Stanley’s first planimeter (part 3)
As November draws to a close, it seemed an opportune moment to conclude my investigation of Stanley's planimeter, at least so far as the instrument itself is concerned. One of…
Stanley’s first planimeter (part 2)
My last post ended with a slew of questions that I had intended to address in a second instalment, but as I began to assemble the evidence it quickly became…
Stanley’s first planimeter (part 1)
November 16th 2023 marks the bicentenary of Jakob Amsler-Laffon's birth - at least according to the more trustworthy sources - so it seemed only fitting to save a rather special…
Stanley-Amsler double act
Like the previous post's Amsler Type 6 with its added spikes for engine indicator diagrams, today's planimeter is another general purpose instrument with a special trick up its sleeve. Patented in…
Happy 200th Amslerversary!
While doing a bit of planimeter research, I noticed that Wikipedia gives the date of 11 November 1823 for Jakob Amsler-Laffon's birthday - 200 years ago today! Amsler was a…
Tangram alphabet
Thanks to a comment on the previous post by Erick, my attention was drawn to the instruction booklet that accompanied Dr Richter's Anchor Puzzle. This puzzle was essentially a repackaged…
A Stanley puzzle
The subject of this post is yet another ebay purchase, this time made purely on the basis of a name on a box. Described as geometrical models for teaching, the…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 20: Mordan’s Bicentennial
The final day of our countdown has arrived which means it is time to go back to where it all began. By that I don't just mean Hawkins and Mordan's…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 19: I’m dreaming of a white…
…pencil? Clearly in the mid-1980s this is precisely what people were dreaming of, judging by the sheer number of white fineliner sets around at the time. Rotring, Staedtler and Faber-Castell…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 18: Rotring multi-pencils
One type of sliding pencil that did not get a mention in yesterday's entry was the multi-colour everpointed type, made by Sampson Mordan among others. These particular models always appear…