Flat tang bits.

[Boringgeoff]

Hi All,
I have a handful of flat tang bits comprising centre bits and gimlets.
They are used in this Gentlemens brace which can also accommodate common square tang bits.
The majority of my bits are German or Swedish, one may be British. According to an article I read in a TATHS publication, manufacture of the flat tanged bits in Britain finished in about 1810. I have two questions, when did these bits first come into production, and did manufacture of these bits continue after 1810 in other countries?

Cheers,
Geoff.

 

[AndyT]

Hi Geoff, I've not yet managed to find any hard evidence but from discussions over the years I'm pretty sure that flat tang bits continued to be made in Germany, and possibly France, into the 20th century.

Hence the dual-standard chuck in your photo. I have a brace like that, which was still in a French catalogue in the 1930s. Of course, that could have been for backwards compatibility with the flat tangs after they had fallen out of production.

 

[Woodster]

Interesting topic. I’ve seen square tang bits before but not seen the flat ones.

 

[AndyT]

Here's an old discussion on a German dual standard brace, with a contribution from Wolfgang Jordan, who knows more than most of us on this sort of thing.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/ge ... ost-541085

 

[Boringgeoff]

Thanks Andy, I should have mentioned that the brace has no identifying marks whatsoever. I've got perhaps four or five of these braces, all in various states of disrepair, this the only one with the dual bit chuck and it's not got the original thumbscrew.

Cheers,
Geoff.

 

[AndyT]

Just for completeness, and because the other site no longer has my photos, here's a picture of the dual-standard brace that I have.



It's marked "AMOBREQUIN" which was actually a special made-up name from Michelin (much like the product names that Ikea use). The idea was that you could place an unambiguous order by telegram, packing a lot of meaning into a single chargeable word. An Amobrequin was a wheel brace, but I reckon it was actually a perfectly ordinary carpenter's brace as commonly used in the early 20th century. For use as a wheel brace, Michelin supplied it with a box spanner attachment. (The box spanner on its own was called an "Amoki".)
It's also marked "L'UNIQUE BREVETE S.G.D.G" (ie The Only One, patented Sans Garantie Du Governement - without Government Guarantee.)

Here it is:



For the rest of the 1913 Michelin Guide to the British Isles, start here and scroll back or forwards.

https://archive.org/details/michelingui ... ew=theater

 

[Boringgeoff]

Good thinking on the part of Michelin, instead of making a dedicated wheel brace they got an existing brace and made a nut adaptor to suit. That's an interesting read, Andy, as a retired truck driver who's repaired hundreds of punctures, I'm thankful wheel and tyre technology has advanced a lot since that guide was published.

Cheers,
Geoff.