Object Details
- Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company
- Description
- This metal instrument consists of a circular protractor housed within an irregularly shaped blade. An 11-1/2" trapezoidal blade slides into the housing. A screw on the protractor fixes that blade in place. The protractor is divided by single degrees and marked by tens from 0° to 90° to 0° to 90° to 0°. A vernier, attached by another screw, permits angle readings to five minutes of accuracy. The protractor has a hinged case of leather over wood, lined with black satin. The case is gouged in several spots.
- Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co. introduced a "universal bevel protractor" in 1899, according to "Trade Notes," Science and Industry 4 (1899–1900): 274–275. Although there is no signature on this instrument, this protractor matches the illustrations in this article and in Brown & Sharpe catalogs at least as early as 1899 and at least as late as 1948.
- References: Kenneth L. Cope, intro., A Brown & Sharpe Catalogue Collection, 1868 to 1899 (Mendham, N.J.: The Astragal Press, 1997); Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co., Small Tools: Catalog No. 27 (Providence, R.I., 1916), 92–93; The Brown & Sharpe Handbook: A Guide for Young Machinists (Providence, R.I., 1948), 49–54, 110–112.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Ursula N. Forbes
- 1899-1949
- ID Number
- 1986.0316.03
- accession number
- 1986.0316
- catalog number
- 1986.0316.03
- Object Name
- protractor
- Physical Description
- steel (overall material)
- satin (overall material)
- leather (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 3 cm x 35 cm x 10 cm; 1 3/16 in x 13 25/32 in x 3 15/16 in
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Protractors
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Protractor
- Drafting, Engineering
- Record ID
- nmah_904416
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-4756-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
