I recall an article in on old issue of Model Railroader (1960’s or early seventies) on building a 3-dimensional pantograph to use for making patterns. I believe it was by Traub. He also had an article on a riviting jig, I think.
Does anyone know what issue it was? Or maybe I’m just imagining.
Thanks, Phil
I used to have the one on the rivoting jig but not anymore. Your not imagining that.
Actually a pantograph is not used to make a pattern, it is used to trace a pattern to either cut a die or to make a part. The pantograph allows a large pattern to be used and reduced to make the part the size that is needed.
Actually I have a pantograph. I bought it (years ago, mind you) at an art supply store. According to the sticker I paid 8.95 for it.
It is made by Lutz Superdyne, Inc at a then address of 64 70th St. POBox 15 Guttenberg, NJ 07093 with a phone of (201) 868-4000 or (212) 564-7524. They seem to be purveyors of Equipment and Materials for ArtDraftingMeasuring*Surveying since 1872. The pantograph is for enlarging and reducing drawings. It has 25 ratios- proportioned 1 1/8 to 8. It is wood model #692.
I’d take a pic of it and post it if I could.
decription: 4 equal lengths of wood in a scissors pattern like the wooden wall hat hangers. Each is marked with holes and numerical representations at different intervals, depending what sizes you are dealing with and two screw hooks get moved into the different holes.There is a tracing point and a pencil point to reproduce what the tracing point is tracing.
Now it is a 3 dimentional item itself, in that it stands on top of the drawings. It only does flat things. So, I was a bit confused about the 3-dim part you mention. There are such things that can copy say a standing miniature tree, and reproduce in some medium (such as clay) . If you are looking for something like that, this item is not it.
hope this helps.
You can still buy pantagraphs at Art Supply Stores; I didn’t pay any attention to who made the ones I was looking at just a few weeks back but they sure as heck ain’t eight dollars and ninety-five cents anymore. Today they start at somewhere around forty bucks, I believe, and run to considerably more than a hundred. I have glanced at these before and my perception is that they went up five to ten dollars not too awfully long back. Nevertheless, there is one of these not too awfully far into my future.
One observation of note: the more precise the reduction one needs the more money one is likely to have to pay. Unfortunately, my use is going to require a few big bucks outlay.