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…
OK Computer
It is a well-worn truism that nothing is certain except death and taxes, and certainly throughout history much effort has gone into making sure that the latter is as inescapable…
The Fourth of July
Happy Independence Day to all my readers from the USA! In honour of the day, I have posted a photo I took a few years back during a visit to…
Plumbago, Canada!
Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends! This year to mark the occasion I decided to dig deep - beyond the ubiquitous Schoenner and Eichmüller wallets, past my lovely…
Rules are made to be broken
When is a rule not a rule? When it's four rules! This deceptively simple rolling ruler offers an unexpected "twist" on the conventional design. Made of what appears to be…
More patent sticks
Here is a trio of glorified wooden sticks for ruling parallel lines that each somehow managed to secure patent protection. Two are so similar that they could easily be mistaken…
Thornton on folding pocket rules
I recently took a gamble on a job lot of plastic slide rules and other oddments on account of a blurry pocket rule in one corner of the photo. Superficially…
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…
A nineteenth-century stencil set
Before the advent of CAD, laser printers, photocopiers and even that old favourite Letraset, stencil plates were widely used to apply standardised and decorative lettering to technical drawings. They were…
Stanley vulcanite scales
Today's post showcases a set of six W.F. Stanley vulcanite chain scales and matching offsets, something that had been on my wish list for a long time. Vulcanite (aka ebonite)…