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Dietzgen 932S Excello Dotting Instrument

National Museum of American History

Object Details

distributor
Eugene Dietzgen Company
Description
This 2-1/4" German silver and steel metal drawing instrument consists of a teardrop-shaped plate to which is attached a mechanism that is supposed to hold a larger serrated wheel and a smaller pattern wheel. The mechanism links the wheels to a bar that holds a pen point. When the larger wheel is rolled along the edge of a T-square or straight edge, the pen point bounces up and down to make a dotted line that formed part of an engineering drawing.
The larger wheel (5/8" diameter) is marked with one of the trademarks for the Eugene Dietzgen Co., the superimposed letters E and D inside a circle formed by the letters C and o. The six smaller wheels (9/16" diameter) also have this trademark and are numbered from 1 to 6, representing six possible dotting patterns. All the wheels are made of brass. The instrument also has the trademark and is marked: EXCELLO. The arm holding the pen point is marked: DIETZGEN (/) GERMANY. The instrument is in a rectangular wooden bar-lock case covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. The top of the case is marked: DIETZGEN (/) “EXCELLO”. The top is also marked: GERMANY.
This dotting instrument was advertised as model 932S in the 1926 Dietzgen catalog and sold for $5.15. It was part of the Excello product line, Dietzgen's second-highest level of drawing instruments. This object was used in the physics department at Kenyon College. Compare to 1987.0788.02.
Reference: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 57–59, 84.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Kenyon College Department of Physics
ca 1926
ID Number
1982.0147.01
accession number
1982.0147
catalog number
1982.0147.01
Object Name
pen, dotting
Physical Description
german silver (overall material)
brass (overall material)
wood (overall material)
leather (overall material)
fabric (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 9.9 cm x 8 cm x 1.5 cm; 3 29/32 in x 3 5/32 in x 19/32 in
place made
Germany
place distributed
United States: Illinois, Chicago
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Pens and Pencils
Science & Mathematics
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Drafting, Engineering
Drawing Instruments
Record ID
nmah_904301
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-5e2b-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • Drafting Pens and Pencils

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Dietzgen Excello Dotting Instrument in Case
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