A few trammels and beam compasses

[royce]

Whoops, pics did not show

I saw on another thread, a bunch of trammels.
I thought I would post a few other styles here.

Royce

 

[Mintgrun]

Very nice collection. Thank you for sharing those photos.
I have three of those styles and am very fond of them.
I guess I don't need to run up and snap photos : )
Tom

 

[pancho400cid]

Very useful measuring tool..... it's funny you see them so rarely.

 

[paulm12]

Thanks Royce for posting.

Hmm. I wonder if I have passed over the ones that attach to the wooden rulers in the past. Now I have another item to look for at the old garage sales.

 

[royce]

Very nice collection. Thank you for sharing those photos.
I have three of those styles and am very fond of them.
I guess I don't need to run up and snap photos : )
Tom

Thanks Tom,
I'd like to see pics of yours.
Royce

 

[royce]

Very useful measuring tool..... it's funny you see them so rarely.

Very few things I seem to build that I don't use a trammel on, either to swing a arc or transfer dimensions or at the very least, draw a square corner on the floor to start the layout of a project.
Royce

 

[royce]

Thanks Royce for posting.

Hmm. I wonder if I have passed over the ones that attach to the wooden rulers in the past. Now I have another item to look for at the old garage sales.

I seem to reach for those first, they have multiple holders for points, carpenter pencil, soapstone or regular pencil.
The sectional aluminum beam one, has a razor, which is handy for a fine line on wood or for cutting gaskets.
Thanks
Royce

 

[Mintgrun]

Royce, here are some photos of the few that I have.

This Precision set was made in Germany. I purchased it on eBay several years ago and polished one piece, but stopped there : /
Tom

 

[jimreed2160]

Trammels? Yes, I do have a few sets.

If you want to see some in action, I invite you to visit the Woodworking 101 thread over in General Tool Discussion. There are quite a few postings on trammels and their use in woodworking. The thread is very active and full of project pictures and woodworking lore.

 

[Mintgrun]

I just scrolled through all 23 pages of that thread and your post on page 19 was the only one I saw with photos of trammels. (I merely scanned photos) It was worth the 'work' to see what you offered. Here is a link to that page

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344153&page=19

 

[royce]

Excellent Mintgrun

jimreed, a few? Wow, that's a gob

Thanks

Royce

 

[royce]

Right angle layout with a trammel

While a square corner can achieved with 3-4-5 or the square root of 2, I find doing it with a trammel easier.

First layout a baseline.

Set the trammel at whatever radius suits the job, A-B, swing a short arc across baseline both ways from A to B

Now set the trammel about 1/3 longer than the A-B radius.
Swing the short arc B-C from both ends.

Now, draw a line from A to C

Presto, square corner, guarantied.

I probably did a poor job of explaining this and is elementary for some,but maybe some can use it.

I'll try to show a square inscribed in a circle tomorrow.

Royce

 

[Mintgrun]

A similar approach can also bisect any angle.

I often find it useful to divide a circle into sixths, for hole layout on 'round things'.
Walk the trammel around the circle, set at the radius, and it will get you there.

I am eager to see the circle around a square.
Tom

 

[royce]

A similar approach can also bisect any angle.

I often find it useful to divide a circle into sixths, for hole layout on 'round things'.
Walk the trammel around the circle, set at the radius, and it will get you there.

I am eager to see the circle around a square.
Tom

Good point mintgrun, with a hexagon the radius is equal to the length of sides.

Royce

 

[royce]

Square inscribed in a circle

So, to lay out the square, take the B-C radius and swing the intersecting arcs opposite of the first ones.

Then, draw a line from A to C

Now, scribe the A-B radius all the way around to form the circle.

Then, draw the lines where the perpendicular lines cross the circle.

In the second pic only half of the square is shown.

Presto, square inscribed in a circle.

Next up, octagon inscribed in a circle.

Royce

 

[royce]

Octagon inscribed in a circle

This is done similar to doing a square.

Set the trammel to a little bigger than 1/2 the distance between B-C and swing a short arc from B-D and C-D

Everything else is the same as doing a square.

If this is not clear, I can explain more.

The left side of the pic shows it.

Next up, triangle inscribed in a circle.

Royce

 

[drivesitfar]

Royce: thank you for trying to teach us how to use a Trammel. i only knew they existed a few days before you started this thread when Jim posted his collection on the Woodworking 101 thread.

i'll keep trying to understand what you are teaching us and first of all i have to see if i own a pair of Trammels or i'll have to find or buy some.

hope you were able to get your addition framed in before the bad weather hit.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 

[HenryAZ]

Octagon inscribed in a circle.
Construct a line perpendicular to a line, using compass or trammels (an X-Y axis). Also using trammels or compass, bisect each 90 degree angle. Strike your desired circle and then connect the 8 points where they intersect the circle.

 

[Mintgrun]

The pentagon is a tricky one!
I found how-to-do-it on a puzzles page, but did not read the answer... yet.
I would like to think I'd figure it out, but have not put the effort in.

 

[royce]

The pentagon is a tricky one!
I found how-to-do-it on a puzzles page, but did not read the answer... yet.
I would like to think I'd figure it out, but have not put the effort in.

Mintgrun,
I've not laid out a pentagon, so I googled it and there seems to be quite a few steps.
But a man could cheat and step it off a few times and get it!

Royce

 

[royce]

Triangle inscribed in a circle

For a triangle, lay out baseline and perpendicular line.
Set trammel for radius A-B and scribe circle.
Leave radius adjusted to A-B radius and swing short arc from B-C both ways. Then connect a line from C to C.
Finally connect lines C-D both ways

Royce

 

[royce]

Hexagon inscribed in a circle

As Mintgrun pointed out in a earlier post, the radius on a hex is the same as the length of sides.
So it is simple to swing a short arc from the base line both ways and connect the dots.
Royce

 

[Provincial]

Royce, it's a wonder that the witches can draw pentagrams so well without tooling!

 

[2oolhound]

Royce, it's a wonder that the witches can draw pentagrams so well without tooling!

Why do you think they carry broomsticks?

Great thread!

 

[royce]

Royce, it's a wonder that the witches can draw pentagrams so well without tooling!

Provincial,
They are a tricky lot!
Royce

 

[royce]

Why do you think they carry broomsticks?

Great thread!

2ool,
There has to be a punch line there somewhere?

Some of the beauty of trammels is you don't have a lot of math or constants to remember.

With that said, another way to layout a pentagon is with a little triangulation and trigonometry.

A pentagon is 360 degrees divided by 5, that equals 72 degrees.
Split that and you have 36 degrees.
In this example let us use a 6" radius
To get the length of the side opposite, take the sine of 36 x 6"
Multiply that x 2 to get the length of side of the pentagon.
Royce

 

[royce]

Trammel of archimedes

This is a fun one I cobbed together for drawing ellipses
Royce

 

[Mintgrun]

That is a fun one!
And some mighty clean cobbling you did there : )

 

[2oolhound]

2ool,
There has to be a punch line there somewhere?

Royce

I was suggesting witches would use their broomsticks for the beam. Kinda out there, I know.

 

[royce]

I was suggesting witches would use their broomsticks for the beam. Kinda out there, I know.

Got it now 2ool,
I'm a little slow on the take!

Here is a wild one, made by lufkin, for laying out round fittings.