Bits or chuck adapter for drilling brace?
- This topic has 6 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I have an old (Cross manufactured) drilling brace but have neither bits to fit its square, tapered jaws, nor a chuck adapter that will let me use it with my ‘ordinary’ round-shank drill bits. I could search for such an adapter or for a set of vintage bits. Either one might be preferable. An adapter would allow more versatility but is harder to find (maybe impossible) than vintage bits . Advice & comments welcome – ?
You could try a chuck adapter made for hex socket tools, which come in 14” and 5/16” sizes.
They work in my Pexto, Miller Falls, Stanley, and Enders braces.
Hi Larry, I’m a bit confused (not by your reference to a 14″ adapter; I figure you meant 1/4″ 🙂 ). The adapters in your photo have shanks – I mean the male ends that fit in the brace – that look like they wouldn’t be properly gripped by the square-grooved, tapered jaws of the one I have (which I thought were the most common jaws used in braces from, say, 70-150 years ago.
If you insert the adapter so points of the hex fit in the notches the adapter can’t rotate. Set the adapter as far into the brace chuck as you can so it doesn’t rock. Consider filing a small land in the apex of the bit jaws with a saw file so the adapter seats a little better.
I have a 2 1/4” door hanging bit with a hex end that works in my braces. It originally came with a diamond end and a hex shaft. I cut off the diamond so I could use it in an electric drill or a brace. It works fine either way.Other alternatives:
Buy a set of hex end drill bits. They are pretty cheap as Xmas gift packs this time of year.
Troll the thrift stores and antique malls for diamond end twist bits. They exist.
Make your own adapter from a drill chuck and an old brace bit. Just get a bit that matches the diameter your chuck needs. A 1/2” Jacobs chuck uses a 3/8”-24tpi threaded shaft . A die for that is maybe $4 online.
The chuck can be off the old drill you can’t get batteries for anymore, and antique malls near me typically sell old bits for $1. The shafts on old brace bits aren’t hardened, so it’s a hacksaw and vice grip job if you don’t have many metal tools.Or do what you will eventually do anyway and buy and old Miller falls #2 or#5 eggbeater drill for the small size holes. A Yankee push drill also works.
Larry, thanks for the comprehensive information & photos. I’d been skeptical about a hex shaft being securely held & centered in the brace jaws, but I see that – as you said – it does work (tried it with a screwdriver bit.) In fact I now see that it can even work with round shafts. But I’m also on the trail of an old, boxed, auger-bit set. Haven’t seen it yet or discussed price but I don’t suppose it will be real cheap. This is a remote small town where all the cool, knowledgeable-owner-operator businesses have folded with the advent of two big box stores. Anything slightly unusual is very hard to find.
Enough of my whining! Thanks again for all the help.
Funny, I go hunting in the country for stuff like that 😉
Your best shot for a boxed set is online. The antique malls only occasionally have them even in the city. They do have individual bits pretty cheap.
You can start with 4 assorted bits to 3/4” and one expansion bit until you stumble on a set.I see the Miller Falls egg eaters in the $20-$30 range pretty regularly in thrift stores – twice that on eBay.
Condition is everything. They are cast iron, so check for cracks on the frame and the gear wheel. There are cheaper kinds, of course, but none are as cool.Restored ones go for $75-100.
A third option is to use a Yankee screwdriver, a hex adapter, and the hex shaft chuck. Or hex shaft bits.
I always carried the Yankee, but not always the eggbeater in my field kit, and the combination will drill holes in a pinch. The new Yankee screwdrivers made in Germany (go figure) come with a 1/4” hex bit end, so you don’t need the adapter. They are frightfully expensive, though.
Larry: The auger set I’m pursuing is – surprisingly – right here in town. I already have an ‘egg beater’ drill. Also have an old Yankee driver but it needs attention. I do have quite a collection of ‘conventional’ drill bits; don’t particularly want to replace them with hex shanks (and find a hex chuck adapter from somewhere.) When all else fails I will fall back on my cordless or even corded power drills. But ‘one thing at a time!’ Today I hope to finish refurbishing & remounting my vice. Meantime thanks for all your helpful suggestions.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
