Corner Brace

This was a type of brace used when a hole needed to be drilled in a tight location, such as a corner.  The design of the brace permitted the user to turn the handle through its full sweep when a wall or other obstruction might otherwise interfere with this action.  The basic design was first patented in 1884.

The Millers Falls No. 502 was manufactured between 1906 and 1957, and then between 1965 and roughly 1981.

Irwin chalk line

This is a chalk line, used to mark a line with powered chalk.  It could also be used as a plumb bob.  What is interesting is that it made by the Irwin Auger Bit Company of Wilmington, Ohio. In 1884 Charles Irwin owned a pharmacy in Martinsville, Ohio. A local blacksmith who was a customer of Mr. Irwin's came up with the idea for a solid center auger bit. He sold the rights to this invention to Mr. Irwin and a year later, after patenting the auger bit, Charles Irwin, along with four other business partners formed the Irwin Auger Bit Co.  The company was acquired in 1993 by American Tool Companies, previously named Petersen Manufacturing and best known for the invention and production of “Vice-Grip” locking pliers.  In 2002, American Tool was acquired by Newell Rubbermaid, and in 2003 American Tool was renamed the Irwin Industrial Tool Company.  It’s hard to keep track of all of this!  As an aside, in 2008 Irwin ended 80 years of American production of Vice-Grips when it closed the DeWitt, Nebraska plant and moved production to China “to keep the Vice-Grip name competitive.”

Rodale's New Shelter April 1985

Calipers

Calipers are used for transferring measurements in both wood and metal working.  The pair in the top photo is for taking outside measurements, while the pair in the photo below it combines both inside- and outside-measurement capabilities.  The one on the top looks hand-made, while the one below it looks to have been manufactured, although no maker’s name is present.  Making such tools would often have been a task placed before an apprentice machinist.

Butt Gauge

Back in the days before pre-hung doors, carpenters had to insert the door jambs and cut mortises to accept the hinge plates on both the door edge and the jamb.  The width of the mortise was referred to as the “gain” and butt gauges were specially designed to quickly transfer and scribe the gain onto both door and jamb, as well as to transfer and scribe the hinge leaf thickness. 

This particular butt gauge was manufactured by the Millers Falls Tool Company.  The Stanley one was nicer.

Breast Drill

BREAST DRILL

A breast drill was used when circumstances called for applying greater pressure to the auger bit, by pressing the breast bone against the metal plate at the top of the drill.  Most of these tools permitted a choice of two speeds.

This particular tool was patented in 1930 and made by Millers Falls Tools at their Shelburne, Massachusetts plant.  In 1931, Millers Falls acquired the Goodell-Pratt Company, a very large tool-making concern that was decimated by the stock market crash of 1929.   About 1935, Millers Falls introduced a line of low priced, economy grade tools under the Mohawk-Shelburne brand name. Geared to the occasional user, costs were minimized through the use of less expensive materials and production methods.