Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I have the weems & Platt compasses plus the traditional brass ones with steel tips. I prefer those & use them a lot so they sit on the chart table all the time.
Plotting on paper charts
- Thread starter Refueler
- Start date
RunAgroundHard
Well-Known Member
I got rid of the stupid single handed dividers a long time ago. I only used straight leg dividers which can also be used single sanded. They offer a wider gap than the so called single handed dividers.
rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
weems & Platt compasses are proper draughtsmens compasses and dividers
Mine are Staedtler and are over 60 years old by now
I have 2 different sizes and a trammel attachment for the bigger set
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I would suggest that the popularity of the ones with the bow in them shows that they are far preferred by users. I certainly like mine & have 3----2 on board & one at home in my workshop for non navigational uses
I have 2 sizes. On the boat the 8 inch ( I think that is what they are) ones are perfect. Having a Yeoman I can always use the puk to obtain long distances & bearings on any chart that is already set up. I find that facility far easier than on a chart plotter, as it still maintains the chart detail.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I use both single handed and standard dividers ... which do I prefer ? Straight actually ...
What some don't realise is that if the single handed are not wide enough when used by 'squeezing' the 'bow' ... then open out the other way !
What some don't realise is that if the single handed are not wide enough when used by 'squeezing' the 'bow' ... then open out the other way !
Refueler
Well-Known Member
OK .. here's my set ... obviously the parallel rules are too long for yacht use !! And I cannot find my other 'triangle' ..
I have a Douglas somewhere - but I think some one 'nicked it' ... it was my Fathers from RAF days and had RAF motif etc.
I have a Douglas somewhere - but I think some one 'nicked it' ... it was my Fathers from RAF days and had RAF motif etc.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
I never got on with Breton plotters, though I did use my wife’s once to align a clock and barometer when fitting them. I can’t get the round bit to turn properly with cold wet fingers. For many years I used Captain Fields parallel rules quite happily. At a boat show I saw a ruler that is attached to the boat by two reeled tapes that are lightly sprung. This is very easy to use, even single-handed, and gave me great satisfaction for several pre-plotter years. The ruler has a protractor marked on it, making bearings very quick to measure.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
If I could find a set of Parallel rulers of 300mm or less - not those 'GPS double pivot' versions ... I would buy ... but shortest I can find are 450mm ... too long.
NormanS
Well-Known Member
I could go back if I wanted to, but mostly I use a Plotter. I've also moved on from steam engines and smoke signals. 
rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
I have a Herbel drawing board with a bevel protractor like I have on my fill size drafting machine
Weather A3 is big enough I don't know but it does over cone the issues of slippage with parallel rules and squares sliding against one another
4
Weather A3 is big enough I don't know but it does over cone the issues of slippage with parallel rules and squares sliding against one another
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I have a Herbel drawing board with a bevel protractor like I have on my fill size drafting machine
Weather A3 is big enough I don't know but it does over cone the issues of slippage with parallel rules and squares sliding against one another
4
I've been googling trying to find a drawing board setup that I can repurpose the lever arm from ... but no luck yet
rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
I got my A3 drawing board some time ago nd I have look around the world.
Local we have an Amazon like calles takealot and they advertise this one
https://www.takealot.com/draughtsma...VAYKDBx1BFw4tEAQYASABEgKWC_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I also found rOtring from Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rotring-213910-Rapid-Drawing-Board/dp/B000J6ESTO?th=1
I also use a adjustable set square like this.
Knowing you have 3D printing it would possible to 3D print a guide with a vertical rule running in the guid to operate like a movable tee that would also work like a tee square the can be adjusted the the navigating baring line the moved to transfer the bearing as a parallel rule would do
The sliding rule on a guided rail could also do the job and you cam make the the length you wish
doug748
Well-Known Member
I recall this book had instructions for making a parallel action device for transferring angles:
Small Cruiser Navigation,R.M. Tetley 9780715385203 | eBay
I think it was a bit like a thing called a Reefer Rule which was available commercially. It used a taped rule, articulated from the top left corner of the board.
