The “Vintage Field Instruments” category in the main drop-down menu is split into sub-menus to separate items from the 2 key types of precision field instruments that were central to the Land Surveying profession from c.mid 1800’s to the 1950’s. Browse through the Vintage Field Instruments drop-down menus for the “Transits, Theodolites & Compasses” & the “Levels” sub-sections that form a part of my personal “Vintage Surveying Collection” collection. The instruments shown in these 2 sub-sections are representative of the kind of instruments commonly used by Professional Land Surveyors of the period, as well as Civil Engineers & Builders in the boundary, engineering & construction surveys that opened up our untouched wilderness areas & created the original framework for our railways, roads, townships, towns & cities. …..Please excuse any ‘camera glare in the photos ….. many of the instruments are made of brass & it’s difficult to avoid the glare caused by the natural reflective qualities of this metal.
The “Vintage Transits, Theodolites & Compasses” sub-menu shows vintage surveying instruments that accurately (for their time) measured both horizontal & vertical angles using either dedicated optics to read angular degrees, minutes & seconds on precisely incised circular scales or vernier scales read “by eye” without the benefit of dedicated optics. “Transits & Theodolites” also had sighting telescopes on pivoting arms, whereas “Compasses” typically employed a magnetic ‘’needle’’ & less accurate “sighting” vanes or even more imprecise “peep” sights to primarily determine horizontal angles & direction (sometimes specialized compasses {aka clinometers} were used to measure vertical angles). The vast majority of these various types of vintage field instruments were composed almost entirely of brass & were by very highly skilled craftsmen.
The “Vintage Levels” sub-menu shows vintage surveying instruments that accurately (for their time) measured differences in height using a telescope that rotates only around a vertical axis, in conjunction with 1 or more very sensitive ‘’spirit level bubbles’’ to define a consistently level reference line. The vast majority of the various types of “Vintage Levels” were composed almost entirely of brass & while simpler to make than “Transits & Theodolites”, still required the talents of highly skilled craftsmen to make.
……. This, website has only been recently launched, so I’m just in the very early stages of populating the site with vintage items from my collection & the “Vintage Field Instruments” shown & described below are just a start …….. There’s lots more to be added regularly, so return often to catch the latest updates. …………. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments or suggestions related to any of my website’s content.
………. Just “left-click” on any image to expand it for better viewing & then “left-click” on the arrows at the right or left side of the expanded image to scroll (in order) down or up (respectively) through the list of images: