DrawingMachines.org

An archive of optical/mechanical/automated drawing machines/devices/aids

Geometric Drafting

In all fairness, this category is a catch-all for some unique tools that don’t fit anywhere else. Many of the other plotters in this site could easily be treated as “Geometric Drafting.” Ellipsographs and Pantographs have long been part of the draftsman’s tool kit and they certainly help draft geometry.

That archiving footnote aside, this category should probably be dedicated to William Ford (W.F.) Stanley (1829-1909). A prolific inventor and holder of 78 UK and US Patents for engineering and architectural drawing tools, Stanley also produced the definitive 19th century guide to “Mathematical drawing and measuring instruments.” First published in 1866, the part treatise, part catalog volume was in its seventh edition by 1900. In it, Stanley features his own drafting and measuring tools alongside finely crafted geometric instruments of the age. This single volume has, more than any other in my personal archive of drawing machine references, produced more entries in this archive than any other. Hats off to you, Mr. Stanley.

Dates: 1866 to mid-1900s

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Affinograph

Oswald Gottlieb Coradi

1915

Antigraph

W. F. Stanley

1888

Centrograph

W. F. Stanley

1888

Conchoidograph

W. F. Stanley

1888

Helicograph

W. F. Stanley

1888

Helicograph

Francis Penrose

1851

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