Brace and Bit - My Favorite Farm Tool

Рет қаралды 7,952

8 ай бұрын

Pa Mac talks about the old-fashioned brace and bit used for drilling holes in wood so often needed in buildin' things on the small farm or homestead.. Also covered in this installment are the sharpening and restoration of bits, how bits are numbered for identification, and the upkeep and use of the brace in drilling holes.
Check back often for future episodes of "My Favorite Farm Tool" with Pa Mac. Most episodes will feature an explanation and description of various antique farm hand tools, along with helpful tips for restoring, maintaining, and using them.
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Пікірлер: 50

@spudhut2246 4 ай бұрын

I am trying to get my 'collection' of these up so I can use them around the farm. I love old tools and i like to keep putting them back to work!

@mountainlife289 2 ай бұрын

If you are ever near Ohio, colonial homested sales full sets. They are old but have been cleaned up and are a variety of brands. They need sharpened but come with a file

@Dave-ty2qp 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the lesson on tools. I'm 77 years old and remember using the brace, breast, and egg beater bit drills. One of the projects I did in 7th grade wood shop was to be done using nothing but hand tools. I remember making dowls, and drilling holes for them for fastners with a brace and bit and square shank bit. Thanks for reminding me of those fond memories. My shop teacher Mr. Gerkin, said that with a few simple tools a man could build a log cabin with an adze, an axe, A saw, a chissel, a Mallot and a "T" drill. He was right.

@Rusty_ok 8 ай бұрын

Great video. these old tools are a jewels form the past and it is nice that a few of use are trying to keep them alive.

@josephwagner5038 8 ай бұрын

Life is been busy. My son is going through hospice. I love the old ways and I always had a romance to live the homestead ways. When life was a little slower I would watch you quite a bit and I never heard your voice. I tuned in today and it was nice to see the voice of the man. I really enjoyed your video and plan to watch regular. It's like seeing an old friend again thank you.

@farmhandscompanion 8 ай бұрын

Hey Joseph, thanks for tuning in again, old friend. I prayed for you and yours this morning.

@mediumfast 8 ай бұрын

The round shank is a good safety measure for power tools, because binding can cause some serious kickback. The bit slipping is better than the drill breaking your hand. Especially for pneumatic or plug in drills. For the hand tools, the drill only pushes you as hard as you push it, so there's no need for the slip.

@kath5201 8 ай бұрын

A lot of those we still have from Dad! (We're nearly 70!)

@charlesvickers4804 8 ай бұрын

One other bit of bit information the feeder screw is made in two different threads course thread for soft wood and fine thread for hard wood.

@rochrich1223 5 ай бұрын

I still have my Handy-Andy yellow handled screwdriver. It is reduced to more like an ice pick now, but it worked to teach the lesson that if you abuse a screwdriver(breaking rocks looking for fossils) it will become little more than an ice pick.

@CarlDWardJr 6 ай бұрын

I served in the US Navy between 1976 - 1983 and the fleet was still using those hand drills in the damage control compartments during battle stations for flood control work or what ever. That ain't a no shitter.

@olddawgdreaming5715 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing with us Pa, didn't remember what those numbers meant. My forgetter is working overtime the older I get and it's good to get it jared every so often. Thanks for the lesson that I am sure I was taught when I was a youngster. Keep up the great videos and the teaching of the old ways we once used full time. Stay safe around there. Fred.

@johnsonr9 8 ай бұрын

I remember my grandfather built their house with those. We can learn a lot from those "old timers"

@mrMacGoover 8 ай бұрын

Hey.... I have a bit and brace too! Bought it at the flea market, has a ratcheting mechanism, made in Canada. 🇨🇦 👍

@fergusonto-2032 8 ай бұрын

Great video Pa Mac , im familiar w/ brace & bit I think my Grandfather had one but i didn’t know the bits came in packs of 13 & didn’t realize they were numbered . You have an awesome shop , Thanks for this information , I am a subscriber .

@chuckbarnessr6199 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the day in the video. Reminded me i have a few bits to soak, sharpen, restore and "use" this winter.

@theresad6990 8 ай бұрын

This has been such a helpful video. I'm in the process of going through some of the treasures in my Dad's tools and he had a few different sizes of these drills that I was planning on keeping for use. The info about the bits was very helpful. Thank you! I'm still going through your "favorite tool" videos hoping that you might have done one on hand planes. He has several of those as well.

@farmhandscompanion 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for watchin', Theresa. Planes are on the list

@awy1977 8 ай бұрын

I remember using a brace and bit when I was a kid on the farm. We were putting up 6x6 posts to brace up an old barn and had to drill through the new pressure treated posts and the original old oak beams so we could put a lag bolt through them. Was a real eye opener for a young kid to be using those old tools!

