Charles H. Amidon
Later Braces Gallery

The braces pictured here were patented by Charles H. Amidon after he left the Millers Falls Mfg. Company. The asterisks seen below the picture of a brace are an indicator of relative rarity. One asterisk indicates a brace that is commonly seen; five indicate a rare item. One caveat—Amidon's 1880 chuck is frequently seen (one asterisk), but short-chuck models or those bearing a legible mark are not as common (two asterisks).

Amidon's 1873 patent

On July 1st, 1873, Amidon was issued United States Letters Patent No. 193,632 for a combination brace and bitstock. While no examples of the device seen in that patent drawing have been observed, the brace itself was produced in the village of Millers Falls by the Amidon Manufacturing Company. The brace's hinged jaws are made self opening by the use of a transverse coil spring, and the chuck shell is threaded on to a retractable sleeve. Although it is not evident in the photos, a slot has been cut into the retracting sleeve for its full length—allowing it to fit over a fixed key and facilitating the loosening the chuck shell. Amidon's post-Millers Falls braces feature swaged retaining rings for holding the sweep handle in place.

Original patent drawing	Flexible jaws	Head attachment
1873 patent ****	Coil spring	Hinged jaws & retracting sleeve

New York variant of Amidon's 1873 patent

In August 2004, Charles R. Wright of Colorado Springs sent these photographs of a variant of Amidon's 1873 patent. He reported that the markings on the chuck shell were badly worn, but that he could make out the "don" letters of what appeared to be a name and the abbreviation "N.Y." The overall look of the brace indicates manufacture during Amidon's early years in Buffalo—most likely during the partnership of Saxton & Amidon. The photographs document a major change in design—leaf springs have replaced the fragile coil spring that held the hinged jaws in position. Mr. Wright suspected that his brace was an Amidon, but sadly, he passed away before I had learned enough about the 1873 patent to recognize it as a variant. Mr. Wright's brace is evidence that manufacture under 1873 patent continued after Amidon left Millers Falls for Buffalo.

1873 patent New York variant *****

Retracting sleeve (variant)

Leaf springs (variant)

Amidon's 1878 thumb-screw chuck

United States Letters Patent No. 201,379, dated March 19, 1878, describes Amidon's design for an inexpensive chuck that uses a hollow wing nut to push a chisel-shaped plunger against the tang of a bit. In theory, the device can be used to hold either round or square-tanged bits. When using a round bit, the worker is expected to turn the plunger so that its edge is parallel to the side of the bit, providing resistance over the entire length of its face. The plunger is rotated 90 degrees when using a square-shanked bit. Better in the abstract than in the execution, the chuck is moderately successful in securing square-tanged bits of average size. Average-sized round shank bits, however, are another story. Pushed to the side as the thumbscrew is tightened, the off-center bit creates an eccentric rotation of the brace—resulting in an odd, not entirely pleasant, experience for a woodworker.

Perhaps the least of Amidon's brace designs, the example seen here is unmarked. The shape of its head indicates manufacture during his years with Saxton & Amidon (1877-1883). After his partnership with Saxton ended, C.H. Amidon went into business with Ansley D. White. Amidon & White manufactured a version of the 1878 thumbscrew design that was marketed as the Universal Brace.

1878 thumb screw patent ****

Sweep handle

Chuck detail

Amidon's 1880 chuck

Charles Amidon's 1880 patent (No. 226,646) was issued while he was a partner in the firm of Saxton & Amidon (1887-1883). It is apparent that he retained the rights to his chuck after he left the firm as examples marked Amidon & White (1883-1887), Amidon and Bastedo (1887-1892) and Amidon Tool Corporation (1894-1898) have been observed. The springless 1880 chuck was well-designed in that it provided a sure grip, was inexpensive to manufacture and durable. The beauty of the design is often overlooked due to its use on the moderately priced braces manufactured by the Buffalo firms that Amidon became involved with.

