Cheshirechappie
Established Member
Some months ago, I 'invested' about £16 on a certain internet auction site, and in two seperate lots acquired a vintage 'sixpenny' brace and a selection of 32 brace bits. I've been doing a bit of cleaning and sharpening, and having a play about with them.
The bits consisted of several centre bits ranging from about 1/4" to 1", a handful of shell and nose bits, and a few countersinks (which I haven't really tested yet).
I can't say I'm all that impressed with the shell and nose bits. They cut a nice, clean hole, and work just as well if turned clockwise or anti-clockwise, but that hole's diameter may not relate to the bit size, nor might it be where you wanted the hole to start. My conclusion is that if you need smallish holes for (say) screw pilots or screw-shank clearance, a modern lip and spur bit, or even a jobber's twist drill, in an egg-beater hand drill will do a better job.
However, the centre bits were something of a revelation. For donkey's years, I've been using Jennings twist augers in the handbrace, and for holes up to about 3/4" they do a very fine job, but pushing one much bigger than that into hardwood is asking for a lot of grunt. Not so with the centre bits - a 1" centre bit will take out a nice, clean hole in beech without much strain in a 10" sweep brace. In softwood, it flies through. Even a 3/4" hole can be drilled through beech using the (7" sweep) sixpenny brace; with a Jennings auger, you need the 10" brace to turn it. One thing that helps with the centre bits is that you can control the rate of cut by how much you lean on the brace - the screw pitch of the twist auger pilots dictate their rate of feed, and all mine are a rather coarse pitch.
Hole quality is remarkably good. I think cleanliness of cut depends a bit on careful sharpening of the side spur, but all my centre bits cut pretty well dead on nominal size. I gather some can cut a bit oversize - maybe if the centre pilot is sharpened a bit off, they don't quite drill true.
Where a twist auger will score is in drilling deep holes. The centre bit can be made to go a little off-line if the brace is tilted a bit.
Another thing to note, in passing as it were, is how impressed I am with the sixpenny brace. It's such a simple little tool, but very effective. The bit holder is just a square tapered hole with a little thumbscrew to pinch the bit's taper and hold it, so changing bits is very quick indeed - much quicker than with the two-jaw screw chuck of the bigger brace. That said, it doesn't have the sweep or solidity of build to cope with bigger bits, but up to about 3/4" centre bits, I actually prefer it to the Stanley 10" ratchet brace.
So - if you have a brace, but haven't acquired any centre bits yet, go forth and grab a few. They can be picked up for very little on Ebay, and I'd imagine for virtually nothing at carboots. Sharpened up, a selection to hand in the workshop would be well worth while!
The bits consisted of several centre bits ranging from about 1/4" to 1", a handful of shell and nose bits, and a few countersinks (which I haven't really tested yet).
I can't say I'm all that impressed with the shell and nose bits. They cut a nice, clean hole, and work just as well if turned clockwise or anti-clockwise, but that hole's diameter may not relate to the bit size, nor might it be where you wanted the hole to start. My conclusion is that if you need smallish holes for (say) screw pilots or screw-shank clearance, a modern lip and spur bit, or even a jobber's twist drill, in an egg-beater hand drill will do a better job.
However, the centre bits were something of a revelation. For donkey's years, I've been using Jennings twist augers in the handbrace, and for holes up to about 3/4" they do a very fine job, but pushing one much bigger than that into hardwood is asking for a lot of grunt. Not so with the centre bits - a 1" centre bit will take out a nice, clean hole in beech without much strain in a 10" sweep brace. In softwood, it flies through. Even a 3/4" hole can be drilled through beech using the (7" sweep) sixpenny brace; with a Jennings auger, you need the 10" brace to turn it. One thing that helps with the centre bits is that you can control the rate of cut by how much you lean on the brace - the screw pitch of the twist auger pilots dictate their rate of feed, and all mine are a rather coarse pitch.
Hole quality is remarkably good. I think cleanliness of cut depends a bit on careful sharpening of the side spur, but all my centre bits cut pretty well dead on nominal size. I gather some can cut a bit oversize - maybe if the centre pilot is sharpened a bit off, they don't quite drill true.
Where a twist auger will score is in drilling deep holes. The centre bit can be made to go a little off-line if the brace is tilted a bit.
Another thing to note, in passing as it were, is how impressed I am with the sixpenny brace. It's such a simple little tool, but very effective. The bit holder is just a square tapered hole with a little thumbscrew to pinch the bit's taper and hold it, so changing bits is very quick indeed - much quicker than with the two-jaw screw chuck of the bigger brace. That said, it doesn't have the sweep or solidity of build to cope with bigger bits, but up to about 3/4" centre bits, I actually prefer it to the Stanley 10" ratchet brace.
So - if you have a brace, but haven't acquired any centre bits yet, go forth and grab a few. They can be picked up for very little on Ebay, and I'd imagine for virtually nothing at carboots. Sharpened up, a selection to hand in the workshop would be well worth while!
