OBED PECK

Obed Peck began his development of brace patents in Windsor, Vermont as early as 1863.  This fertile womb of tool inventors also spawned  William Henry Barber, whose single 1864 chuck patent was highly successful (see Millers Falls page).  Peck produced at least eight brace patents, with one developed with Powers (Peck & Powers: Feb 11, 1879) being the most enduring.  A brace in my collection is an example of his second patent, issued on Feb. 23, 1864 (number 41718) and rates an "A" in Ron Pearson's book.  The chuck features a block that is pulled against the bit tang by a threaded screw moved by an ornate thumbscrew.  The brace is marked with the patent date and "Obed Peck."

A second example of an Obed Peck patent is one found on a Peck, Stowe & Wilcox sleeve brace (probably No. 1508).  This is Peck's Sept 13, 1881 patent (No. 246,904) for the jaws milled as a single unit, with tension spring under the jaws, and the chuck core milled as per the original Barber design.  This is a rare patented brace to find, and rates a Pearson "A".

This brace is marked on the chuck shell with both the P.S.&W name and the date of Peck's patent.  Obed Peck does not appear to have been closely related to the Seth Peck of Peck, Stow & Wilcox.

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