These three braces are shown in a group because they were all
made with the same basic parts: Wrought iron frame, cast head, spring
latch, bronze thrust bearing, and bronze closure screw. All three
came to me with the same wear pattern: extrusion of the bronze thrust
bearing from heavy use, probably without adequate lubrication. Two had
a lot of end play in their pads, which I corrected by making and
installing new bronze bearings.
The original patent was to Jeremy Taylor in 1836, and the first Taylor Patent braces were made by Increase Wilson (B&D-70 among this group).
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B&D-69
Price: $45.00 |
B&D-70
Price: $45.00 |
B&D-71
Price: $45.00 |
Plus
Shipping
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Brace B&D-69 has its original bronze thrust
bearing, whose bearing surface is being extruded outwards, probably by
unlubricated friction in heavy use. I replaced the bronze bearings in
the other two braces by chiseling off the upset end of each brace's
frame after unscrewing the bronze closure screws. I made the new
bearings from the ends of broken bronze tensile specimens in my scrap
bin. They should now be good for another hundred years' use. The latch
springs are all strong, and the pads all turn freely without excessive
wobble. All three braces were forged from wrought iron, not cast in
chilled iron and then annealed to make malleable iron like other
shapely braces. The closure screws have numbers stamped into them whose
meaning
is unknown: Illegible on No.69, 2 on No.70, and 4-1/2 on No.71. Brace
71 has a swing of eleven inches; the swings are eight inches for each
of the other two.
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B&D-69 is boldly
stamped Taylor's Patent, but the manufacturer's name isn't
legible. On the other side of the chuck, the latch & frame are
match marked, 13, indicating that this brace was made in an era
of hand fitting, without interchangeability of the parts.
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Brace B&D-70 was
made by Increase Wilson in New London, Connecticut:
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Brace B&D-71: Note the striations in the bend - from slag stringers
in the wrought iron.
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