r/Drafting_Instruments

At one of my visits to an antique market, I came across this remarkable antique drafting instrument set. Tools like these were once used to design the buildings, bridges, maps, and engineering projects that shaped the world around us!

It contains compasses for drawing perfect circles, dividers for measuring and transferring distances, and ruling pens - precision instruments with two thin metal blades that held a tiny drop of ink, allowing perfectly even lines to be drawn with remarkable accuracy.

Today, the same result can be achieved with a click in a design program. But for generations of architects, engineers, cartographers, and navigators, there were no screens. Their desks were covered instead with sheets of paper, inkwells, and polished wooden cases filled with beautifully crafted brass and steel instruments.

What's their special feature? They have the same body as the other models. I don't get it. I've never held such an expensive pencil in my hand...Well, except for the Apple Pencil.

Well, I don’t even know how comfortable these 800 series pencils/pens are.

Just published a full documentary on the DJ Fugle Leadlok, a 2mm lead holder and sharpener system most people have never even heard of. Fugle didn't just make a lead holder — he also engineered real improvements to how lead pointers worked at a time when most drafters were stuck with messy sandpaper boards.

In the video I dig into:

• Delmar J. Fugle's patent history and how it ties the Leadlok back to around 1951
• The Fugle-Mellet Products company timeline, including how it quietly wound down after Delmar's death and was finally dissolved by the state of Florida
• The evolution of the sharpener design across multiple variants and packaging types
• A side-by-side comparison with a contemporaneous competitor sharpener built on a separate 1949–1951 patent
• Three exceptionally rare Leadlok variants at the end, including one I believe may be one of the only left-handed Fugle pencils in existence

If anyone here has ever come across a left-handed mechanical pencil or lead holder from any brand, I'd genuinely love to hear about it in the comments — drop a line.

Full video here: https://youtu.be/XayNDhbC898

I find proportional dividers fascinating and I have quite a few of them. By far the largest is this 12” pair, beside it is the 8” K&E pair. They are massive. The cool thing about the 12” pair besides the size is that it’s divided universally into 1000 divisions on one side and lines and circles on the other side. I have not seen another pair with both types of divisions. Though no small miracle this pair came in excellent condition with very sharp points.

I inherited two drafting compass sets from my great-great-grandfather. There are no visible markings on the tools, despite close inspection. I am trying to identify the manufacturer, the model, and possibly the original catalog. Weird thing, one has a number '5300' wich I guess is a serial number and the other not. And this same set does not have a compass nor a ruler, is it normal ?

I can only suggest that it's likely from a french manufacturer

I started using them around 2016. Photo from 2018 when I made the organizer stand.

But now I haven't used these pens for a long time.

Enough with all the shiny new stuff. This set is by F. Darnay & Co and most likely dates to the later interwar era (1926-1944). The set has a unique small beam compass and a bespoke coordinator head on the large bow

I hope this isn't off-topic.

I enjoyed working with high-quality tools.

German manufacturer Haff made the Rotring threaded compasses, but they also sold them under their own label as well. This is the PT version that has a Matt chrome finish instead of a glossy one. There is room for three Rotring short pencils. A nice adder on this compass over the Rotring is the universal screw so you can use a pencil or pen with the compass. These Haff branded compasses are hard to find unfortunately.

French sets of this era can be identified by the large round heads with ovoid finger wells on the bows. and solid brass screws. Later instruments had brass screws with steel inset threads and by late in the century they were substituted with all steel thumb screws. The finger wells also changed from this ovoid shape to somewhat looking more like a pointy a football.

The long rectangular space would have held a scale.

This K&E proportional divider in a cool red velvet lined clamshell case. It’s lines and circle divided for dividing lines and circles. It’s about 8” long. It is a rack and gear system for accurate setting of the divider. As with most K&E tools this divider was made by Haff and it works like a dream.

Out of Japan there are found sets that contain German made compasses with Japanese pencils and pens. In this set is the wonderful staedtler superbow compass, a small 4” compass and a divider, all German made. It has Japanese pencils tips and handles and it comes with two sets of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7mm mechanical pencil attachments for the large and small compass. I added the universal adapter. These sets are lined with foam and have slots for pencils and sometimes come with pencils. There are many variations of these Japanese staedtler sets. I always wonder if there is a catalog for them? Who put them together?

I have this nice K&E drafting set from the 1960s that I have made some modifications too. I have replaced the centre screw giant bow compass with the same vintage winged quickset compass. The set was missing the divider and for some reason the mark 1 divider is too large for the slot for the divider, so I had an older K&E hairspring divider that fit. I’ve also filed down a universal adapter so I can use pens and pencils with the compass. Perfect for modern use

Alteneder was a US manufacturer that made the finest quality tools. This example has the typical tools found in a North American set, plus the addition of a dropbow, curve pen, plus detail pen. As well it he pens and tips are of the jackknife style that open up for cleaning without changing the line weight. I have yet to figure out what is supposed to go in the fat slot.

An unknown maker for this 19th century drafting set. I loved the beam divider and the double sided need brass pen. There is also an interesting divider. Lovely work on the case and the case actually closes too!

Similar to 900 series but cheaper plastic version.
Pencils in Altro series were not side knock as 900 pencil.
I have seen Altro pencil available in pink, purple, white, orange and always in 0.7mm lead size.

Features automatic mechanism.

Usual version includes '0.7' written on them in black or white.

This one is rare without '0.7' writing, I like it so much better like this.