Unknown maker, date, country – pretty much everything!
"Assume nothing" is my usual mantra when buying off ebay, but occasionally I still make assumptions that turn out to be completely wrong. On this occasion I thought I knew…
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…
A Christmas Ca-rule
... but at the first sound of "God bless you merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!" Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror…
Fan scales
A recent discussion with Peter Hopp of Slide Rules fame, prompted by an item in the latest UKSRC Newsletter, finally encouraged me to photograph some of my fan scales. This type of…
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 Armstrong scale: a hypothesis
Among the more ubiquitous instruments named after their inventors - from Captain Field's parallel to the Napier compass, Gunter's chain to Marquois' triangles - arguably the most widely-known and numerous…
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)…