Mohawk Shelburne 10" Ratcheting Brace

This post is about fixing up a hand brace.  For most people reading this, there won't be anything new or ground breaking, so maybe this post is for those who don't already know much about braces.

One of the tools I found at the estate sales that I wrote about recently was a 10" ratcheting brace with the inscription "MOHAWK SHELBURNE / MADE IN U.S.A. / NO. 1710".  I didn't know anything about this brand, so I looked into it.

The Mohawk Shelburne No. 1710

The inscription

Info from the Old Tool Heaven website indicates (look about 3/4 down the linked page for the 1700 series) that this was made by Millers Falls as an "economy" line of tools.  This one is likely from the 1935-1948 time period, though I would have thought it was newer than that based on its condition.  It was a little rusty, but it cleaned up easily and is in great shape.  For an "economy" brace, this thing is built very solidly.

The first thing I did for this brace was to sand lightly (about 400 grit paper) all the surfaces to remove rust.  Fortunately it didn't need much.  I also used some 00 and 0000 steel wool and a wire wheel in a drill to clean things up.

Well, that looks a lot nicer!

The jaws that hold an auger bit need to be able to slide easily inside the shell.  I have skinny fingers and can fit one inside the shell with some fine sandpaper or steel wool to clean up the forward (conical) part of the inside of the shell.  If you've got fat fingers, use a padded screwdriver or something similar.

The shell and jaws

Looking from back end of the shell, note the shiny, smooth front conical portion
on the inside.  That's where the jaws need to slide.

Pointer shows where to get a nice smooth surface for the jaws to slide well in the shell

After cleaning up these parts, I gave them both a little oil to guard against rust and ensure they slide easily against each other.

Next is to clean up the threads on the inside of the shell and on the brace's main body where the shell screws on.  A brass brush or toothbrush works well here.  But when the dirt and gunk are a little heavier, then a pointed tool (like in the previous picture) can help clean them up.  A string can also be used to help clean between the external threads.

Clean threads allow the shell to screws on easily

The ratcheting mechanism is next.  For this brace, I shot some WD40 in all the joints to loosen up any crud.  Work the forward and reverse mechanism to loosen any dirt underneath it, and then spin the external threaded area in both directions to ensure the lubricant gets spread to all locations.

Here's the forward / reverse mechanism ...

... and the ratchet mechanism

So far I have not had the courage to do it, but if the ratcheting was not working (or working very poorly), you can knock out some pins to take it apart.

I think these two pins hold the ratcheting "pawls" in place

There's another pin here for disassembly of the ratcheting gear

I shook loose and wiped away as much WD40 as I could and added several drops of oil to keep things in nice working order.

Now for the handle - not sure what to call the rear handle, but that one.  I noticed early on the ball bearings that are used.  You can see them in the next picture.  If this wasn't already in good condition, I could have taken it all apart to clean the bearing race.  As it was, I just gave everything a good oiling and put it back together.

In this pic taken pre-rust removal, you can se the ball bearings

Under the handle, there are three screws, ...

... but these aren't the only thing holding the wood handle to the base.
Note the threads that the wood handle screws onto.

If I wanted to access the ball bearings, I could remove this C-clip

I opted not to scrape and refinish the two handles.  They were in pretty good shape already.  Not that they couldn't use some new finish - it just wasn't that urgent.

And that's it.  There's not too much involved in cleaning up a brace, especially one that is already in pretty good working order.

All cleaned up and ready to go

Catch you all next time.