ARTISAN Brace value?

About a week ago I read the topic and viewed the pictures about Ruger Corp. Hand Tools (drills, braces, etc.) and thought they were very cool. I must have paid attention because today I was at a flea market and spotted an ARTISAN marked brace in a box of about six braces of various manufacturers. I was able to instantly spot it because of its distinctive "hockey puck" shaped knob. I purchased it and now I need to try to clean it up a bit. My question is what is it worth? I have searched the internet and found some interesting information about Ruger's patent dealing with the brace and the companies that produced them. However, I have not found any information relating to value.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

rugnelli

I've no idea. Never seen one out here in Wyoming. I'm surprised none of the Drill Collectors have offered a comment..........

flatgate

flatgate,

Thanks for the response. I was beginning to think that I had written this post with invisible ink...

I received my Red Eagle News Exchange today and noticed in the price guide that the RUGER 1010 brace was given a value of $475. Since I don't know any better I will estimate an A.R.T.I.S.A.N brace to be about the same.

Thanks again for the response, flatgate.

rugnelli

Well it is worth what it will bring and as always condition, condition, condition...........it takes a fairly serious RUGER tool collector to need one as it does not say RUGER anywhere on it except in identical looks.......You have done something I have never accomplished after looking at THOUSANDS of braces I have never stumbled upon any Ruger or Atisan marked tools (I do own both) ......I think Weaslemeat wanted to trade a Semour/Smith for an Artisan, give him a shout.....RR.

RR has a good point. Since it does not have Ruger on it,, it will not command the same $$$ as a RUger brace. Then as noted, the condition has a lot to do with it.

Thank you for the replies.

Since it is not Ruger marked, I will clean it up a bit and throw it on the shelf. I think it's kinda cool...

CDFingers, I can email you a few pictures if you would like... just say the word.

rugnelli

That's the thing. At one time I had always thought that maybe Ruger produced a subcontract of their brace for Gambles Skogmo who had the ARTISAN trade name. But it would appear that the ARTISAN marked braces were made by somebody (possibly Seymour-Smith) after Ruger quit producing their 1010 braces and went into bankruptsy (to me, this would mean a big difference in pricing, because today I don't think the ARTISAN marked braces were made for or by Ruger)
It is my belief that Ruger bought the original tooling for the brace from Seymour in the first place, then when the Ruger Corp went into receivership, much of the stuff went back to Seymour to help "Pay the Bills". You will note that the ARTISAN marked braces have a half knurled chuck with a rounded end on the chuck. These are identical to the 2nd type Ruger 1010 with half knurled chuck (except for the markings of course). The earliest Ruger 1010 had a fully knurled chuck with rounded end on the chuck.
And before this, the Seymour-Smith marked braces had a fully knurled chuck with 45-degree angle on the chuck end as well as a little different slider and different markings on the ratchet than the Ruger brace.
WMG has a good picture of his earliest Seymour-Smith brace of this same type with slide button but with a wooden top knob and serrated brass slider on the ratchet that is flush with the top of the ratchet.
With the history we know today, I still value my two ARTISAN braces at no less than $100 since they do have a part in Ruger's history, even though I don't think they were made by (or for) them.

Here's the thread on the Seymour Smith braces...
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=70588
Chet15

chet15,

Thanks for your reply and thoughts on the subject. I have found a couple of sources of information and they mention the ARTISAN brace being marketed by Gambles. I believe it was stated in "Ruger and His Guns" that because of the higher cost of manufacturing the braces the asking price was too high for the general public and thus, didn't sell well. This resulted in the demise of the Ruger Corp. As far as I know the Ruger Corp. marked braces and the ARTISAN marked braces are identical with the exception of the markings. If that is the case, do you think it would be reasonable to guess that the Ruger Corp. was the actual manufacturer of the ARTISAN braces and, as a result of the Ruger Corp. going out of business, there were few ARTISAN marked braces actually produced? Either way, it would seem that both braces were made with the same tooling so the Ruger connection is there... As to the Seymour Smith connection, they were already making a similar brace so why would they want to produce a near identical one (though arguably not as nicely marked) marked ARTISAN, especially if it didn't sell many units? If they did absorb the tooling from the Ruger Corp. I would think they might make the slight changes to produce their brace with it.

I have found a patent drawing of what is supposed to be the chuck used on the Ruger designed brace but it does not match my ARTISAN brace. If I may, I am going to send you a picture of my brace (and comments) to compare with yours.

Thanks again.

rugnelli

rugnelli said:

chet15,

Thanks for your reply and thoughts on the subject. I have found a couple of sources of information and they mention the ARTISAN brace being marketed by Gambles. I believe it was stated in "Ruger and His Guns" that because of the higher cost of manufacturing the braces the asking price was too high for the general public and thus, didn't sell well. This resulted in the demise of the Ruger Corp.

Click to expand...

That was a partial reason. Their hand drills were way over-built as well, as compared to the more mass produced Stanley's and Millers Falls and other company's.
Another reason I've heard Ruger Corp went belly up is because of a distributor of the tools in New York or Ohio who wasn't doing good business. And then there was also a fire at Ruger Corp during their years of operation (tail end?) that may have been the final nail in the coffin.

rugnelli said:

As far as I know the Ruger Corp. marked braces and the ARTISAN marked braces are identical with the exception of the markings. If that is the case, do you think it would be reasonable to guess that the Ruger Corp. was the actual manufacturer of the ARTISAN braces and, as a result of the Ruger Corp. going out of business, there were few ARTISAN marked braces actually produced?

Click to expand...

Not sure. It may be that the ARTISAN braces are a lot more common than the Ruger 1010, but there aren't too many people out there who know about the ARTISAN.
Here's something else to ponder. Ruger had a design patent on the 1010 design of brace. So they must have purchased the rights to produce the brace or at least have somebody else produce them. The ratchet mechanism I believe had at least patents pending on it by Seymour-Smith. But it doesn't appear that they ever did a design patent on it. So, WBR realizing this decided to get the unique design protected.




[/quote]
Either way, it would seem that both braces were made with the same tooling so the Ruger connection is there... As to the Seymour Smith connection, they were already making a similar brace so why would they want to produce a near identical one (though arguably not as nicely marked) marked ARTISAN, especially if it didn't sell many units? If they did absorb the tooling from the Ruger Corp. I would think they might make the slight changes to produce their brace with it.
[/quote]

That's the thing. From the earlier versions of the Seymour-Smith, it would appear that SS made them first, then perhaps Ruger purchased the rights to make them (or have them made? But if Ruger got a design patent on it, WBR must have purchased the rights to produce that brace from Seymour-Smith). Then when the Ruger Corp went belly up, Ruger may have settled with SS by giving up their rights to manufacture as well as any equipment that may have been necessary.
Check out the all the parts on the parts on the 1010 and the ARTISAN...even the ferrules up by the handle are plated the same etc. So it may be that Seymour-Smith did at least a "cleanup" of the remaining Ruger Corp brace parts.
You would also think that with an ARTISAN marked brace for Gambles-Skogmo, GS might have had a trainload of them made after Ruger Corp went out of business. But the ARTISAN marked braces were definitely made during or after the last variation of 1010 brace because of the half knurled chuck.


[/quote]

I have found a patent drawing of what is supposed to be the chuck used on the Ruger designed brace but it does not match my ARTISAN brace. If I may, I am going to send you a picture of my brace (and comments) to compare with yours.

Thanks again.

rugnelli[/quote]

I haven't had a chance to look at this yet, but will in the next couple days or so.
Chet15