Compass for Fly Tying
Just ran across my old compass. I thought they were called proportional spacers, but I guess not.
It is a drafting tool. Has no pencil, just two metal sharp pointed ends.
Anyway, when I taught fly tying, I suggested the new tiers might get one to check the proportions of their flies. It is great for setting to the size of the shank, for example, and then checking wing length, tail length, etc.
Aren't they also handy for splitting feather barbules.....
not to be critical, but with a degree in mechanical design, thought I'd point out those are actually called "Dividers" the ones with a pencil on one end, are called compass. I use my old drafting tools for fly tying too they do come in handy
Mike
"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope" -John Buchan
Mike,
Weren't they used in Naval navigation back in the day? To calculate distances after setting the device to a distance on the map legend?
that could be. but I know in drafting they always referred to them as dividers. But that was over 30 years ago too.
Mike
"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope" -John Buchan
I knew they were "proportional" somethings............Looked it up. They are called "proportional dividers".
Anyway, they work well for what I used them for as they maintained the setting for comparison purposes.
Ah yes! .... that's right. that rings a bell now.
Mike
"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope" -John Buchan
I beg to differ folks. The ones shown in this post is a divider. Proportional dividers has points on both ends and a mechinisim in the center to set the proportion between the two ends of the dividers. I have both. Most drafting instrument sets do not come with proportional dividers.
Jerry
Here is a photo of a proportional divider to show what Jerry is describing.Originally Posted by fishbum
Regards,
Silver
"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy
I use this for proportions on flys;proportion tool.jpg
Last edited by sandfly; 11-19-2012 at 02:42 PM.
sandfly/bob
N.J.B.B.A. #2215
I did not escape.....they gave me a day pass!
from the outer edge of nowhere
fly tying and fishing ghillie..
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