Robert Porter spotted this weird brace a while back, and asked if I wanted it? That is like asking a junkie if he finds heroin a bit moreish. Yes I wanted the brace. What makes it odd? Well first of all, the shell can be flipped around 180 degrees (or even 90, but I can’t think of a use for that), to make it very convenient and compact to transport. You simply pull the shell toward the handle and it pops off a square post so you can rotate it. When you reach the desired position you release and a spring snaps it back and holds it in place. A fun trick.

However it had one more surprise up it’s sleeve. It is not a bit brace. The chuck will not hold any brace bit I have. It turns out it’s a dedicated wrench/brace. Patented in 1916, it turns out to be a Olson & Toombs wrench. You can read the patent here if you are curious.

That makes for a nice little addition to my weird tool collection!.

Odd Brace Looks fairly normal Odd Brace And there is it’s first trick, quickly folds up into a compact brace! Odd Brace A quick look at the chuck, and we can see it is designed to grab a nut, not a bit! Odd Brace Push on the two pins on the shell to extend the jaws. Odd Brace The 1916 patent can be found at https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/52/05/c2/bfdecd45043579/US1243861.pdf