Marples Beech, Brass & Ebony Brace

[Rhyolith]

Been casually keeping an eye out for these kind of braces for a while, least ones not going for £50+ as they usually seem to :shock: On my visit to the Norwich easter weekend Antiques fair I spotted this one in a pile of tools and ended up paying £20 for it, which seems like a good deal?

Marples Brace by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I think its one step down from that ludicrously opulent "Ultimatium" brace. Generally a very pretty tool!

I am under the assumption its mid 19th century mainly due to the look of the thing, but don't have any references to back this up. Anyone help here? Apparently Marples was absorbed into record, so I assume this pre-dates that (1920-30s?).

Marples Brace by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Marples Brace by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I gave it a general clean up, wiping off the muck with a white spirited rag and brasso on the brass parts. The wooden parts got a once over with some linseed, which imposed the look beech considerable (it was all pale and blotchy when I go it).

It seems to have been glued at some point just behind the central handle (you can see this as a blotchy line in the top picture) and there is one screw missing, nothing major.

 

[ED65]

...ended up paying £20 for it, which seems like a good deal?

I don't know what the going rate for these might be but I'd say that's a bargain.

I gave it a general clean up, wiping off the muck with a white spirited rag and brasso on the brass parts. The wooden parts got a once over with some linseed, which imposed the look beech considerable (it was all pale and blotchy when I go it).

Oh noes, you removed the patina and made it worthless in the eyes of a collector! :lol: :lol: :lol:

FWIW I think it now looks the way it should.

Nice buy! User or just a pretty thing for the workshop wall?

 

[AndyT]

Very nice. I too hesitate at spending £50+ on a plated brace but would have happily bought that one for £20.

I'm away from reference books at present so can't check how long they stayed in catalogues. There are reference books which I think will give you more information, but the books themselves are somewhat rare, collectable and expensive. (I'm thinking of Reg Eaton's "The Ultimate Brace" and Kenneth Roberts' "Some C19th Woodworking Tools." I don't have either.)

Once you invest in those, a few Ultimatums at £300+ will soon follow... or in your case you will probably find them for a fiver! :wink:

 

[AndyT]

One afterthought on the missing screw - they were always steel screws on these braces, not brass, so the screws you have look right. I wouldn't replace the missing one, unless you already have a really beat up 'donor' brace as a source of old, old-looking steel screws.

 

[ED65]

If a suitably sized steel slot-head could be found, even if galvanised, it would be a simple matter to make it look the right age with a combination of pickling and/or heat and oil.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Nice find - especially for £20!

I think that pattern is known as a 'button brace'. It uses the sort of bit that has a little notch filed part way up the square tang. That engages with a piece of spring steel when the bit is entered into the chuck, the spring stopping it dropping out again. Depressing the button releases the spring, and thus the bit can be withdrawn. Or fall out.

Bits of that pattern do crop up quite regularly, but they're not as common as the plain square taper shank ones. I think that's mainly because the button type braces fell out of favour when the metal ones arrived on the scene (mid to late 19th century), mainly because the metal ones are much stronger. As evidenced by the repair to yours, the wooden braces won't take much forcing or abuse, even with the brass reinforcement plates.

 

[Rhyolith]

Nice buy! User or just a pretty thing for the workshop wall?

I think I will display it as what makes it special is its beauty. As well I doubt it will have a performance advantage over my main working braces, though I do not like owning I tool I have not used, so if I can find a suitable bit (thanks of the info on those Ches) I will have a go with it.

I will certainly not be spending £300+ on a brace! At least not without a drastic increase in my financial resources! Honestly I would probably need some convincing to spend more than the £20 I spent on this one for any brace.

I am inclined to leave the missing screw unless I happen to find on that suits, honestly its not very noticeable.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

There was a little about "period hardware" (read old woodscrews and nails) in the 2016 Mortice & Tenon. Deeper, finer threads and thinner slots on mid 19th C screws apparently, at least in the USA.

 

[kwigly]

My Henry Brown plated brace is slightly more damaged than Rhyolith's
All brass screws for the plating (a steel screw to hold the chuck). Missing some plating and the chuck button, screwed & glued, but still pretty enough for keepers and to admire the original workmanship.

 

[AndyT]

The more I look at these old wooden braces, whether plated or not, the more I admire the skill of the old Sheffield hands who could make them, on piece work, and earn enough to feed themselves and their families.

Presumably they would have had templates to mark out the shapes, but they must have been masters of the drawknife and spokeshave.

Jim Hendricks, who used to post a lot on here, was interested enough, and skilled enough, to have a go at making one, to explore just how difficult it is. For the benefit of anyone who didn't see it in person at one of Richard's open days, here's the link to his photo essay on Wiktor Kuc's site:

http://contrib2.wkfinetools.com/hendric ... Rep-01.asp

Enjoy!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

....and just to add to the entertainment, I found this on YouTube;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_GgGSyUvF4

which demonstrates the notched bits and button chuck quite nicely.

 

[Boringgeoff]

According to Jane and Mark Rees book "Tools. A guide For Collectors". "John Cartwright of Sheffield took out a patent for a brass framed brace in 1848. The patent was purchased by William Marples who, by 1854, had put the 'patent metallic-framed brace' into production and coined the very memorable description 'Ultimatum brace'..... Manufacture of ebony braces had ceased by 1905."
As I understand it the notch was filed in the tang of the bit by the brace owner rather than being purchased ready notched. I've got dozens of notched bits and very few match my one beech brace or my 6 scotch braces which use a similar latch mechanism.
I find it surprising that the notched bits are still turning up at swap meets etc when you consider their age, they are a consumable which when worn out would generally be binned.
Cheers,
Geoff.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Thanks Geoff - the point that users filed their own notches into bit shanks is one that hadn't occurred to me. Maybe worth noting that it's probably not a good idea to use Jennings, Irwin and similar bits in a wooden brace, given the torque they need to drive them relative to the older patterns of bits.

By the way - I suspect that wooden braces reinforced with metal side-plates probably pre-dated the Cartwright framed brace. The wooden brace idea itself has been around since about 1420 (in Flanders) according to Wikipedia. There were some examples in the Mary Rose carpenter's kit - http://www.maryrose.org/meet-the-crew/t ... ter/tools/ - so dating from 1545 (when the ship sank) or a bit earlier.

 

[Rhyolith]

So it looks like my brace above can be placed 1854 - around 1905. Assuming production of these kind of braces probably ended around the same time as the Utimatium?

 

[Boringgeoff]

Yes, that's what I would assume.