Thursday, January 22, 2015

Vanished Tool Brands: Hercules plumb bob





A lovely knurled brass tool with a steel point.  You might want to know that the knurled knob on the end unthreads to allow the string to be knotted inside.  (That's four words starting with "kn" in one sentence!  Plumb amazing!)

Also, it's ironic that most plumb bobs are made of brass, since "plumb" derives from the Latin for lead.

1 comment:

  1. Notwithstanding the exquisite manufacture of the subject plumb bob, it has long pleased me to consider that the most ancient of the ancients could have fabricated a plumb bob of useful precision from native materials.

    The plumb bob must be as old as fire.

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