[A10GAC]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

I forgot to mention, Evapo-rust can be reused almost indefinitely, so a quart can last quite a while. The front of my bottle says that a quart can derust 75lbs of heavily rusted metal; my planes & chisels haven't been anywhere near what I would consider heavily rusted and it just keeps working. I usually just cut the corner off the bag and run it through a coffee filter into a clean plastic bottle. Only when it eventually becomes too slow to be practical does it get tossed.

I picked up my last quart of Evap-o-rust at the auto parts store for about $10, but I think the gallon at HF only goes for right around $30…a much better buy.

Sorry I'm not much help with the files, most of mine are older than me hand me downs from my father & grandfather. I've picked up a couple replacements over the years, usually from Sears when I'm wandering the tool section waiting for the Mrs.

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Hi guys - Just a quick post to say that whilst I've been reading all the great comments, I haven't had any time to sit down and reply properly yet. I'm currently working out in Denmark on a project and it is a bit full on at the moment. However, I should have some time this evening.

 

[albachippie]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

This is a great blog. I will look forward to the next installment!

 

[donwilwol]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Andy, no worries. Good luck on your project.
i hope its not to problematic. i hate those!

 

[murch]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Brit - you're a rock star of restoration! I too am looking forward to the next part.

p.s. - looks like your workbench (is it a Black and Decker Workmate?) could do with
some TLC )

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Thanks for all the kind words guys, glad you're enjoying the blog.

A10GAC / Don / Wayne / Docholladay - Thanks for giving Doug some great advice on what to buy and where to get hold of it.

RGTools - I've never seen a jeweller's burnisher, but it sounds like an interesting tool. However, on this restoration I'm hoping to show that it can all be done without resorting to power. I'm not saying it is necessarily the best way or the quickest, but it is a challenge to turn out something nice using nothing but the most basic of tools.

dakremer - You're very welcome. In fact it is I who should be thanking you really and Wayne. I bought this brace off of eBay because I have a 6" sweep skinner brace and wanted to get the 8" version. You know how crappy some of those eBay photos can be and it didn't look too bad in the photo. When it arrived, my first thought was "I've been had!" I definitely paid too much for it considering the condition. Then I bought two other 8" sweep braces that were actually in really good condition and got them pretty cheap, so I wasn't going to bother restoring this one at all. So thanks for the kick up the backside and prompting me to do it. I'm learning a lot myself in the process. This is the first time I have had to resort to files to restore a hand brace and I surprised myself with the result.

Although I'm a software implementation consultant nowadays, when I left school I did a 4 year engineering apprenticeship. During that time I did all kinds of welding and flame cutting, turning, milling, grinding, etc. and also learnt some benchwork skills. One of the exercises we had to do was file a 2" cube out of mild steel starting with a rough blank. Each face had to be square to the four adjacent faces and parallel to it's opposite face within a few thousanths of an inch. It was a good exercise and it taught me what can be achieved with a simple file and a bit of practice.

Murch - You're not the first to notice the condition of the B&D Workmate. I won't be restoring it though. It serves as a constant reminder that I must get around to building a proper workbench. It is about 30 years old now. I have used it for all kinds of stuff including two house restoration projects. It has lived out in the garden for the past 5 years, but it just refuses to die. I'm not sure that today's Workmates would stand up to all the abuse this one has, but I can't wait for the day when I get to throw it in a skip.

 

[dakremer]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Brit - I just put another blog into my series. Trying to fix my chuck! I think my filing skills definitely need some practice and I also think i did it wrong - maybe i'll PM you later to show you what i did and why i think it was wrong. My files are small ones like in your pictures, from Harbor Freight - probably not the greatest quality - maybe that had something to do with the result as well - i will post a pic of them later for you!

 

[Bertha]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Doc raises a good point about white vinegar. It'll also kill weeds in the sun and clean your coffee maker. The best part about it is it's something you can sneak into your wife's cart at the grocery store! She'll notice that WOOD magazine in there, but this'll get right through

We should start a list of things with some shop use that you can get at the grocer.

