I have this old divider, I use it quite often, on one side it says circles and it divide the circumference of a circle in a given number of equal parts.
On the other side it says lines and it divide a line in a given number of equal parts.
But here is the question:
On the 2 remaining legs it says planes and solids.
Anybody knows what that means ?
C.
Replies
That's a proportional divider. You can lay out circles with the ends that are farther from the pivot or use it for taking dimensions from a drawing or photo and creating a drawing from it by increasing or decreasing the relative sizes of the parts by sliding the nut at the pivot to different points. You can also reverse the process by taking actual dimensions and reducing them to make a drawing with 1/x scale, depending on the size.
Please go back and read my question again.
I know what that is, thank you.
I know how to divide circles and lines with it BUT THIS INSTRUMENT GIVES ME THE POSSIBILITY TO DIVIDE "PLANES" AND "SOLIDS" AS WELL. That is what I am puzzled about.Thanks,C.
Edited 1/12/2007 7:39 am ET by citrouille
Sorry, it was late.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
i didn't know those things about the divider and it's good to learn that.
I have a pair just like yours, unfortunatly I don't have the option of planes and solids. My other side is blank.
I don't have a divider with a planes and solids scale, so I go by a table. If you want to make a line 1/2 the lenght of another, you set the divider scale to .667. If you want a planer object (rectangle) to have 1/2 the area of another, you set your scale to .828 and transfer the dimensions. If you want a solid with 1/2 the volume of another, set the scale to .885. Do you have a special scale on one side that makes this easier? I have never actually used a divider in this fashion for any sort of woodworking.
Toulumne,I just used this divider for lines and circles, I don't think I will ever need it for planes and solids but having something and not knowing what it was for was nagging me.
Now thanks to you, I am at rest. I will experiment, who knows, maybe one day this knowledge will come handy.Thanks,C.
Please allow for an error in memory (I'm going back about 45 years), but I think you can find an explanation in French's book Engineering Drawing. It was the standard text when I was in high school. I think of your tool, correctly called proportional dividers above, as a drawing tool.
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