Pantograph in Case, Keuffel & Esser Model 1127
date: label: date made
content: 1910-1925
name: label: maker
content: Keuffel & Esser Co.
notes: label: Description
content: This brass pantograph consists of four hollow bars with rectangular cross section. These are thirty-one inches and twenty-nine inches long, with the distance from the fulcrum to the points being twenty-eight inches. The bars slide on three metal wheels. The bar containing the pencil point is marked for ratios up to 1:6. There is also a vernier divided into tenths. The tracer and pencil points are on the outside bars. A cup on the pencil mechanism hold weights, such as coins or shot. An extra tracer point is stored on a screw in the bottom of the case. Strings wound around spools on these mechanisms are set by lowering a pin on the spool into a slot on the adjacent metal bar. Each spool is supported by another metal bar which has a black handle. A lead weight with two metal side plates and screws and a metal under plate fits into a pinion on one of the central brass bars. A metal clamp slides into place to secure the weight. Since the tracer and pencil are not on parallel bars, it seems to be especially important to have the tracer, weight, and pencil lay in the same line when attempting to copy a drawing.
label: Description
content: The pantograph is stored in a wooden case with two metal hooks and a lock. The interior of the case holds three wooden bars, each with two brass screws that secure the instrument in transit.
label: Description
content: A mark on one bar reads: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co (/) NEW YORK (/) 42555, giving the serial number. A mark on a metal tag on the front of the lid of the case reads: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) CHICAGO. NEW YORK. ST. LOUIS. (/) SAN FRANCISCO. MONTREAL. (/) NO. 42555.
label: Description
content: Keuffel & Esser was offering pantographs with bars twenty-four inches, twenty-eight inches and thirty-three inches long (the models 1126, 1127 and 1128 respectively) from at least 1890. However, the cross-section of the bars was square. By its 1906 catalog, the cross-section of pantographs 1126, 1127, and 1128 was rectangular – as it is in this example. Hence this appears to be a model 1127 in the later style. Three models also was listed in the 1909 catalog. Catalogs for 1913, 1916, and 1921 list only the model 1127. None of these pantographs were listed in the 1927 or 1936 catalogs. Hence it seems likely (especially considering the high serial number) that this pantograph was made between 1910 and 1925.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: <I>Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser</I>, New York, 1890 (p. 107), 1892 (p. 107), 1906 (p. 168), 1909 (p. 154), 1913 (p. 151), 1916 (p. 151), 1921 (p. 102), 1936.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Pantographs
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content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Keuffel & Esser Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.335263
label: accession number
content: 306012
label: catalog number
content: 335263
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Pantograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: lead (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17.5 cm x 87.5 cm x 29.2 cm; 6 7/8 in x 34 7/16 in x 11 1/2 in