Figure 45. — igxH century; The upholsterer's hammer is an unknown; ii is not dated, its maker is anony- 

 mous, as is its user. It is of American origin, yet of a style that might have been used in England or on the 

 Continent. This lack of provenance need not detract from its significance as a material survival. This 

 hammer, the brace (fig. 46), the bevel (fig. 47), and the compass saw (fig. 48) are sufficiently provocative 

 in their design to conjure some image of a technology dependent upon the skilled hand of craftsmen work- 

 ing in wood and of the relationship between the hand, the tool, and the finished product. (Smithsonian 

 photo 49793-A.) 



Switzer's idea was his delineation of the brace itself 

 which he described as "an ordinary brace and bit 

 stock" (U.S. pat. 9,457). The inference is that such a tool 

 form was already a familiar one among the wood- 

 working trades in the United States. Disregarding 

 the screwdriver attachment, which is not without 

 merit, Switzer's stock represents an accurate render- 

 ing of what was then a well-known form if not as yet 

 a rival of the older wooden brace. Likewise, J. 

 Parker Gordon's patent 52,042 of 1866 exemplifies the 

 strengthening of a basic tool by the use of iron (fig. 43) 

 and, as a result, the achievement of an even greater 

 functionalism in design. The complete break with 

 the medieval, however, is seen in a drawing submitted 

 to the Commissioner of Patents in 1865 (pat. 51,660) 

 by Milton V. Nobles of Rochester, New York.^ 

 Nobles' creation was of thoroughly modern design 

 and appearance in which, unlike earlier types, the 

 bit was held in place by a solid socket, split sleeve, and 

 a tightening ring (fig. 44). In three centuries, three 

 distinct design changes occurred in the carpenter's 

 brace. First, about 1750, the so-called English or 

 Sheffield bitstock appeared. This was followed in 

 the very early 19th century by the reinforced English 

 type whose sides were splinted by brass strips. Not 

 only had the medieval form largely disappeared by 

 the end of the i8th century, but so had the ancient 

 lever-wedge method of fastening the bit in the stock, a 

 device replaced by the pressure-spring button on the 

 side of the chuck. Finally, in this evolution, came 

 the metallic stock, not widely used in America until 

 after the Civil War, that embodied in its design the 

 influence of mass manufacture and in its several early 



Figure 46. — i8th century: The brace and bit 

 in its nonfactory form conforms to a general 

 design pattern in which none of the compo- 

 nents are ever precisely alike. This aspect 

 of variety of detail — sophistication, crude- 

 ness, decorative qualities or the like — re- 

 flects something of the individuality of the 

 toolmaker, a quality completely lost in the 

 standardization of the carpenter's brace. 

 (Smithsonian photo 49794-A.) 



' U.S. patent specifications cited in this paragraph may be 

 found at the U.S. Patent Office, Washington, D.C. 



210 BULLETIN 24 1 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