@RS-sl5ko 8 ай бұрын

You reminded me of things I haven’t seen or thought of in decades. Maybe you can do a video on running galvanized pipes like we use to use in our house.

@MerwinARTist 8 ай бұрын

Gary this was great! I have some of these wood surgery tools passed on by previous surgeons. This was great and important modern technology at one time .. and what I like most is that they still work .. can't say that about some of these new fangled radial energy devices! .. but like you I most often pick up that yeller one to spin my bits!

@dalemeyer8207 7 ай бұрын

I have a set of square tappered Metal drill bits....kind of hard in the hand brace but work well in the manuel drill press . Thanks 😎

@bekanav 3 күн бұрын

The jaws of the chuck don't hold on square taper of the drill shank. There is a rectangular hole at the bottom of chuck which does it and transfers torque from the brace to the bit. Jaws just hold from the round part of the shank keeping it in its place and aligning it

@clarenceriffle320 8 ай бұрын

Great video please do a video on what tools you would need on the homestead using the old tools and gear

@TheRedneckprepper 8 ай бұрын

Very cool TY

@douglasvantassel8098 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for making these!

@donaldgarmon7368 8 ай бұрын

A good tool to have around the farm!

@JimDockrellWatertone 8 ай бұрын

One of my favourite tools too. I have Irwin style bits up to #20. I also have some spoon bits for them and what they call a centering bit. Also a brace with the crank on an angle made to go into corners.

@deborahdanhauer8525 8 ай бұрын

I have one of those egg beater drills. It’s really old and the handle still has a few flecks of red paint left, Mine opens on the wooden end and there is a place to store drill bits inside.❤️🤗🐝

@InMyPurview 8 ай бұрын

I used to really like using a brace and bit. Not a big deal when I was younger, I'm in my 50's now and I prefer my power tools in my older age. I used an egg beater drill for a long time when I was very young more years than I care to count back. Handy Andy...hahaha haven't seen one of those in a while. Great video sir!

@ciphercode2298 8 ай бұрын

Never knew that about the bit sizing. Thatll save me some measuring

@archiehebron8944 8 ай бұрын

I picked up a set of these bits at an overflow estate sale store. $4 in a wooden flip top box and the brace for another $1.

@farmhandscompanion 8 ай бұрын

That's the deal of the year, right there. Man, am I happy for you!

@archiehebron8944 8 ай бұрын

@@farmhandscompanion yeah, their in pretty good shape too. The box is cracked though. The hinges and the hasp still work.

@GrandmaGingersFarm 8 ай бұрын

Another great vid. May YAH Bless

@the_eternal_student 8 ай бұрын

Have you seen those advertisements for variable wrench heads that can fit any bolt?

@stephencozzi5890 8 ай бұрын

Hay your very entertain ing and knolageable my spelling not so much ha ha ha👍👍👍

@Thelonelyscavenger 8 ай бұрын

I have an attachment for my hand drill that looks like a drill press. I just looked it up, its a chain drill attachment

@rawbacon 8 ай бұрын

Old Sneelock has videos on sharpening those auger bits if anyone is interested.

@worthsparks 8 ай бұрын

To this day, I still go to my Jennings set or my adjustable bit whenever I am cutting square mortises. I am not good enough with power tools to have the control I need to prevent mistakes.

@Sgt-Gravy 8 ай бұрын

✌️😊👍

@marvinostman522 3 ай бұрын

Would you or any of your followers know what diameter and thread pitch of the shaft of the 0- 1/4 inch eggbeater drill?

@adrianrobinson1336 8 ай бұрын

i have some long series bits for my brace, i was told that they're a lot rarer, is that true.

@farmhandscompanion 8 ай бұрын

They must be; I don't see many of 'em, Adrian

@Henry219 8 ай бұрын

How can you leave the Old Beam Barn Drill Out ? ? ?

@farmhandscompanion 8 ай бұрын

It was pretty easy. I don't have one.

@DonWarfield 8 ай бұрын

That little screw at the tip is not an absolute necessity. Early bits just had a simple point. And the spiral portion of the shaft is a more 'recent' development too. The earliest being not much more than a spade bit like the ones sold for use in an electric drill.

@robertschmidt9296 8 ай бұрын

Im curious to know what the thing is that you didn't know what it was. It would have been nice if we could see it. At least now I know what the numbers mean.

@farmhandscompanion 8 ай бұрын

I know this is weird, but in restroom stalls I used to see this screw head that you could only tighten but not untighten (I'm assuming so that people could not attempt vandalism on the stall panels). This tool looked like what would be used to tighten those type screw heads.