Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 14: Compass inserts
As mentioned in day twelve's survey of lead refills, A.W. Faber's polygrade leads revolutionised the compass pencil insert, with 2 mm quickly becoming the standard size of fitting. Mostly these…
Class of the Titans
A recent discussion about instruments named after mythological figures brought to mind the "Titan" Combination Compass, a simple design that aimed to provide a full drawing set in a box.…
Rotring Techniker-Zirkel II: Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the drawing board
The name Rotring will forever be synonymous with the tubular technical pens on which their business was built, so it easy to forget that they were also highly regarded for…
Galileo! Galileo!
Not to be confused with Galileo's compass, the Staedtler Galileo could be considered one of the last radical redesigns of the modern compass, literally turning the usual fine-adjustment spindle concept…
More WF Stanley catalogues online
While researching a couple of new W.F. Stanley finds this weekend, I happened upon a couple of very exciting early sources (well, exciting for me anyway) that had until now…
EngSoc
Today's featured set is a very nice quality wallet case originally retailed by the University of Toronto Engineering Society. It was interesting to discover that this society still exists today,…
An unusual Napier compass
The Napier compass is a particularly compact form of multifunctional drawing instrument that became popular during the second half of the nineteenth century. It is commonly said to have been…