Faithfull CB10 Carpenters Brace 10-inch

The brace itself is fine, the ratchet mechanism works well, but the chuck is not only keyless but is 'gripless' as well.I use round shank carpenters drill bits and although I have a strong grip and can tighten the chuck, the drill bits just spin in the chuck the moment they bite into wood. This product is not fit for purpose and I suggest amazon withdraw it from sale.Rather than go to the palaver of returning it, I intend to look for a replacement chuck that does the job that this one was expected to do. Fitting an adapter to the existing chuck as others have suggested will not get round the problem of a chuck with no grip.If anyone knows of an actual replacement chuck that would do the job, preferably a Jacobs one with a key, I would be grateful for such information.In summary, if you want a brace but don't want to use it to drill holes, then this is the one for you.

Only given four ⭐ as the plastics on it do feel a bit cheap and will more than likely crack with a hard enough knock, however, I plan on replacing the plastics on it with wood at some point, as the actual mechanism itself seems to be made of sturdy enough materials.The chuck threads are not easily torn from only hand tightening and the jaws hold the bit in place fast enough to actually do the job, which were the two things that failed straight away on the cheaper blue one I bought to start with.It also has a two way ratchet system that can be implemented or locked out completely, which is a handy feature and could extend its possible uses with the addition of socket bits.In all I'd say it's a fairly decent tool for the price, it may not be a carpenter level tool, but it is ideal for the home enthusiast or even the outdoors type who like to do a bit of shelter building.

This brace would be really good except for one thing - the chuck has 4 jaws that grip the drill bit and this means that it does not grab hexagonal bits nearly so well as a traditional 3 part chuck. If you only want to use circular bits, it will be fine, but if you want to drive screws or use hexagonal bits, you might find that they keep slipping.Update - I have just tried the brace with an SDS plus to hexagonal drill bit adaptor (bought quite cheaply from Amazon - £2.11 or £5.57) and there is no more slippage. This is because the four chuck jaws slot well into the grooves of an SDS bit. I can now get quite decent torque when driving screws or turning bolts.

Other reviewers had made this observation but I failed to attach enough significance. The Faithfull CB10 chuck has a four-point system which is not suited to modern bits. The vast majority of modern drill bits and augers have a hexagonal shank profile which is designed to work perfectly with the three gripping points in hand drills and electric drill chucks. Because this CB10 Brace has a four-point chuck it is awkward for it to grasp the hexagonal shank of an auger bit. Even the auger bits sold by Faithfull have hexagonal shanks so why do they sell a brace that is mis-matched to their own bits??Very odd.I've not yet been down to the local DIY store to look at any more expensive Braces to see if they have the same chuck design!!

Truly awful bought to bore some holes in some posts. As soon as the drill bit and or wood auger hit the wood the carpenter vrace just slips scoring the drill bit. I was drilling into some wooden posts to position some gate fittings wanted a little more control as well as use instead of buying a extra long extension lead.Returned and refunded