1) Paraffin - in the canning section; for lubing planes
2) Murphy's oil soap- in the cleaning section; with water for lubing scary sharp
3) Washing powder - in the cleaning section; for electrolysis

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

In the US, apparently 'Simple Green' household cleaner is great at cleaning rust and it has a nice minty smell as a bonus. If you see it in the aisle, slip it in the cart.

Doug I'm heading over to your blog now to take a look at your progress.

 

[DaddyZ]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Nice Blog !!!

 

[RGtools]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Nice I like the cover items list AL. I'll add a few.

Add mason jars (or gladware): for mixing finishes, keeping water for tool cooling.
Wax paper: keep your bench clean from glue ups.

Brit, your approach is wonderful. I just had the thought about the burnisher and felt like sharing I miss having access to some of those tools (beaver grinders the most…got those are wonderful wet monsters)

 

[donwilwol]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

don't forget paper towels, paper towels and paper towels.

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Thanks DaddyZ. Good to have you on board.

 

[Dennisgrosen]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

I knew you wuold come up with something
but this is way over my imagination …........great blog Andy
I look forward to the next toturial in just about 2minuts and 30 secunds
just need another cup of coffee and favorite this one for future use …. have a few to restore myself

take care
Dennis

 

[planepassion]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Hi Brit,
Your method of filing the chuck then sanding to produce a polished surface is straight forward. However, I noticed that the check-patterned metal at the opposite end of the chuck in your last pic also shines. What was your technique to get the check pattern to shine?

Regards,
Brad, Denver

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Hi Brad. After applying the rust remover gel to the knurled part of the chuck and waiting 20 mins, I brushed it with a soft wire brush. Using light pressure only, I brushed at 45 degrees to the knurled pattern (following the grooves if that makes sense) and turning the chuck in my hand as I went. Then I did the same thing in the opposite direction. I rinsed it off under cold water and dried it. I think I cleaned it a couple more times after that with the gel using only a toothbrush as I was shining up the rest of the chuck. Eventually the ground in crap came out along with the paint spots. After the rest of the chuck was finished, I applied some metal polish with the toothbrush and buffed it with a soft cloth.

Hope that helps.

 

[handyrandyrc]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Brit, what a fantastic restoration you have done!

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Thanks Randy.

 

[knotscott]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

I'm late to the show, but this is good stuff Brit! I've torn apart many a hand plane, but have never dissected a bit brace…..but now that I know how!.... Thanks.

 

[Brit]

Part 1 - Restoring a Brace to 'Like New' Condition

In a recent tool gloat, dakremer showed off three lovely braces he'd purchased and said "Now I just have to learn how to restore this kind of thing". WayneC was first to congratulate him and then proceeded to drop me in it (only joking) by saying "Brit has lots of experience in restoring braces". Later in the comments dakremer said he would love to restore at least one of them to like new condition. Always a sucker for punishment, I agreed to do a blog on restoring a hand brace and I've selected the worst hand brace of the three I have waiting for love. Here's how I see this blog going:

• Parts 1 to 4 - Cleaning and restoring a brace to 'Like New' condition.
• Part 5 - Tuning - Common problems and how to fix them.
• Part 6 - VIDEO - Showing variations in design and what to look for when buying a brace.
• Part 7 - VIDEO - Uses for a hand brace in today's workshop.
• Part 8 - Auger bits and how to sharpen them.

Let me say at the outset, that the kind of brace we'll be discussing is the kind your father and grandfather would have used prior to the advent of the electric drill and later the cordless drill. I won't be discussing older metal braces such as the Spofford brace or Scotch brace, or any of the earlier wooden braces. No, the braces we'll be looking at are the ones you are most likely to find covered in cobwebs at the back of a garage, in the rust pile at a flea market, or hanging on the walls of a trendy wine bar.

