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Depending on the size of the circle those simple brass ones that hold a regular pencil and tighten with a wing nut are the sturdiest.  They have the fewest moving/loose parts and are not plastic.  You might have to make sure you have the right size wooden pencils.  I seem to remember that golf pencils were too small in diameter.

All of the professional drafting models have small parts that get loose and go missing pretty quick.  For larger circles over 6" diameter there are beam compasses that also just hold a pencil.  I started as a draftsman 35 years ago so I know these tools well.  And now that most drafting is done on computers there are even fewer hand tools to choose from.

Erich Rose

Erich Rose Design
807 The Living End
Austin, TX 78746
512-626-9930; [log in to unmask]

On Jul 30, 2010, at 8:20 AM, Daniels, Alissa wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> this is an odd one, but does anyone have a source for decent, sturdy compasses (the drawing/drafting kind, not the directional kind). We do a program that uses them every summer, and they are destroyed by the end of it. Someone out there must make a halfway decent one for a somewhat reasonable amount..?
> 
> 
> thanks all,
> AD

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