sorts
by George Langford

Pexto No. 8014 brace - 14 inch swing
Peck, Stow & Wilcox No. 8014 brace - PEXTO-17
Price: $20.00 plus shipping.
This 14 inch swing brace is similar to PEXTO-07, except that it has greater swing and a later ratchet mechanism.  It does have the Altwein patent jaws and Smith patent ball bearing chuck.  If one assumes that the jaws are not a later addition to this brace, the presence of the July 9, 1895 patent date on the chuck and the Altwein jaws (patented January 24, 1911) mean that the brace had to have been made in the short period before the expiration of the chuck patent (July 10, 1912) and within the period after Altwein applied for his patent (May 24, 1910).  I do not know how the later ratchet mechanism squares with this sequence.

Alas, one of the Altwein jaws has been broken; and the wrist handle is cracked:

Altwein patent jaws wrist hndle
Pad view
Smith patent chuck
July 9, 1895 patent date
Another deficiency is that the ball-bearing pad is loose & wobbly on the wire frame.  It could be sleeved in an easy repair.
The broken Altwein jaw apparently went on being used for a long time; the remainder is still inside the chuck !
Was the patent date applied long after the patent expired ?