Dividers & Trammel

Dividers

Dividers are very useful instruments employed in marking work. They are similar in construction to the calipers but their legs are not bent. Also, the free ends of the two legs are sharp points. They may have either a friction-joint or a spring arrangement, as shown in Fig. 2.7. Their principal use is in measuring distance between two point or parallel lines on flat surface, dividing a given length in a definite ratio, drawing circles and arcs and transferring dimensions from scales to objects. The spring type dividers are more accurate and are widely used. Trammel is a useful alternative to dividers, particularly in large work. Essentially it consists of two adjustable vertical legs, mounted on a common rod called beam, which can be brought closer or opened out, as desired. These vertical legs are usually provided with a slot at the top so as to mount them on the beam, and at the bottom they are shaped to have a sharp point.

Trammel

A beam compass is a compass with a beam and sliding sockets or cursors for drawing and dividing circles larger than those made by a regular pair of compasses. The instrument can be as a whole, or made on the sport with individual sockets (called trammel points) and any suitable beam.

Trammel points

Trammels or trammel points are the sockets or cursors that, together with the beam, make up a beam compass. Their relatively small size makes them easy to store or transport. They consist of two separate metal pieces (approx. 2.5” × 5” × ½) that are usually connected by a piece of wood, metal, or pipe. They work like a scratch awl.

Use

As for any compass, there are two uses.