Brace based question

[Corset]

I am in the middle of building a fairly tight fitting cabinet
See https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/wall-tool-chest-potential-wip-t58767.htm

However I have made a miscalculation and my Stanley small brace does not fit in. It's 35cm chuck to pad and the gap is 32cm. I don't know if anybody could help and measure a brace to see if they have one that's sub 32cm that takes the usual Jennings bit ( 4sided thing)

Any help would be great. I will then need to buy one

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Buy a stubby bit? They're not expensive.

 

[Corset]

Its not to drill the hole. I need to fit a brace into my tool chest. My current one is 3cm to long!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The old 'sixpenny' brace (second one down on this page - http://www.stagtools.co.uk/Gallery/Braces.html ) is only 290mm (just over 11") long, so one of those would fit. One disadvantage is that they won't turn the bigger Jennings and Irwin pattern bits; much above 1/2" would be pushing it. They are great with the old-type centre bits (the sort without a screwed 'worm'), and will turn even quite large ones into hardwood, but not with a high feedrate. They're also fine with vintage shell, nose and gimlet bits, too.

The later Stanley et. al. ratchet braces were more heavily built to withstand the harder work needed to turn the bigger sizes of screwed worm style bits. The addition of the ratchet mechanism and chuck makes them that bit longer, too.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A joist brace?

 

[Corset]

It's frustrating, my Stanley brace is 35cm long with a ratchet, its got a six inch sweep which is fine up to an inch. Sadly 2.5cm too long. I was hoping that maybe a millers fall or goodwill Pratt may scrape in....

 

[marcros]

could you remove the chuck?

 

[Mike.S]

I have a Stanley no.73 with 5" sweep which is a tad under 34cm long. I note that the edge of the metal plate which houses the round wooden pad is 31.5cm from the chuck end, so you could cut/file down the pad (or turn a new one) so that only 0.5cm protrudes, giving an overall length of 32cm.

Alternatively, I noticed that the metal rod between the two handles is not bent at right angles; rather at an obtuse angle, which makes it 2cm longer than it would be if it had been bent at 90 degrees. Perhaps your brace is similar and could be bent to shorten it?

 

[Vann]

Perhaps your brace is similar and could be bent to shorten it?

Then you'd have a mini-wimble :mrgreen:

Cheers, Vann.

 

[bugbear]

The later Stanley et. al. ratchet braces were more heavily built to withstand the harder work needed to turn the bigger sizes of screwed worm style bits. The addition of the ratchet mechanism and chuck makes them that bit longer, too.

Following up on that thought, I measured a Record #452-8" plain (non ratchet) brace I own (and love).

Surprisingly, it's 355 mm long, pad to jaws. It's shorter than any of my ratchet braces, but still not short enough for the OP.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

Jaunty angle?

Pete

 

[clauskeller]

I have a small Millers Falls No.15 brace http://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/brace1.htm#1016 which is 31 cm long. Would fit but is hard (and expensive) to get.

Claus

 

[Corset]

I have just bought one on ebay!
Pricy they are indeed. the sellar informs me its 12" dead which should do the job.
I suspect it may need a loving touch!
Thanks for all the help, lets hope they can measure

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The later Stanley et. al. ratchet braces were more heavily built to withstand the harder work needed to turn the bigger sizes of screwed worm style bits. The addition of the ratchet mechanism and chuck makes them that bit longer, too.

Following up on that thought, I measured a Record #452-8" plain (non ratchet) brace I own (and love).

Surprisingly, it's 355 mm long, pad to jaws. It's shorter than any of my ratchet braces, but still not short enough for the OP.

BugBear

Those chucks are a good 2" (plus) long, though. Something the sixpenny brace doesn't have; it just has a small block of metal with a square taper hole in it and a small thumbscrew for securing the bit shank.

Must admit, I'm rather fond of my sixpenny brace. The speed of changing bits is very fast compared to a chucked brace, and it's light to use. It's true that they're not especially well made, particularly details like the bearing between pad and frame (which is rather small and feeble, and would wear if it saw a lot of work), but I think they were intended as a cheap-and-cheerful basic tool. The sweep of mine is 7", which is fine for old-style bits, but lacks grunt for pushing Jennings and Irwin screw-feed bits bigger than about 1/2" into hardwood (maybe about 3/4" into softwood). If you also have a 'conventional' 10" or bigger ratchet brace on hand for the larger bits, you'd have most eventualities covered.