While doing some clean-up on the US Mine Corp property a few weeks ago, we came across a vintage pantograph manufactured by Charles Bruning Company in a custom-made wooden case. US Mine Corp decided that who better to donate this piece of historical machinery to than the Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek, CA on October 25, 2024.
The Knight Foundry of Sutter Creek is America’s last water-powered foundry and machine shop. Established in 1873 by Samuel Knight, this facility includes unique historic equipment and machinery still in place in its original context. Is it a nationally recognized National Historic Engineering Landmark and a California Registered Historical Landmark. 1
A pantograph is a mechanical device that allows you to copy a drawing (such as a design or a map) and either enlarging or reducing it in scale by precisely replicating the movements of a tracing point onto a drawing surface. The specific one donated to the Knight Foundry is marked Model number No. 2692. It is unclear exactly how old it is, however; some research showed that model Number 2710 was manufactured between 1948 to 1959.2
The Charles Bruning Company was founded in 1897 in Manhattan, New York and started by making blueprints. A year later, they moved to Chicago and more branches of the company were opened throughout the country. They later diversified into making drafting supplies and copy machinery for printing operations.3
- https://knightfoundry.com/
- https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_694135
- http://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/298/charles-bruning-company
Recent Comments