Société Genevoise Circular Dividing Engine
date: label: date made
content: ca 1900
name: label: maker
content: Societe Genevoise d’Instruments de Physique
notes: label: Description
content: A circular dividing engine allows one to create equally spaced scales along the edge of a circular arc.
label: Description
content: This example has an iron three-point support, a brass circular plate 26 cm. in diameter, and a smaller brass circular plate on the same shaft. The larger plate is divided around the edge to degrees, with every ten degrees numbered. An inset ring of silver-colored metal is on the plate just inside the divided area. The smaller plate has four rows of holes which may be used to attach clamps. Winding a steel screw inset in a brass mechanism moves the larger plate (slowly).
label: Description
content: The tracer is primarily of brass attached to a metal support and thence to a steel slide. The tracer mechanism is partly disassembled. The slide slides along a projection from the base. A microscope is on one side of the larger plate.
label: Description
content: Disjoint parts received with the machine include:
label: Description
content: 1. Three arrangements of gears, one marked "20" and the other two marked "24." These resemble part of the tracer mechanism for linear dividing engine 1987.0692.01.
label: Description
content: 2. Three large and two smaller flat clamps.
label: Description
content: 3. Nine screws that fit into the clamps.
label: Description
content: 4. Six screws that don't fit in the clamps
label: Description
content: 5. Thirteen brass and one steel washers
label: Description
content: 6. Five pieces, four steel and one aluminum, that may be part of the tracer mechanism
label: Description
content: 7. Eight miscellaneous pieces of steel and brass
label: Description
content: 8. One small wooden bar
label: Description
content: 9. One paper tag describing calibration of the machine.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: Société Genevoise, <I>Illustrated Price List of Physical and Mechanical Instruments. . .,<I>, Geneva, 1900, pp. 14-16.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Switzerland: Genève, Geneva
topic: label: Subject
content: Ruling and Dividing Engines
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Department of Physics, Bowdoin College
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1992.0477.01
label: catalog number
content: 1992.0477.01
label: accession number
content: 1992.0477
objectType: label: Object Name
content: dividing engine
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 32.4 cm x 44.5 cm x 46.5 cm; 12 3/4 in x 17 17/32 in x 18 5/16 in