Triangular Chain Scale
date: label: date made
content: early 20th century
notes: label: Description
content: This 12-inch triangular boxwood rule has indentations along each side. One side has scales divided to 1/10" (numbered by ones from 0 to 12) and 1/40" (numbered by twos from 0 to 48). This side is marked: U. S. ST'D. The second side has scales divided to 1/60" (numbered by twos from 0 to 72) and 1/30" (numbered by twos from 0 to 36). The third side has scales divided to 1/50" (numbered by twos from 0 to 60) and 1/20" (numbered by twos from 0 to 24). Initials are carved in one end of the rule: HW.
label: Description
content: Unlike, for instance, 1981.0933.10, the numbers are engraved inside the indentations. W. & L. E. Gurley and the Eugene Dietzgen Company sold similar scales in the early 20th century for about one dollar.
label: Description
content: William J. Ellenberger (1908–2008), who donated this object, studied electrical and mechanical engineering at The George Washington University between 1925 and 1934. He then worked for the Potomac Electric Power Company and the National Bureau of Standards. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He was a civilian construction management engineer for the army from 1954 to 1968, when he became a private consultant.
label: Description
content: References: <i>Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co.</i>, 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 160; W. & L. E. Gurley, <i>A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying</i>, 46th ed. (Troy, N.Y., 1912), 405; <i>Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co.</i>, 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 168; "The GW Engineering Hall of Fame 2006 Inductees," http://www.weas.gwu.edu/ifaf/hall_of_fame_inductees_2006.php.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Drafting, Engineering
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Scale Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of William J. Ellenberger
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.0933.11
label: catalog number
content: 1981.0933.11
label: accession number
content: 1981.0933
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scale, triangular
label: Object Name
content: scale rule, triangular
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: boxwood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 cm x 32 cm x 2 cm; 25/32 in x 12 19/32 in x 25/32 in