At 08:46 AM 7/29/97 EDT, Lorn wrote:

snip-eroo

    1.  3 of the braces are standard MF and Stanley; the 6" is not.
>It's got a Barber chuck, no ratchet, and is marked on the arm "H. S.
>BARTHOLO***   BRISTOL  CT  USA"  and on the other arm of the sweep "117
>  PAT'D MAY 24 70"  I'd love to know more about this brace.
>

Did not see anyone else answer this:

Source: The American Patented Brace: 1829 - 1924: Ronald W. Pearson

Harry S. Bartholomew: Bristol CT patent # 103281 - 
May 24, 1970 - Bitstock  - rarity "B" (between 6 and 20 examples seen)

The patent drawing shows that its the jaws/chuck mechanism that
has the patent.

Ron's rarity number are guestimates based on his experiance
(which is vast - but this is the first time that an attempt
has been made to guage rarity for braces).

Translation - a gloat - maybe a pretty good gloat - but who knows?

Todd