This tool, made by the Millers Falls Company of Greenfield and Millers Falls, Massachusetts, is known as a “bit brace drill.” The design, which goes back thousands of years, relies on hand power to provide rotation of the drill bit and hand pressure to make it cut. During the 1930s and 1940s, the company was producing up to 10,000 bit braces each week. At one point during World War II the company and its 1,600 employees were shipping 20,000 bit braces a week for military use.
Millers Falls Company. Bit Brace Drill manufactured by Millers Falls Company. ca. 1940. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/m-61/. Accessed on December 6, 2024.
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