Bell System Brace and Bits

[DavePEI]

Here is an item surprisingly I didn't have in my collection. It is a Bell System 10"
B  Brace (aka hand drill) carried by every installer. It used long tapered square end drill bits of up to 31 inches in length for boring holes  for inside wire and to bore holes in poles.

I have 8 bits coming from the gentleman who owned the truck back we recently took ownership of shown in the photo below the Brace.

Oddly, this is one of the most common installer's tools, yet it wasn't one I had until today.

[HarrySmith]

 Very nice! Great addition to the museum. I am surprised you did not have one. I remember when I was 15 years old and my Dad made me get my own phone because he did not want me tying up his phone for hours talking to my girlfriend. I was very curious and followed the installer everywhere. He had to run wire all the way from the pole in the street. When he was ready to drill into the wall in my bedroom he pulled out a hand drill just like that one in your picture. I asked why he was not using an electric drill and his response was "in case there are any pipes or wires in the wall. With an electric drill it would go right through but with this I can feel it and stop". I was impressed, he was A very smart guy!

[DavePEI]

Very nice! Great addition to the museum. I am surprised you did not have one.

Somewhere around, I do have a non-Bell System one, but this is a genuine Bell System Brace, so I feel better about using it in the display!

Yes, these gave ou time to notice wires and pipes as you drilled!

Dave

[DavePEI]

Here is the Bell System stamping on the left hand side of the B Brace photo below...

Anyone can view my tools lists by downloading the latest PDF file at:

http://www.islandregister.com/phones/tools_switching.pdf

And for the new part 2:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/tools_switching2.pdf

If you have any tools not listed there, I might be interested in purchasing them to add to the museum collection,, otherwise, I would be happy to try to identify them for you...

[oldphon]

Hi Dave-

Do you have the bits to drive the square head lag screws used to mount house brackets, etc.?  I think there were three sizes.  I may have some spares.

Jeremy

[DavePEI]

Hi Dave-

Do you have the bits to drive the square head lag screws used to mount house brackets, etc.?  I think there were three sizes.  I may have some spares.

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy:

No, I don't...

Dave

[Greg G.]

Slightly off topic, but I remember these things kicking around when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s.  They were already obsolete by then, but it was a tool my Dad didn't fret about me using.  Even if he did, he didn't need to worry because I thought they were the most frustratingly labor-intensive "tool" to try to use for drilling (that might be due in part to the bits being old and dull).  You needed enough space for the handle to rotate, try to keep it straight while at the same time applying enough downward pressure for the bit to do it's job.  The other types of hand drills weren't any better. 

[DavePEI]

Slightly off topic, but I remember these things kicking around when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s....  The other types of hand drills weren't any better.

Not really off-topic. I remember these well. Might as well have been drilling with an egg beater. Bui these were used for many years. I, too used Dad's. As soon as I could, I got an electric drill

[DavePEI]

From the same fellow I got my LIU from, I also got a large number of bits for a hand brace (Shown in a photo below). These were a range of sizes and lengths, and had a surface dusting of rust, but were in reasonably good shape (other than two with broken end bits). To get off most of the surface rust, I wire brushed them, then gave them all a soaking in Rust-Stop.

To keep them in good shape, I made a holder/case for them out of 2 inch ABS Schedule 40 pipe, an ABS end cap, and a screw on adapter and screw on plug. The case is 30 inches long to fit the longest bit, and all the bits fit inside in the case in the LIU.

To get a bit, just unscrew the screw-on end. Total cost was about ten dollars - worth it to protect these vintage bits!

Dave