While this is clearly the brace pictured in the 1914 Atkins catalog, there are two minor differences: (1) The auxiliary crank is a mite too short, so the nut that holds the shaft for the crank handle fouls the center handle of the brace; and (2) The chuck is the optional version used in the less expensive Atkins braces seen elsewhere in the same catalog.  This corner brace is so well thought out that the upper knob is not only squared off to fit into a corner as tightly as the rest of the mechanism, but the angle is even slightly less than a right angle to allow for lack of squareness in the corner and even a little leeway for tilting the entire drill.   Return to Gear Braces page

Below is a closer view of the simple but effective mechanism that allows the auxiliary crank to be readily attached or removed from the drill.

The attachment consists of a narrow slot in the gear shaft which is engaged by a sheet metal tab that can be moved with one's thumbnail.  The tab is hardly loaded at all, but when the crank is pulled outwards, the loading is pure shear over a substantial area, enough so that the theoretical force to break the tab is about 200 to 500 pounds, more than sufficient to support the roughest use.