The metal brace was in common use by the late seventeenth century and was generally used where the wooden brace would not be strong enough.

The smith's brace is all iron, as is the armourer's brace. The chuck on the armourer's brace is offset from the frame, and the tool was intended for use in regimental or ship-armourers' shops. Some of the other chucks in use before the appearance of the screw-type in 1864 were the socket and thumbscrew, the wedged, the levered-latch, and the Spofford split-chuck.

Other types of braces include the Scotch pattern, the German pattern, and the wagon builders' pattern. Many styles of bits are used in the brace, including the center bit, the shell bit, the nose bit, the spoon bit, the taper bit, the gimlet bit, and the later screw auger and twist drill bits.