Stanley 993 corner brace

[jimwrench]

 THis followed me home last week. When I might have needed one I didn't have one;now that I have one I don't need one.

[johnsironsanctuary]

Nice tool! By the way, you have needed one for years, you just don't have a use for it. Now the challenge is to invent a job that requires the tool.

[john k]

I have been told that this brace came about due to electricians wiring homes, that before held no wiring.   Is the only thing there is to bore holes between floor joists.    I have used mine to drill holes in box corners where a regular drill would not reach.  I saw them, had to have one too. 

[oldtools]

Awesome!!!...

[Fins/413]

That is cool.

[Branson]

I have been told that this brace came about due to electricians wiring homes, that before held no wiring.   Is the only thing there is to bore holes between floor joists.    I have used mine to drill holes in box corners where a regular drill would not reach.  I saw them, had to have one too.

Electricians would make sense here, but probably for other workers as well.  Audel's (1947 edition) shows a Goodell Pratt attachment for a standard brace that allows for the same use, but the angle is adjustable.  It's simply written that it is for "drilling in tight places."

[scottg]

I think mostly for drilling in corners just as the title says.
 Its very rare for anyone to let one of these go cheap. Not even 40 years ago did I get a chance to get one of these reasonable, and I saw a lot of them. They are big and showy.

 Nobody ever let a big miter box go cheap back then either. Now you can't hardly give one away.
I finally got a big 358 only last year. A neighbor was ditching it.
 But corner braces have held their own.  Not worth much more now, but held their own all this time.
 
Stanley and others did make a dedicated joist brace. This one has the pad, or big knob, right on top of the ratchet mechanism. No crank or anything above that. They are --very-- short.  Chuck, ratchet (which has a straight shaft handle attached), pad.  That's it.

  When I was young I bought one of these NOS right off the hardware shelf. Tools could sit around for years or even generations on a hardware store shelf when nobody was looking for them.
   I didn't even care so much about the joist drilling, I wasn't hanging much pipe or wire.
 What I wanted mine for, was pilot hole drilling and driving large screws, especially large lag bolts, in tight places or from the top of a ladder.
They have about a 10" long handle giving you enormous leverage!   

Well.......................
  First dumb thing I did was throw the box away. Threw it right into the woodstove! Who could ever guess tool boxes would be desirable in any way? Old Stanley pasteboard box?  Who would want that? That would be as lame as saving Christmas wrapping paper for your whole life.  Might as well save up used dental floss!         Into the stove the minute I got it home.
 
  Then the colossally stupid next move, was to loan it to a friend who promptly lost it, never to surface again. 
 I should have just accompanied the tool and used it for him, bringing it home safe. I know for sure he only had a few pipes to run.  I think it was a kitchen sink.
  I'd still have it today.
  yours Scott