# Restoring 965 brace, how do I remove the jaws?



## YoungOne (Aug 13, 2012)

I have been following Brit's wonderful blog post on how to a restore a hand brace to "like new" and have run into a little trouble.

I am trying to remove the jaws in the brace "head" and am just not able to hold by mouth in the right way to get the jaws out. I assume that I need to separate the jaws to get them to come out but I just can't seem to get it right and I feel like maybe I'm missing something obvious.

The jaws look like standard "J" type jaws with no spring, like on this ebay listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stanley-Bit-Brace-Jaws-Fit-965-965N-965NR-966-975-1251-1253-Models-Rare-New-/250984543566?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6fd8354e#ht_4713wt_1397

Can someone help me to get these out so I can clean my brace up well?

Thank you.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Pictures may help. You can't just spin the head off?


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## YoungOne (Aug 13, 2012)

Here's me trying to pull it out of the head. The shoulders of the jaws are wider than the opening through which they should pass. It seems like I should slide the jaws apart but I can't figure out how to do that either. I ain't the sharpest plane in the toolbox.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I think there is a pin. Maybe its worked out and is catching. Can you see what stopping it? The ones I have restored just fall out.


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## YoungOne (Aug 13, 2012)

There is a pin sticking out from one side and hooked in to the other. It is slightly angled down.That pin is what holds them together. It looks like if I were to just be able to separate the jaws, I could get it out.

If I try to pull it straight out as you see in the picture below, they get stuck (ie: the shoulders hang up) but I can see the pin and it isn't caught on anything. 









When I set the head down on my desk, the jaw pieces nearly come apart but not quite. This is as "loose" as they get as far as I can tell. If I pull on the side with the pin it only seems to pull the other side up and toward it. (This is the view from the butt end of the head)









The pin has a slight ridge on it near the end but I can't tell if it's enough to keep them together, especially considering that it looks like the jaw "shoulders" are touching the sides when it is loosest.


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

Have you tried holding the jaws with a pair of pliers and wiggling the head to try and pull them out. I've never worked on a brace with those type of jaws but I have had some jaws that needed a bit of persuasion.


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## YoungOne (Aug 13, 2012)

I have tried wiggling them and twisting them quite a bit and tried again tonight after you mentioned it.

At this point I'm thinking about leaving them in there. I want the brace to work more than I want it to be pretty and I figure if I'm having this hard of a time getting them out it maybe even worse getting them back in.

Btw…thank you so much for the tutorial! You've really helped a not-so-rich woodworker-wannabe get some decent starter tools.


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## DanKrager (Apr 13, 2012)

I know the trick and to you I'm going to show it..(if you want your boomerang to come back, well, first you've got to throw it!)

I worked and worked on this eventually getting frustrated like you. I shook it vigorously in exasperation and the dumb things fell right out the "back" end. Not the end of an hour's work though. I had to study how that happened because I thought I had tried everything.

First put the shell in a vise (gently) so it will be steady. The clearances are tight. The basic goal is to work the jaws until the mating faces are at right angles to each other. Keep them in the center of the shell where there is the most clearance for them. Be patient, but the pin will eventually come out of the hole as one jaw rolls away from the other. Then they will "fall" out the threaded end one at a time. Here is evidence that they come out!









DanK


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