"Every Mechanic Should Have One"
On
December 12th, 1882 A.H. Reid of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was granted Patent
#268,938 for a "Bit-Stock". This Archimedean style tool was described by Mr.
Reid as:
"The principle aims of the invention are to adapt the device to turn the tool always in the same direction and to avoid a backward rotation as the sleeve is drawn back, and to permit the operator to hold and steady the tool during the boring operation."
"With these ends in view the invention consists in combining with the body or sleeve a fixed head. by which it is driven forward and prevented from turning, and a loose head, or its equivalent, by which it is retracted and permitted to revolve freely around the tool holding spindle which remains in the meanwhile at rest....."(1)
Marketed for a number of years as "Reid's Lightning
Brace" this tool was made in two sizes. The larger #1 was provided with 2 bits. The bit holder
for the No.1 brace
is a piece of spring metal that is riveted to the chuck shell at its middle. A small stud
brings the ends together in a circle.
The stud protrudes through a hole in the
chuck casting to engage a recessed hole in the bit. Pressure from the
fingers flexes the spring steel bringing the stud out and releasing the bit. The
short bits have a square tang like a drill bit. I placed standard square tang
drill bits in the chuck and they were held securely. The No.1 is 29" fully
opened and 18" closed. The No. 2 uses a specially made flat bit that is held in
with a wire c-clip. Interchangeability with standard bits would not be possible.
Three bits were provided but the lack of on tool storage has relegated the
extras to oblivion. The No. 2 was 22.5" long fully opened and 13.5"
closed.
Although the Reid patent is described as a drilling or boring tool (bitstock or brace) in fact I have never seen a complete model that was not sporting a screwdriver style bit. In the 1898 Orr and Lockett Hardware Catalog the "Lightning Brace" is described:
"These braces are designed for boring and screw driving." "They may be used either automatically, running the bit both backward and forward, or to turn the bit one way only, as is necessary to drive a screw or bore a hole with an auger bit. This is done by means of the divided head, which acts as a fast and loose pulley, there being no ratchet about them to get out of order."(2)
All examples of both models that I have observed are marked on the nickel plated shaft housing::
A.H. REID
PHIL'A PA.
PAT'D. DEC. 12. 1882
If current availability is a determining factor then the No. 1 Reid patent drill driver was widely sold from 1882 and into the 20th century. Many examples are offered by dealers and up to a half dozen are seen on EBAY every month. Many offered are missing the bit and the spring steel chuck mechanism. The No. 2 is seen much less often. I have never seen one offered on a dealers list. About three show up on EBAY per year. The more sophisticated design of North Brothers and Goodell-Pratt introduced at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century probably brought about the demise of Reid's drill. Or he may have allowed the tools to disappear as he became more involved in other pursuits.
I found little biographical information about Reid as I do not yet have access to Philadelphia city directories from his era. Alban Hooke Reid was married to Florence Jarden Kite on July 8, 1886 in Philadelphia. They had 3 children; Florence (1888), Josephine (1889), and Alban E. Reid (1894). (3) An 1890 city directory lists an Albion H. Reid at 4004 Spring Garden in Philadelphia. His profession was listed as "dairy fixtures". The address of his employment was "S 30th c Market". (4) Obviously the first name is spelled incorrectly so it could not be our inventor!? But, I stumbled upon an 1895 Swiss patent #10092 (April 8, 1895) issued to Alban Hooke Reid of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA for a dairy centrifuge. (5) I was unable to find a corresponding American patent but do not doubt its existence. From this I would speculate that Albion and Alban are one and the same. And that Alban did not see the Lightning Brace as his main employment. Maybe by 1890 production had ceased and there was sufficient stock left to carry into the 20th century? Maybe Reid's patent had been sold to a manufacturer and he had nothing to do with the tool? Further research will determine what companies Reid was working for and give us more insight into his life after the Lightning Brace.
One curiosity is the 1909 patent 924,878 of Jerome Baron. The patent drawing shows a the Reid Lightning Brace with a side handle added. Baron was from Pennsylvania like Reid.
Ad from December 1889 Manufacturer and Builder from Cornell University Making of America website
COPYRIGHT CHARLES R. ZITUR, SEPTEMBER 20, 2002 FOR GENERAL PAGE STRUCTURE, ORIGINAL GIFS AND JPEGS EXCEPT AS NOTED BELOW.
(1) From the text of Patent 268,938 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office website at http://www.uspto.gov
(2) 1898 Orr and Lockett Hardware Company Chicago Illinois Catalog Reprint. Reprinted by Mid-West Tool Collectors Association.
(3) Ancestry.com website search for Alban Hooke Reid produced this marriage and family information.
(4) 1890 Philadelphia Pennsylvania City Directory as viewed on Ancestry.com.
(5) From the Swiss Patent Office through the esp@cenet network of European patents at http://gb.espacenet.com/