.
rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
Reefer Rule Interesting device
johnalison
Well-Known Member
That's the one. I couldn't remember the name since it's on the boat. The small knurled knob locks its rotation.
Reefer Rule Interesting device
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
I have parallel rulers, dividers and various types of plotter cluttering up the boat and my home, but aboard mainly use the plotter type (Breton? I can't remember) as per the John Goode/Sailing Today example Alicatt posted. I had (and may still have somewhere) a John Goode/Sailing Today version, and it may well be that it was that freebie(?) that got me into that type in the first place, and later bought at least one other example of the type. I find it the easiest and handiest on a small boat (I've never had a chart table). It is much less used since I got an electronic chart plotter.
I've mentioned before, though, that prior to that when small boat navigating in the cockpit I often used the ship's fly-swat, placed on the compass rose and then slid by eye across the folded chart in a plastic chart holder on my knees. (My advice is have the chart holder tethered to the boat by a cord to avoid it getting blown overboard - never quite happened, but . . .)
In place of dividers, I tended to use a pair of compasses (i.e. with a pencil thread on one leg) borrowed from my home draughting kit. (I worked briefly as a draughtsman and later did architectural/planning projects for a course.) I found them easier to control and the ability to make a pencil mark an advantage.
I have one of those (though can't recall ever using it for navigation), but an ex used it as a straight edge for making knife cuts against, with the result it doesn't now have straight edges.
I've mentioned before, though, that prior to that when small boat navigating in the cockpit I often used the ship's fly-swat, placed on the compass rose and then slid by eye across the folded chart in a plastic chart holder on my knees. (My advice is have the chart holder tethered to the boat by a cord to avoid it getting blown overboard - never quite happened, but . . .)
In place of dividers, I tended to use a pair of compasses (i.e. with a pencil thread on one leg) borrowed from my home draughting kit. (I worked briefly as a draughtsman and later did architectural/planning projects for a course.) I found them easier to control and the ability to make a pencil mark an advantage.
I also use a adjustable set square like this.
I have one of those (though can't recall ever using it for navigation), but an ex used it as a straight edge for making knife cuts against, with the result it doesn't now have straight edges.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
On the 25 ... I have one of those swivel cockpit tables ... so when installing the mount plate - made it so it swivels to the port side up to fwd bulkhead ... I have a chart holder that is a stiff back with clear plastic sheet on top ... lift clear plastic - place chart in ...
Here's myself deciding next stop in Swedish Archipelago !!
Here's myself deciding next stop in Swedish Archipelago !!
Spanjaard
Well-Known Member
I use 2 triangles and parallel ruler.
Mechanical pencils with colour leads black, red and blue.
And a pair of drawing compasses. I only use dividers to measure distances.
I do not understand why no one I have met in England would use drawing compass to mark their position with 2 moves.
No....Mark on the chart Latitude & Longitude,.. get dividers and rules or plotter... extend position, trace lines ...
With drawing compass no need for all that fuss. Done in 2 moves..
Mechanical pencils with colour leads black, red and blue.
And a pair of drawing compasses. I only use dividers to measure distances.
I do not understand why no one I have met in England would use drawing compass to mark their position with 2 moves.
No....Mark on the chart Latitude & Longitude,.. get dividers and rules or plotter... extend position, trace lines ...
With drawing compass no need for all that fuss. Done in 2 moves..
Halo
Well-Known Member
Douglas protractor. Simple,no moving parts. Bought it in 1983 and good as new.
I have one of those new fangled things for visitors but never use it.
I have one of those new fangled things for visitors but never use it.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
I would use whatever was to hand. All you REALLY need is a ruler; ideally a parallel one (but I appreciate the comments about using them on an unstable platform). In the worst case, it's not that hard to do a "good enough for government work" job by eye and using joints of fingers, etc. to transfer distances. Dividers make that more accurate. When I was having to plot positions manually on maps, I found ten point dividers very useful, but the maps didn't have a conveniently divided scale at the margin, and the projection was a conical one, so latitude and longitude lines weren't a rectangular grid.