Context: A brace is a hand tool used with a bit (drill bit or auger) to drill holes, usually in wood. The pressure is applied to the top and the tool is rotated with a U-shaped grip. Bits used to come in a variety of types but today the more commonly used Ridgeway and Irwin pattern bits also rely on a snail point (called the snail), which is a tapered screw point shaped the same as a wood screw thread, which helps to pull the bit into the wood as the user turns the brace handle and applies pressure. The designs used today come from an original idea and pattern invented by John S Fray. Company History: John S. Fray (1833 ) immigrated to Bridgeport Connecticut USA from England in the 1850s and established a working relationship with Nelson Spofford, who held an 1858 patent for a bit brace (the tool could be augured in a continuous circular motion by hand). He established the John S. Fray Co. around the same time and immediately began producing the Spofford bit brace. Fray himself held at least two patents: one awarded in 1869 for a boring brace attachment, and another awarded in 1883 for a tool handle. By 1889, the firm was located at the industrial complex that sits between the former International Silver Company and the former Bridgeport Chain Company on Crescent Avenue and is identified on the Sanborn Insurance Atlas as a manufacturer of Spofford bit braces, hollow handle awl, and toolsets. The company was in competition with Peck Stow and Wilcox Co. of Southington, and in 1898 was enjoined from making a ratchet bit brace for which the latter company held a patent. By the 1920s, the factory had been purchased by the Stanley Company of New Britain and leased to the American Tube and Stamping Company, a manufacturer of brass, copper, seamless, and bicycle tubing, which also ran a rolling mill to the south on Stafford Avenue (now demolished). The Stanley Company bought both mills in 1926, perhaps as a strategic move to be located along the Bridgeport Harbour, through which much of the raw material used in its operations throughout the state came. By the 1950s, the Crescent Avenue operations had been moved to other sites in Connecticut, and Stanley again leased the building to a company called Cornwall and Patterson, a manufacturer of piano hardware. Today the building appears to be vacant. An early carpenters tool made by a well known early manufacturer from America who instigated many innovations to the making of tools. His early pattern for the improvement of a tool that could be used for the boring of holes in wood was a significant step forward. His design for a boring brace attachment and later a specific handle is still in use today and his original brace and bit is now sought after by collectors of antique tools. Spofford Carpenter's Bit Brace metal has bit attached. Wing nut holds bit in place but nut missing. holds bit in place. 285mm long x 160mm Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

The subject item is an early Victorian Scotch Brace with a 10-inch sweep. They were also known as a six penny or "gentleman's" brace and were designed to accept tapered square shank bits, early designs have a thumb screw to help secure the bit. Later designs had a catch to secure drilling bits. This type of brace was used in wagon making for boring & drilling holes into the wood for a variety of purposes, including driving screws. The subject item is unmarked but could have been made in Glasgow Scotland by John Fray in the 1800s, early drill braces of this type were often unmarked by their makers. A significant early example of a drill brace made in the UK during the 1800s demonstrates the evolution of this type of tool from this time that today is a rare and collectable example of woodworking tools.Brace metal with wooden handle. Has a screw in the holding socket item also has an auger bit. Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, brace, carpenders wheel brace, cabinet makers tools, drilling tool, wagon makers drill

Brace and bits are believed to be 120 years old.|Tools used by Mrs Duncan's grandfather, when he was a carpenter on the clipper ship of the 1870's between England and Australia.'U-shaped brace with wooden handle at one end, a wooden ball in centre and a rectangular metal block at the other end. Into this block are inserted the various drill bits . Bits are of various sizes shaped with a start screw and then the cutting edge. Rest of the drill is like a corkscrew. End of bit has a four-sided tapered section which is inserted into the metal block on the brace.trades, carpentry

Very old. Ref. Pages 6 and 7 Tools for all Trades Catalogue. The braces vary in quality (strength) depending on what materials are used to make them.The brace is a hand operated tool for boring holes in wood, consisting of a crank-shaped turning device. The brace that grips and rotates the hole-cutting tool, the bit.Used by woodworkers in the Kiewa Valley.Vintage hand drill braces. All different and not all complete. Made of cast iron, steel with wooden handles. The drills fit into one end of the brace which is turned to make a drilling motion. A brace is a hand tool used with a bit (drill bit or auger) to drill holes, usually in wood. Pressure is applied to the top while the handle is rotated.brace and bit, woodwork, hand drilling