Braces equipped with the 1880 patent can be found with a variety of markings and configurations. The Saxton & Amidon brace seen here features long a chuck shell and socket and is fitted with a nicely sculpted head. The shell is stamped "Amidon's Patent July 20, '80. Manf'd by Saxton & Amidon Buffalo, N.Y." The patent was actually issued on April 20th. The short-chuck brace is equipped with a short socket, a short shell and an unusual economy-grade head with a wooden quill. Unfortunately, the manufacturer's mark on this 'short-chuck' brace is nearly obliterated. Only "Amidon's Pat. July 20" and the 'Buf' in Buffalo remain visible. The Amidon & Bastedo brace shown here features a short socket and a medium-length shell. It is stamped "Manuf'd by Amidon & Bastedo Buffalo, N.Y. Pat Apr. 20 '80."

1880 patent Saxton & Amidon **	Saxton & Amidon long chuck	Saxton & Amidon head
1880 patent 'Short-chuck' **	1880 patent short chuck	Wooden quill & head (2 pieces)
1880 patent Amidon & Bastedo **	Amidon & Bastedo chuck	Amidon & Bastedo head

Amidon's 1883 ratchet patent

On August 28, 1883, Charles H. Amidon was awarded United States Letters Patent No. 283,844 for a ratcheting bit stock with a disk-shaped pawl. Although the use of a beveled edge, disk-type pawl was not new to Amidon's design, his idea was considered novel in that the disk pivots on a center pin held captive by a clevis that slides back and forth within a slot. As the spring-loaded disk is rotated, the angles of its beveled edges control the direction in which the brace's ratchet wheel is allowed to revolve. The similarity of Amidon's idea to an earlier design (Pflegar, 1876) may explain the two and one-half year wait between his application and the award of the patent. It could be that the inventor needed a fair amount of time to convince the Patent Office of the originality of his creation.

The braces pictured here were fabricated at the time of Amidon's partnership with Ansley White (1883-1887) and are stamped "Amidon's Pat. July 20, 1880. Manufactured by Amidon & White, 135 Main St. Buffalo, N.Y." The patent date references the chuck rather than the ratchet design. The handy knob for rotating the pawl does not appear in the patent drawings. The Amidon & Bastedo partnership (1887-1892) also produced braces featuring the 1883 ratchet.

Amidon's Corner Brace

Charles Amidon patented a corner brace while in partnership with Ansley White. The chuck on the example seen below is marked "Amidon's Pat. May 13, 1884. Manufactured by Amidon & White, 135 & 137 Main St. Buffalo, N.Y." The basic design of the tool—an L-shaped frame with an angled crank resembling a standard bit brace—became the predominant pattern for most of the corner braces manufactured in the twentieth century. Amidon's patent (No. 298,542) made allowances for both universal joint and geared linkages. The brace seen here features a universal joint.

Amidon's 1884 Chuck

Certainly the most unusual of Amidon's brace patents was that for the chuck he patented on September 16, 1884 (No. 305,263). The chuck features two massively oversized, pivoting jaws that are adjusted by means of a tapered wing nut. As the tapered nut is rotated clockwise, it travels down toward the tip of the brace spreading the rear edges of the pivoting jaws the jaws and closing the front edges by moving them inward. The cupped ends of the jaws are equipped with two rotatable hemispheres whose flat surfaces are bisected by series of grooves cut to different widths. To adjust for different bit shanks, the floating hemispheres are rotated until the proper sized groove faces forward. Since the hemispheres float, as well as rotate, both round and tapered shanks are accommodated.

The chuck requires a bit of fiddling to get a bit to center properly, and it needs to be well-lubricated if tapered bits are used. The brace pictured here is unmarked.

This educational, non-profit site is not affiliated with the Millers Falls Company. All logos, names and trademarks are property of their respective owners. Copyright ©1996-2010 by Randy Roeder. All rights reserved.