Found this big guy on eBay. It was a bit pricey @ $35, but it is the first one this size I have seen. This model was made from 1915 through 1944. This particular brace appears to have been manufactured sometime between 1925 and 1935. This is model No. 769 with a 16" swing. Massive torque potential! 
A couple of pictures in as received condition:
It was pretty stiff when I got it, although everything did operate as it should. The nickle plate was in rough shape and starting flake to off in a few areas.
I spent about 3 hours taking it apart, cleaning and de-rusting, and putting it back together. Whatever lubrication was in the moving parts had long since evaporated leaving behind a lot of caked on mess. But, other than that, everything appeared to be in good condition. There are a couple of short checks in the wrist handle wood that I filled in with some CA to hopefully stop them from growing.
So here it is back together again:
Nice Cocobola used for the head:
Here it is with the others I have in this series. From top to bottom, (this one) 769(16"), 770(14"), 771(12"), 772(10"), 772(10"). Still looking to acquire a 773(8") and the very elusive 774(6") to complete this series. The small 774 is going to be tough to find, it was only made for 4 years, 1915 - 1919.
You can see in the group picture some of the changes made to this series through the years. Millers Falls used 'tropical hardwoods' for the first few years, then switched to cocobola, then back to tropical hardwoods. All of these braces have the Millers Falls patented 'Lion' chuck, but, if you look closely you can see some of the changes that this chuck went through over the years.
Here are a couple of pictures showing some of the different Lion chucks:
The chuck on the right is the original design with a round opening and using the Leland patent universal jaws. On the left is the chuck with a rectangular opening and cut away corners introduced around 1925, also using Leland's universal jaws. The center picture shows the latest type of Lion chuck, back to a round opening and using 'economy type' universal jaws. This is the Lion chuck used from 1957 until the line was discontinued. The 10" No. 772 was manufactured until 1972.
A couple of pictures in as received condition:
It was pretty stiff when I got it, although everything did operate as it should. The nickle plate was in rough shape and starting flake to off in a few areas.
I spent about 3 hours taking it apart, cleaning and de-rusting, and putting it back together. Whatever lubrication was in the moving parts had long since evaporated leaving behind a lot of caked on mess. But, other than that, everything appeared to be in good condition. There are a couple of short checks in the wrist handle wood that I filled in with some CA to hopefully stop them from growing.
So here it is back together again:
Nice Cocobola used for the head:
Here it is with the others I have in this series. From top to bottom, (this one) 769(16"), 770(14"), 771(12"), 772(10"), 772(10"). Still looking to acquire a 773(8") and the very elusive 774(6") to complete this series. The small 774 is going to be tough to find, it was only made for 4 years, 1915 - 1919.
You can see in the group picture some of the changes made to this series through the years. Millers Falls used 'tropical hardwoods' for the first few years, then switched to cocobola, then back to tropical hardwoods. All of these braces have the Millers Falls patented 'Lion' chuck, but, if you look closely you can see some of the changes that this chuck went through over the years.
Here are a couple of pictures showing some of the different Lion chucks:
The chuck on the right is the original design with a round opening and using the Leland patent universal jaws. On the left is the chuck with a rectangular opening and cut away corners introduced around 1925, also using Leland's universal jaws. The center picture shows the latest type of Lion chuck, back to a round opening and using 'economy type' universal jaws. This is the Lion chuck used from 1957 until the line was discontinued. The 10" No. 772 was manufactured until 1972.
