Gammon reels are for suckers. All they do is get stuck in the truck door, at least that's what my first party chief told me after about the 2nd reel in a month. Since then I've just wrapped the line around the top. Of course this is the same guy that taught me hand signals because I could not understand his mumbling on the radio. I still look back at all of the stuff he taught me. For all of his gruffness, he made me the field surveyor I am today. Here's to Norm.
foggyidea, post: 363807, member: 155 wrote: I guess that Claudine did something in 2000, but it wasn't inventing the reel, I've used it since the early 80's. I stand corrected!
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Surveyor reel housingPatent number: D446733
Type: Grant
Filed: November 8, 2000
Date of Patent: August 21, 2001
Assignee: Gammon Reel, Inc.
Inventor: Claudine Gammon
Looks like Norman P. Gammon was issued a patent in 1965. This seems to be the original one--
Norman and Phillip were issued another patent in 1987 for an improved reel that would hold more than 8 ft. of string.
Claudine's patent number has a "D" in front of it, indicating a design patent. It covers the appearance of an article rather than how it works. The object shown in the patent drawings doesn't look like a Gammon reel. It seems to be a sort of snap-on case into which a Gammon reel would fit. Can't tell what it's for.
Here's a description of a plumb bob from another patent that I happened across. Perhaps this will resolve any lingering doubts on that subject--
"A plumb bob is basically comprised of an elongated, frusto-conically shaped, weighted member attached to one end of a flexible line (i.e., string)."
Gravitational Nadar Seeking Device...
Here is a nice one I saw in the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. They use it to measure the tilt of the building periodically.
I lost my two original 16 ounce Leitz plumbobs with gammon reels years ago. I was carrying, and a branch or vine plucked them out of my sheath on my tool belt. I had a third one for a few years and managed not to lose it, even though I lost several gammon reels after the string wore out. When I finally lost my last plumbob, I got on eBay and bought three more. One is an old Dietzgen, and it was listed as an "antique!" Oh, well it is on the dash of my truck. When I need it, I am out in the field and wish I had it on me. When I have it on me, I wish it was on the dash of my truck! I am just trying to lose some of the pounds of weight on my tool belt. I wish I could lose some pounds off my gut........
Have ya'll ever seen the one in the Smithsonian in Washington?
It swings with the wobble of the earth's rotational axis.
Harold, post: 364194, member: 4544 wrote: Have ya'll ever seen the one in the Smithsonian in Washington?
It swings with the wobble of the earth's rotational axis.
I saw it when I was kid in the sixties. Sadly, the Foucault pendulum which was displayed for many years in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History was removed in late 1998.
