The brace shown was copied directly from a William Marples & Sons "Ultimatum" brace which was manufactured in Sheffield, England circa 1870. The ebony stuffed example provided exact dimensions and design details which were used to create the 1/3 scale copy.
The brass frames were machined from bar stock and finished with hand files. The handle, head and spring-loaded pad (used to latch the bits in place) were all reproduced on the miniature to duplicate the operation of the original brace.
The white ring in the handle is made from ivory which was salvaged from old piano keys. The overall length of the copy is 4.5 inches.
The second drill shown in the top photo is an early continental drill, probably of French origin. Unlike the brace, this miniature was made working from a single photograph of the original. It is about 40% scale, slightly larger than most of my tools. I needed to adjust the scale to compensate for the size of the gear-set which was purchased "off the self" and modified to duplicate the original design. The brass frame was cut from bar stock, using my computer driven mill.
Final shaping was done by hand, and all brass parts were surfaced using a small sand-blast system to recreate a cast finish. The wood pieces are cocobolo and the drill chuck is steel. The model is fully operational and is 4.7" long.
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