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Thread: dividers recommendation?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Posts
    350
    The lee valley dividers from France are actually very good for the price at around $25. I would recommend those over the $10 or $15 dividers (new) - they will last you forever and serve you well. Now if you really want to trade in your first born son, you can get crucible dividers, over $100. In my opinion way over the top and unnecessary.

    On ebay you will often find vintage dividers for very cheap, but they usually come as a lot with other small tools. Nothing wrong with those either.

  2. #17
    Just bought an 8" set of PS&W for a dollar at our local construction junction.It is not unusual for me to have three or four sets on my bench with different measurements saved during a project. Anywhere that might have old stuff is a good place to find a set. I always look closely at a pile of pliers.

  3. #18
    Thanks for all the ideas. I'm esp going to look into the Ledins. Problem with the internet is that if you google dividers, you'll get WAY too much choice and ZERO guidance. Thank you folks for the guidance part of the component!

  4. #19
    Harbor Freight sells perfectly serviceable dividers in two sizes. I bought those as well at one time and filed and sanded them to my liking . I can't possibly understand why, (other than ego) you need to spend big bucks on dividers. I do have( bought them new) the two sizes of Starrett dividers that go for $75 bucks or so a set so I can say with absolute certainty they ain't that special.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,047
    Most of mine came from the usual rust hunt haunts. Garage sales, flea markets, antiques shops, etc. can usually be counted on, especially in areas with lots of manufacturing. For real precise work I have the ones I used as a draftsman when I was a pup. The lifers in the drafting shops called them "picks" and we used them quite a bit for transferring geometry from one drawing view to another.
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  6. #21
    While you are looking for dividers, keeping an eye out for a trammel and/or a set of trammel points wouldn't hurt. A trammel is basically divider points on a metal beam for wider arcs, say 8" - 18" or so, and trammel points get mounted on a piece of wood for larger arcs. I have mine on a 4 foot piece of hard maple.

  7. #22
    Small clarifier, "trammel " is the board with slots cut into it for ellipse drawing. And ,if I remember right, "trammel " in
    also used for other devices that limit and guide movement.

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Seemann View Post
    While you are looking for dividers, keeping an eye out for a trammel and/or a set of trammel points wouldn't hurt. A trammel is basically divider points on a metal beam for wider arcs, say 8" - 18" or so, and trammel points get mounted on a piece of wood for larger arcs. I have mine on a 4 foot piece of hard maple.
    Trammel points are a good suggestion for drawing very large arcs. The ones in the picture I inherited from my dad - they probably go back to the 1930's - they're marked Starrett 50-B. I have a wooden beam that I mount them on when I want to use them.

    Mike

    Starrett-Trammel-points.jpg
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Lubbock, Tx
    Posts
    1,490
    Harry Epstein has several options including a 6” for $11. Can’t speak to their quality personally but they generally sell quality items.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    For laying out dovetails dividers from a drafting set are fine. If one wants to lay out larger joinery or use dividers at their lathe for laying out the machinist style of divider is a sturdier choice.

    For larger joinery an old machinist style works fine:

    Setting Dividers to Mark Joint.jpg

    The '2X4s' used on this project were ripped out of larger material. Each joint was slightly different in sizing.

    It is convenient to have multiple dividers for different layout points:

    Laying Out Notch Placement.jpg

    Here the distance of the leg to the end of the 'horse' was calculated using the angle to height. The distance was set to slightly more on the dividers. This keeps the legs from being past the end of the 'horse'.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Sebastopol, California
    Posts
    2,319
    Let's remember, Clarke has signaled that he's on a budget. While a set of trammel points can be lovely, handy things (at least I tell myself that, as an owner of three sets), Clarke may be able to get by for a while with a stick in which he's driven a nail for the pivot point and a hole for a pencil for the other end.

    "Trammel," as a verb, refers to restraint and limit, although, in American English, it seems mainly limited these days to appearances in the word "untrammeled," which, of course, means "unrestrained."

    And, returning to the original subject, the dividers that got me by for years are from a New York company called "Wm. Johnson," hardly a major name in the tool trade. They're marked as eight inch dividers, but the actual measurement is around 7-3/4", close enough to 200mm that I suspect they were made in Europe.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Dickinson, Texas
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    7,655
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    Check this link

    https://www.google.com/search?ei=199...71.fg-sgvr3Hf0

    You will not go wrong.

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