I should point out before we start that there are as many different approaches to tool restoration as there are people who restore old tools. For me, the most important thing is FUNCTION. A tool should work as designed and perform well. However I also like my tools to look nice, so a close second to function is that they are AESTHETICALLY PLEASING and TACTILE. I want my tools to say "Pick me up and use me". With the vast majority of braces, this means removing some surface rust, a gentle clean, lubricating the moving parts and refinishing the wooden parts. I usually don't try to get them to look like new. In fact, I like to leave a few war scars here and there to hint at the tool's history.

All of the braces that I've restored in the past have been done in no more than 24 man hours, spread over a few days to allow multiple coats of finish on the wood. One other thing to note is that I won't be using any power tools or machinery during this restoration. The metalworking hand skills you'll see employed here, are basic skills that you would do well to practice. You should look at this restore as a worst case scenario. In reality, you probably WON'T need to employ all of the steps you'll see me perform. Use your judgement as to which steps are appropriate for your brace restoration project.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to RUSTY, an 8" sweep brace made by Skinner of Sheffield.

Skinner braces were not 'high end' tools, just simple workhorses that the working men of England would have used. As you can see, this one has certainly seen better days. By the way, that dark brown colour is NOT a nice patina, its rust. Let's take a closer look at the ratchet and chuck. We've got RUST, scratches, RUST, dings and dents, RUST, paint splashes, and more RUST. OMG, what have I let myself in for?

The English beech wooden head and sweep handle aren't actually that bad when you consider what the metal is like and they still retain most of their finish. I will be refinishing them however, in our quest for dakremer's like new condition challenge.

Here you can see the aluminium end caps of the sweep handle which a number of manufacturers incorporated in their braces. You'll only find it used on parts that don't contribute to the strength of the brace, typically the sweep handle end caps and sometimes the ratchet selecter. Just remember to take it easy when you restore the aluminium bits, as it is a lot softer than steel.

Now we've had a good look at our subject, its time to dismantle it ready for cleaning. The first step is to unscrew the chuck until it is completely off. The jaws should come off with the chuck. Now insert a finger (whichever one will fit) or a piece of dowell in the business end of the chuck and push the jaws to the other end of the chuck housing (knurled end in this case). They should stick out just enough for you grab them with your other hand and gently wiggle them over the internal chuck thread and out of the housing.

Here you see the chuck and jaws removed. As far as I'm aware, all of the chucks found on braces of this era had two jaws. Some of them (like this one) had zig zag teeth to help the jaws align properly as the chuck was tightened. These are generally referred to as aligator jaws for obvious reasons. Alligator jaws can grip round, square tapered and hexagonal shanks. The jaws fit into the slot in the threaded portion of the ratchet mechanism which prevent the jaws from turning with the chuck housing. If you now stick your finger in the other end of the chuck housing (the knurled end in this case), you'll feel that the internal diameter of the chuck reduces in size the closer you get to the end where the jaws would normally protrude. As the chuck is tightened, the curved sloping faces of the jaws ride on this internal surface, forcing the jaws together and gripping the bit tight.

Now let's turn our attention to the Head. There are usually two or three screws securing the wooden head to the brace body. Unscrew them and the head should fall off in your hand. Be ready to catch it!

If it doesn't, DON'T start hitting it with a mallet. Some heads are screwed on to the metal (like the one shown below), with the female thread being cut into the wood itself. Grip the metal part in one hand and the head in the other hand and unscrew the head. If it still doesn't want to come off, it is probably best to leave it in situ, so put the screws back in and mask up the wooden head to prevent it getting damaged while you're cleaning the metal.

For most braces, that is as far as you need to go in terms of dismantling them.
Now its time to commence cleaning, starting with the metal components. Its best to leave the wood until last, as cleaning metal can get messy and you'll only spoil any finish you put on the wooden components. Everyone has their favourite way of cleaning metal and that's fine by me as long as it works. Below, you can see the products that I generally use. A degreaser, 0000 steel wool, and a good general purpose light oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust. There is also a rust remover gel, a roll of absorbent paper towel, an old tooth brush, a scouring pad and a pin. I will also be using a soft wire brush (don't use a stiff one) and some P240, P400, P600, P800, P1200 wet and dry paper. Just to reiterate what I said earlier, use your judgement to determine which of these things you need to use. Depending on the condition of your brace, they might not all be necessary for your restoration.

