After watching for a 16" brace for a few years, I finally saw a
Pexto Samson 8016 come up on e*ay last week.  Since I sort of 
collect these, I bid up to what I figured was the low end of
fair market value, and ended up with it for $60.

The brace arrived today, and it's better than usual.  Mostly
intact plating, no wobble, good jaws, and nearly perfect
cocobolo (even with some shiny finish left).  And it's big!

http://maxwells.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Tools/i-gPsx5cD/0/L/IMG3454-L.jpg

These Samsons are my favorite ratcheting brace, because they're 
well made, and just nice to look at and use.  Now to find an 8008
and maybe an 8010...though I'd feel guilty getting another 10" of
any variety.

Adam
Port Angeles, WA

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A person needs some very long arms to swing that brace.  Lots of leverage
for those big bits.  Nice find.
On May 4, 2012 5:17 PM, "Adam R. Maxwell" <amaxwell@m...> wrote:

> After watching for a 16" brace for a few years, I finally saw a
> Pexto Samson 8016 come up on e*ay last week.  Since I sort of
> collect these, I bid up to what I figured was the low end of
> fair market value, and ended up with it for $60.
>
> The brace arrived today, and it's better than usual.  Mostly
> intact plating, no wobble, good jaws, and nearly perfect
> cocobolo (even with some shiny finish left).  And it's big!
>
> http://maxwells.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Tools/i-gPsx5cD/0/L/IMG3454-L.jpg
>
> These Samsons are my favorite ratcheting brace, because they're
> well made, and just nice to look at and use.  Now to find an 8008
> and maybe an 8010...though I'd feel guilty getting another 10" of
> any variety.
>
> Adam
> Port Angeles, WA
>
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------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very nice find! Me and my long ape arms would love to find such a gem!
Kudos!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

My biggest is an 8014, cosmetically rough, and I really appreciate that
big sweep when putting a 1-1/4" RJ bit through a moderately hard wood
like cherry. Get down around 1", though, and the big sweep seems a waste
of time. You really need the full range of sizes.

Tom Conroy


Adam Maxwell wrote: "After watching for a 16" brace for a few years, I
finally saw a Pexto Samson 8016 come up on e*ay last week... The brace
arrived today, and it's better than usual.=A0 Mostly intact plating, no
wobble, good jaws, and nearly perfect cocobolo (even with some shiny
finish left).=A0 And it's big!

"Now to find an 8008 and maybe an 8010..."
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On May 5, 2012, at 12:44 , Thomas Conroy <booktoolcutter@y...> wrote:

> My biggest is an 8014, cosmetically rough, and I really appreciate that big
sweep when putting a 1-1/4" RJ bit through a moderately hard wood like cherry.
Get down around 1", though, and the big sweep seems a waste of time. You really
need the full range of sizes.

Preaching to the choir here, Tom :).  So far I have at least 2 of each in 6, 8,
10, 12, 14" sweeps.  Sandy Moss' page [1] says that Fray had a 17" that is
seldom seen, but I'm happy with a 16"...and like you say, even the 14" isn't
necessary unless you're using a big bit.

The other use for 12-14" braces is letting the GITs practice.  They can't muscle
the smaller sweeps around, even with a 1/2" bit, but the big ones are no
problem.

-- 
Adam

[1] http://www.sydnassloot.com/Brace/Fray.htm

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Adam- that was a great find, and a very reasonable price considering it
was well-described on eBay. I like the SAMSONs as well and I've been
looking for a 16inch for a long time. If I had seen that it wouldn't
have gone so low :) Congrats, man. That's a fine brace.

> Preaching to the choir here, Tom :). So far I have at least 2 of each
> in 6, 8, 10, 12, 14" sweeps. Sandy Moss' page [1] says that Fray had a
> 17" that is seldom seen, but I'm happy with a 16"...and like you say,
> even the 14" isn't necessary unless you're using a big bit.

Hey, don't forget the Whimbles and the tiny little 5in braces
that Millers Falls made. Always happy to continue your slide down
the slope :)

Josh

On May 5, 2012, at 9:10 PM, Adam R. Maxwell wrote:

>> On May 5, 2012, at 12:44 , Thomas Conroy <booktoolcutter@y...> wrote:
>>> My biggest is an 8014, cosmetically rough, and I really appreciate
>>> that big sweep when putting a 1-1/4" RJ bit through a moderately
>>> hard wood like cherry. Get down around 1", though, and the big sweep
>>> seems a waste of time. You really need the full range of sizes.
>> Preaching to the choir here, Tom :). So far I have at least 2 of each
>> in 6, 8, 10, 12, 14" sweeps. Sandy Moss' page [1] says that Fray had
>> a 17" that is seldom seen, but I'm happy with a 16"...and like you
>> say, even the 14" isn't necessary unless you're using a big bit. The
>> other use for 12-14" braces is letting the GITs practice. They can't
>> muscle the smaller sweeps around, even with a 1/2" bit, but the big
>> ones are no problem.
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

On May 5, 2012, at 18:24 , Joshua Clark <jclark@h...> wrote:

>> Preaching to the choir here, Tom :).  So far I have at least 2 of each in 6,
8, 10, 12, 14" sweeps.  Sandy Moss' page [1] says that Fray had a 17" that is
seldom seen, but I'm happy with a 16"...and like you say, even the 14" isn't
necessary unless you're using a big bit.
> 
> 
> Hey, don't forget the Whimbles and the tiny little 5in braces that Millers
Falls made. Always happy to continue your slide down the slope :)

Shoot, I did forget about the tiny ones...didn't you post on those last year? 
Got another one to unload?  I still have no Whimble or corner braces, so I can
safely tell my wife that I'm not a collector :).

Adam, maintaining plausible deniability of collectorhood in Port Angeles, WA

------------------------------------------------------------------------