CRAFTMANSHIP & PRECISION … VINTAGE LAND SURVEYING EQUIPMENT … RETURN OFTEN, NEW CONTENT WILL BE POSTED ON A REGULAR BASIS
Vintage Drafting
The ‘’Vintage Drafting’’ section contains items from my personal ‘’Vintage Land Surveying’’ collection that are generally related to the creation of final Survey Plans (technical drawings) for the period between the mid 1800’s to roughly the mid 1900’s. In the context of “Land Surveying”, ‘’Drafting” is the process of assembling & analyzing data / measurements collected “in the field” by a land survey crew or field technician / technologist, then using a variety of equipment or technology, together with mathematical calculations to convert that information into a final drawing (Survey Plan) that illustrates the results of the Land Survey.
For the period covered by my collection, drafting was primarily a manual process performed by skilled land survey technicians / technologists commonly referred to as ‘draftsmen’ (in the terminology of the time period). It was normally necessary for a ‘draftsman’ to be highly competent at performing the complex mathematical calculations required for this job, while at the same time possessing the artistic ‘flair’ needed to produce the high quality manual graphics typically represented on the final land survey plans ……… some of the graphics on plans produced by 1800’s draftsmen, approached the level of “works of art” on their own merits .
Modern computer aided drawing (CAD) had its roots in the 1960’s, at which time it began to gradually displace manual drafting as the main form of survey plan production. From the mid-1800’s until then, the draftsman’s tool kit typically consisted of (among other things): a drafting table of some sort (the first “modern” drafting table was patented c.1905), pencils, ink bottles, freehand drawing pens, a variety of paper & linen drawing sheets, erasers, precision rulers (scales), protractors, set squares, T-squares, parallel rules, ‘French’ curves, compasses, slide rulers & books of mathematical tables (for manual calculations), etc., etc. Near the end of this era, hand-held calculators & mechanical drawing pen sets with lettering templates became common tools in the kit.
…….. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the “Vintage Drafting” items shown below are all from my personal collection (occasional pieces of related ephemera may be added to provide context & when appropriate, I will try to ensure they are suitably accredited). ……. I’ve only recently started populating this web site with vintage surveying items from my collection & the “Vintage Drafting” items listed below are just a start (there’s lots more to be added regularly). Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments related to any of my website’s content (If I have gotten an identification or description incorrect, I always welcome thoughtful corrections).
………… 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:
Rolling Brass Parallel Rule in Case (EXAMPLE DATED c.1890 per open-source completed auction listingisVERY SIMILAR TO THE PARALLEL RULE LISTED AFTER 1943 EXAMPLE IMMEDIATELY BELOW) -1c
Rolling Parallel Rule – from K&E Interim Edition 1943 War Catalog – ”DATED EXAMPLE is SIMILAR to the PARALLEL RULE LISTED IMMEDIATELY BELOW” – 1mmo
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1aa
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1cc
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1dd
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1ee
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1ff
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker (lettering unidentified) – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1gg
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1hh
Rolling Parallel Rule (brass) with Wooden Case – Unknown Maker – c.1890’s-c.1940’s – 10.8 lbs. – rule 2.02’x0.24′ – case 2.1’x0.33’x0.17′ -1ii
Set Square (30×60 degree) – ”E.R. Watts & Son” (c.1886-1919) – appears to be very high quality ‘Ebony Framed Mahogany’ in ”EX ” condition – impressed with maker’s details -1aa
Set Square (30×60 degree) – ”E.R. Watts & Son” (c.1886-1919) – appears to be very high quality ‘Ebony Framed Mahogany’ in ”EX ” condition – impressed with maker’s details -1bb
Set Square (30×60 degree) – ”E.R. Watts & Son” (c.1886-1919) – appears to be very high quality ‘Ebony Framed Mahogany’ in ”EX ” condition – impressed with maker’s details -1cc
Set Square (30×60 degree) – ”E.R. Watts & Son” (c.1886-1919) – appears to be very high quality ‘Ebony Framed Mahogany’ in ‘‘EX ” condition – impressed with maker’s details -1dd
Ink Bottle Holder /Paperweight + Ink Bottle (K&E Model # 2707) as shown on above pgs. 273 & 266 of K&E’s 1906 & 1909 (respectively) Catalogs -1aa
Ink Bottle Holder/Paperweight + Ink Bottle – c.1909matched set – Black Enameled Iron – about 2lbs. nominal (K&E Model # 2707 per pg. 266 of K&E’s 1909 Catalog) -1a
Ink Bottle Holder/Paperweight + Ink Bottle – c.1909matched set – Black Enameled Iron – about 2lbs. nominal (K&E Model # 2707 per pg. 266 of K&E’s 1909 Catalog) -1b
Ink Bottle Holder /Paperweight + Ink Bottle – c.1909matched set – Black Enameled Iron – about 2lbs. nominal (K&E Model # 2707 per pg. 266 of K&E’s 1909 Catalog) -1c
