Planimeters - Area Measuring Tool

Planimeters are excellent area measuring tools to use when you measure irregular shaped areas on plans or drawings. If you want to trace around an irregular shape, like a swimming pool, golf course green, storm water management ponds, an organ or tumor on an x-ray, planimeters are the tool of choice. You simply set your scales up, then trace around the objects perimeter, and close the loop. The planimeter will tell you the square units of area within the loop.

Many people try to avoid using a planimeter by making rectangles and triangles in their irregular shape. This only estimates the area and it is a time consuming process. But with a planimeter, you get accurate results, and done quickly. You'll be surprised at exactly how accurate a planimeter is. They are considered an excellent area measuring device.

Blueprint Hanging Clamps

Blueprint Hanging Clamps that clamp and hold blueprints, or any large document, are key to keeping sets of drawings organized and readily available for reference. Hanging Clamps have also been known to be called "Drawing Sticks", "Plan Clamps", or "Plan Sticks" by those that work in the AEC (Architectural, Engineering, Construction) Industry. Basically speaking, hanging clamps come in various sizes, which are the length of the clamp. They come in lengths of 18", 24", 30", 36", and 48" and usually they are sold in cartons of six. Meaning you buy one carton of clamps, you get six clamps. Most hanging stands (also known as blueprint racks) hold 12 clamps. This means you would buy 2 cartons which equate to 12 clamps, which 1 blueprint rack would hold. Most customers buy one blueprint rack, and two cartons of clamps.

Now, about the size of the clamps, if you have a 24"x36" drawing size or set, you would consider the 24" side of the drawings the binding or clamping side. So, you'd want to buy 24" clamps for your 24" x 36" drawings. But, many people realize that they will be hanging 24"x36" and 30"x42" drawings (both are very popular drawing sizes for construction drawings), so they buy the 30" clamps which will hold either size drawing. With the 30" , if you clamp and hang a 24"x36" drawing by its 24" side, then you have 3" of clamp overhang on each end (30 - 24 = 6") of your drawing. Hopefully this explanation makes sense. Clamps cannot be adjusted in length. You buy the hanging clamps for the size of the drawings you wish to hang.

Laser Distance Measuring Tools

Laser Distance Measuring Tools are also time-saving tools. They quick measure a room, a building, or any distance that you have a target to point them at.

The Stanley TLM100 goes to about 100 feet.

The Stanley TLM200 goes to about 100 but has greater accuracy, and offers a pythagoras feature. This feature allows you to point at one corner of a building and take a measurement, and then point at the other corner of the same building, and then press the pythagoras button and the TLM will calculate the distance between those two points. It uses the Pythagorean theorem to figure the triangular measurement between where you are standing and the two points and figured the side of the triangle which the distance you're wanting to get. A very handy feature.

The Stanley TLM300 has the same pythagoras feature as the TLM-200, but offers greater accuracy than either the TLM100 or the TLM200, and a measuring distance of about 600 feet!

Blueprint Binding Machines and Binding Equipment

Our Blueprint Binding Machines will fold blueprint binding strips for you. These are time-saving machines!

Rotary Trimmers Make Great Photo Trimmers for Christmas Gifts

Rolling Trimmers are considered the new generation of paper cutters. Designed for safety and accuracy, the cutting blades are encased in a plastic housing that virtually eliminates the chance of personal injury. The rotary action allows the blade to cut in either direction and sharpen itself as it cuts. It's this self-sharpening action that produces a clean burr-free cut and guarantees many years of smooth precise cutting. These types of trimmers make excellent photo trimmers for trimming and cutting photos on photo paper, and also photos from digital camera photo printers.

Photo Trimmers make excellent Christmas Gifts!

Light Boxes & Light Tables

Light Boxes and Light Tables are great for laying your drawings on them and making tracings. Also great for any time you want to reference two drawings against one another and compare overlays. They also work great when you have photo slides that you want to lay out and organize them prior to presentations.

Of course we have sold light boxes and light tables to engineers and architects for overlaying blueprints, surveys, and topo maps, but lately we've seen new customers and new uses. For example, we have sold Light Boxes and Light Tables to Tattoo Studios for tracing tattoo patterns, we have sold them to Photographers that use them to overlay prints and also sort slides before placing them in a slide projectors carousel. We have even sold them to fabric shops that use them to trace fabric patterns for cloth. We have customers that are always finding new uses for Lightboxes and Lighttables. If you have a new use for a light table or light box, please let us know. We're always interested in finding out new uses for them.

Heres our selection of light boxes and light tables