Superbow Sunday
I heard it on the grapevine that today the USA celebrates "Superbow Sunday", apparently an annual national event of great importance - and who am I to argue with that?…
Rotring’s eccentric Centro
In the same vein as Staedtler's Galileo, the 1990s also saw Rotring trying to reinvent the compass, in particular the spindle-adjustment master bow. The resulting design is unusual not only in…
Dial M for Measure
As the saying goes, you wait ages for a London bus and then two come along together. The same would appear to hold true for Elliott Bros dividers with a big…
Purple Reign
Tangentially to my recent post on Bagshaw's patent diagrammeter, I was reminded of something that had always puzzled me, but until now had not seemed of any particular significance. As…
Inglorious Bagshaws
Occasionally I will buy something without bothering to find out what it is first, especially if the price is right. Today's post concerns a recent acquisition that falls into this…
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…
Stanley vulcanite railway curves
I recently came by a set of W.F. Stanley railway curves made of vulcanite (also known as ebonite or hard rubber), included almost as an afterthought to an ebay listing…
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…
An English Lotter?
The other day I broke my own rule of not buying any more of those turn of the century imported student-quality sets sold in vast quantities, primarily by Jackson Brothers, but…