Holtzapffel & Co. Drafting Instruments Download a hi-res version of the above image here
I collect drafting equipment, which I don’t use very much because we do most of our design in CAD. But this past week I needed to use some dividers for a series of comparisons and so I reached for my mid Victorian Holtzapffel & Co. divider set. I have owned this set for awhile, but this might have been the first time I used the dividers for real. Stylistically they are similar to eighteenth century dividers I have, but - because Holtzapffel was a premium retailer also because metalworking had advanced in the nineteenth century - these dividers feels far more solid and elegant in the hand. Unlike earlier counterparts, they have no file mark and the knobs are all knurled. They still retain all the design elements from when everything was done by hand. For comparison, look at these, also very elegant tools, from the late eighteenth century.
The pictures in this blog are in medium resolution. If you like the pictures, feel free to click on the links to download pretty high res versions (for up to about a 14" printed picture) for your own personal use. The pictures also might make a nice screen saver or the like.
Response to these images has been great! If you have the urge for a larger print of any of the pictures in the photo blog series, the source material I have can be used to print even larger images - up to 36" - than the free download file size. Click here for available prints. Large prints of tools might go really well in an office or business settings. I certainly would find tools are more interesting to look at than yet another picture of a the New York skyline (not that it isn't lovely).
Join the conversation
12/11/2022 Stuart
I have had two drafting sets for many many years. I also never use them. They come from the architect, William Van Allen, who designed the Chrysler building in NYC. He was a tenant in a building owned by my grandfathers. While I like to think he used them when drafting the plans, I have no knowledge as to what he actually used them for. One is labeled Eugene Dietzgen, Co. of Chicago and New York. I don’t know where the other set comes from.
Joel's Blog
Built-It Blog
Video Roundup
Classes & Events
Work Magazine