Thursday, April 5, 2012

Field Stripped Brace


I've had a few questions on how I made my brace pictured in an earlier post so I decided to provide some better pictures.

The one I made is a copy of an original that I believe dates to the early nineteenth century. The body of my brace is made out of yellow birch as well as the pad. I copied the pad from the original with its tapering octagon. In the future I think I will use hickory for the pads. The head of the brace is made out of hard maple because that was the only wood I had large enough to get the diameter I wanted. The head is held on by a friction fit wooden pin. I wouldn't make the pin permanent its nice being able to take it apart.



I love the brace and it works great. Make one there not that hard. The only hard part is finding bits. I recommend using only small bits like spoon or spur bits. You get too big and the torque will break the wood. Don't use auger bits save them for metal braces. 

7 comments:

Keith said...

Had anyone asked me I would have said early to mid 18th century. Lovely looking tool though, well done.
Regards, Keith.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/field-stripped-brace-by-frontier.html

Unknown said...

How much would you charge to make me one of these?

Frontier Carpenter said...

Le Loup.
Hard to tell dates there wasn't much deference in the tools at the time. The spur bit in the original does appear to be hand forged so maybe its older. I would love to see all the items the original brace made.

Matt,
Don't really know. Maybe even some kind of trade I was noticing you give classes on chair making:)

Kari Hultman said...

Awesome. Thanks so much for posting. I've been wanting to make one and am a big fan of the pad bits.

Unknown said...

Great project and something I hope to build. I've got a few spoon bits to incorporate into pads. Could you provide a few dimensions? It would help me finalize my design. Thanks

Frontier Carpenter said...

Jim,
Thanks for the comments.

-The frame is 10 1/4 inches long.

-From the bottom of the frame to the top of the frame is 4 1/2 inches.

-The turned knob on top is 3 1/2 long and 3 inches in diameter.

-The square portion of the frame is about 1 3/4

-The hole for the bit is 3/4 square I suggest making it 1/2 square for added strength and not using the close-pin design as they are a pain to make.

-Total lengths of the wooden pad is 6 inches.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the help with dimensions. I lined up some spoon bits and I look forward to building one.
http://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com