I start by cleaning the chuck and jaws. Before I attack the rust, I like to use a degreaser. Rust remover works better after degreasing. Give the can a shake and spray on the foam. Most degreasers are citrus based, so while the foam is working it's magic, take a moment to savour that lemony limey odour.

After 5 minutes, I scrub the entire surface with a toothbrush (don't forget the inside of the chuck).

Then I rinse them off in a bowl of water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.

Now its time to start tackling that rust. I'm using a gel, but you could also use a dip (if you're in the US, try Evapo-Rust). Some people also favour electrolysis, citric acid or even naval jelly. There are lots of ways to remove rust, you just have to find what works for you. I liberally apply the gel inside and out with a toothbrush and leave it to work for 20 minutes (other products may differ).

When the time is up, I scrub the surface with the scouring pad and soft wire brush (yeah I know I need a new one), to remove all the rust that wants to come off. If it doesn't want to come off, don't force it.

Below you can see how the components looked after the first application of the gel. The rust has gone from the jaws, but the chuck will need another go. Heavily rusted components such as these, will usually require two of three applications of the gel before all the rust is gone.

I apply more gel and leave it to work for 15 minutes.

While the chuck is cooking, I examine the condition of the jaws. As you can see, the curved surfaces that ride on the inside of the chuck are badly scored and this will need rectifying.

I grabbed a flat file and filed the surface until all the marks were gone.

The ends of the jaws were also in need of attention, so I take the time to file those flat too.

There is another potential problem with these jaws. When they are at rest as shown below, there is a gap all the way along between the teeth.

They should look like this, without me having to hold it together. Since I'm not sure if this will affect their function, I decide not to do anything about it until the brace is reassembled and I've had a chance to see how it grips.

I put the jaws aside and scrub the chuck some more with the wire brush and scouring pad. Then I rinse it off and dried it. This is how it came out.

One side doesn't look too bad, but the other side is a different story. Yes it's the scourge of any tool restorer - PITTING. A little bit of pitting is Ok, but dakremer's challenge is to get it like new, so it will have to go.

Using a small flat file, I file along the length of the three flats that are pitted, taking care to follow the curvature of the surface. I only remove as much metal as is necessary.

After about 10 minutes, the pitting has all but gone from the three surfaces, but now I have coarse file marks instead.

To remove the file marks, I draw-file the surface. For those of you who are not familiar with draw-filing, you apply a drop of oil to the surface, hold the file perpendicular to the surface with both hands. Then work it back and forth along the length of the surface until you have an even scratch pattern. Keep your hands close together and let your fingers ride along the adjacent surfaces to keep the file level.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the draw-filed surface on the right and the coarse filed surface on the left.

After draw-filing the other two surfaces, I put the file aside and turn to the wet and dry papers.

I start with P240 grit and work through the grits up to P1200 on each of the three surfaces. Sanding metal is the same as sanding wood. I work in one direction only and use each grit to remove the scratch pattern left by the previous grit.

I finish by polishing the surface with 0000 steel wool. I like the way it looks but the only trouble is, now I've polished the three faces that were heavily pitted, the adjacent faces look awful in comparison. At this point, as you can see from the reflection in the surface and the droplets of water, the good old English weather decided it was time for a coffee break.

There was nothing else for it but to do the other faces too and bring them up to the same standard. Same process as before.

So here's the finished chuck - well almost. I've still got to smooth out the inside a bit to get rid of the roughness that caused the gouging on the jaws. I'll show you how I do that in Part 2 where I'll also clean the rest of the body. In the meantime, I'm off to buy a new wire brush.

Thanks for looking.

Andy

Thanks Knotscott, glad you enjoyed it.