Vintage Dietzgen Germany Bow Compass Pen Drafting Instrument Drop Spring Bow For Sale

Vintage Dietzgen drafting compass, marked DIETZGEN GERMANY on the large knurled wheel. That mark is shown close up in the photos.

Eugene Dietzgen Co. was one of the major American drafting houses, and its German-made instruments are the ones collectors look for. This is a better-grade piece rather than a student tool, and two details in the photos show why:

MICROMETER FINE ADJUSTMENT. A threaded rod with its own knurled wheel runs along the leg, so the radius can be dialed in precisely instead of being set by hand pressure alone.

INTERCHANGEABLE HEAD. The drawing head is a removable insert seated in a socket and held by a set screw, not a fixed blade. The pen nib is installed and shown in the photos. Nothing else came with it.

The other leg carries a fine needle point, and both heads are held by knurled clamp screws.

There is also a small stamped mark, a letter inside a rectangle, on the square block. I have not been able to match it to a catalog number, and I could not find a model number anywhere on the instrument, so I am not going to invent one. Please judge from the photos.

WHAT SHIPS: this one instrument only, with the pen head that is on it. No case, no box, and no spare pen or pencil head.

CONDITION: used vintage. Tarnish, spotting and light surface rust on the steel and nickel, with dark staining along one arm. The adjusting screws turn and the joint moves. The point has not been sharpened or straightened, and the instrument has not been inked or tested. Sold as-is as a working or collectible instrument, not as a restored or calibrated tool.

Please study the photos and buy on what you see there. They are the definitive description of exactly what ships.

This came out of a larger estate drafting lot and my other listings cover the remaining pieces from that same group. Ships securely packed with tracking.