Antique Construction Survey Tools

In the field of antique surveying, the idea of antique construction survey tools is highly considered. Some antique construction survey tools are there to aid every surveyor in the surveying process. However, before knowing the antique construction survey tools that are often used by some antique surveyors, it is necessary to know some of the fundamental compositions and finish of the survey tools.

Some of the antique construction survey tools are actually made of wood, aluminum, or brass, despite the fact that you will find whole instruments or tool parts that are made of steel, ebony, iron, ivory, plastic, and celluloid. It is also interesting and necessary to know that many of the antique construction survey tools were “needle” instruments that are magnetic. It was basically their magnetic property that fails to locate north properly especially if there were local sources of interference, like iron. It is perhaps with this reason that the General Land Office of the United States had issued instructions that require the brass Gunter chains to be applied in close proximity to the magnetic needle.

As time has passed and as the early technology evolved, the early finish of the antique construction survey tools has changed. In fact, it was noted that the early wooden antique construction survey tools were generally unfinished and were typically made of tight grained woods which generally resisted water well. Even after the 1900, the bright brass finishes of some antique construction survey tools were usually not original finishes.

As noted in some introductions for antique construction survey tools, there are basically three kinds of antique construction survey tools that are rather distinct and uncommon to the North American antique surveying. It includes the compass, the chain and the transit. In particular, the names that appear as among the commonly used antique construction survey tools are the Abney hand level, which measures the vertical angles; astronomic transits to measure the vertical angles of heavenly bodies for determining the geographical position; and the aneroid barometer that measures the elevation and is commonly used to identity the vertical distance.

Other antique construction survey tools that are commonly used for antique surveying include the altaazimuth instrument that measures the horizontal and vertical angles for position fixing and there is the heliograph, which is a signaling device employed in triangulation surveys. A lot of antique construction survey tools are actually there and those above mentioned instruments are just among the many.