Brace style chucks

[Tim Britton]

Not sure if this is a hand-tool thing or not but here goes, my Wilson centre motion mortiser carries the chisel in a Morse taper, the catalogue pics show a boring attachment which fits to the machine and allows the mortise to be roughed out. All attempts to locate such a device have failed so a different approach was sought and the idea of a brace chuck on a Morse taper to fit in the chisel carriage seemed a solution. There are adapters to fit brace chucks on a Morse taper, also adapters to fit standard Jobbers drill bit into a brace, all these assume the brace is to be used as designed. What I'm looking for is a chuck on a Morse taper which has the ratchet bit in - in effect like a joist brace - which would allow me to bore through timber as it was clamped in the machine. The question is does anyone know of such a chuck or adapter?

 

[ChaiLatte]

Can you post pictures from the catalogue, or a link to an online download.

It is not clear if the spindle of the machine (containing the Morse taper socket) rotates or not or if it does rotate whether it can be locked to not rotate. That will have some influence on the successful operation of any attachment we devise.

If this is typical of a joist brace:

https://www.oldhandtools.co.uk/skinner-corner-or-joist-ratchet-brace

buy one, remove the three screws holding the wooden handle and reattach to something with a male Morse taper.

You can buy what are called soft blank arbors, but you would need to check that the diameter of the bought item is large enough to accommodate the PCD of the securing screws. If the diameter is too small, you would have to increase it by gluing or loctiting on a wooden or metal sleeve.

The above would work on a locked spindle.

Please could you post a picture of a male Morse taper to brace chuck adaptor. It is a long shot, but if there is enough length between the fat end of the morse taper and the top of the drill chuck, graft on a hexagonal piece of metal there and use a standard ratchet spanner of the appropriate a/f size to turn it.

This would only work if the spindle can rotate.

This might be an option for a ratcheting mechanism, but it would take considerable work as both top and bottom need altering - top to become a male Morse taper and bottom to accommodate chuck:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/387348575145

 

[Tim Britton]

Can you post pictures from the catalogue, or a link to an online download.

It is not clear if the spindle of the machine (containing the Morse taper socket) rotates or not or if it does rotate whether it can be locked to not rotate. That will have some influence on the successful operation of any attachment we devise.

If this is typical of a joist brace:

https://www.oldhandtools.co.uk/skinner-corner-or-joist-ratchet-brace

buy one, remove the three screws holding the wooden handle and reattach to something with a male Morse taper.

You can buy what are called soft blank arbors, but you would need to check that the diameter of the bought item is large enough to accommodate the PCD of the securing screws. If the diameter is too small, you would have to increase it by gluing or loctiting on a wooden or metal sleeve.

The above would work on a locked spindle.

Please could you post a picture of a male Morse taper to brace chuck adaptor. It is a long shot, but if there is enough length between the fat end of the morse taper and the top of the drill chuck, graft on a hexagonal piece of metal there and use a standard ratchet spanner of the appropriate a/f size to turn it.

This would only work if the spindle can rotate.

This might be an option for a ratcheting mechanism, but it would take considerable work as both top and bottom need altering - top to become a male Morse taper and bottom to accommodate chuck:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3873485751

attached is a catalogue pic of the machine with the boring box in the middle of the page

 

[ChaiLatte]

attached is a catalogue pic

Thanks.

We should note that on the original attachment the operating handle rotated continuously in a vertical plane.

With a joist brace, the handle would oscillate back and forth in a horizontal plane.

Do you have a a specific preference for this latter arrangement or could something mimicing the original work for you?

 

[Tim Britton]

Thanks.

We should note that on the original attachment the operating handle rotated continuously in a vertical plane.

With a joist brace, the handle would oscillate back and forth in a horizontal plane.

Do you have a a specific preference for this latter arrangement or could something mimicing the original work for you?

The ideal would be to have something like the original and it could be replicated with cogs and a spindle and a large wheel but doing so would be a long-winded way of achieving a hole in wood when my traditional brace and bit works perfectly. This is when thoughts turned to a ratchet brace on a Morse taper spindle to fit in the chisel carrier and the ratchet would allow the auger to be driven into the timber. Not perhaps as quick as the original way but, with sharp augers, maybe as effective. One of the most frustrating parts of this obsession is the workshop where I served my apprenticeship in the 1970s actually had such a machine with all the knobs bells and whistles listed and when the company closed all I had to do was ask for it... naturally I didn't as my head was turned by this electrickery powered machines.

 

[ChaiLatte]

I am a little curious how you feed the bit into the work with this setup. Do you rely on the auger pulling itself into the wood because of the thread on its end? Do you have to apply downwards pressure on the operating lever? The latter seems a little ungainly. Maybe you hang your lunchbag from the lever and drill more slowly in the afternoon.