beam compass

The circle cutter is a basic variation of the beam compass.

The beam compass is used to scribe a circle.

He developed a sophisticated beam compass to aid marking of the graduations.

A beam compass can also be used to make a series of repetitious measurements in a precise manner.

The figure at left, for example, was drawn before the advent of computers and hence required the use of a beam compass.

Another form, the beam compass, has the pivot point and pen holder joined by a bar, useful when drawing very large radius arcs.

Also shown are a large set of mathemical instruments to measure angles: sectors, a protractor and beam compass.

While beam compass use was critically dependent on the skill of the user, his machine produced more regular divisions by virtue of its design.

These beam compass techniques were used into the 19th century, as the dividing engines that followed did not scale up to the largest instruments being constructed.

Trammels or trammel points are the sockets or cursors that, together with the beam, make up a beam compass.

Prior to the availability of computers, stereographic projections with great circles often involved drawing large-radius arcs that required use of a beam compass.

Finding a beam compass today might be fairly difficult, since it is much easier to draw curves having a large radius of curvature (in two or three dimensions) with help from a computer.

A beam compass is a compass with a beam and sliding sockets or cursors for drawing and dividing circles larger than those made by a regular pair of compasses.

In the B.2, these features were incorporated into the Smiths Military Flight System (MFS), the pilots' components being: two beam compasses; two director-horizons; and a Mk.10A or Mk.10B autopilot.