Historical information

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.

Significance

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.

Physical description

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

Inscriptions & markings

None