These days with total stations, theodolites and drone surveying, you might think that the surveyor compass is an instrument of the past. However, this handy, lightweight instrument can be a great item to take into the field. Let’s take a quick look at this compass and its historical usage.

 

Surveying Compasses: A Look Back In Time

The surveyor compass allows the user to measure horizontal angles, which is an essential measurement for anyone tasked with land surveying. After all, before you can build any structure, you must identify the elevation of a specific plot of land.

 

These compasses provide angle measurement with respect to magnetic north as opposed to true north. True north is a fixed point where lines of longitude converge, while the location of magnetic north can change a bit over time. In fact, all compasses use magnetic north, but you can make adjustments to compensate for this issue, which is known as magnetic declination.

 

The surveyor compass, which originally was called a circumferentor, was developed in the 1600s either in Ireland or the United Kingdom and was the most popular surveyor’s instrument until the development of the theodolite. In the United States, the surveyor’s compass still was the preferred surveying tool for many years after the development of the theodolite simply because our rugged wilderness made lugging along a heavy theodolite less than ideal.

 

It’s common knowledge that before serving as General Washington and later President Washington, George Washington spent many years working as a surveyor. In fact, according to MountVernon.org, he surveyed more than 60,000 acres throughout Virginia, including completing the land survey for his farm Mount Vernon.

 

Washington’s surveying tools included a surveying compass that he would mount either on a Jacob staff or a tripod as well as surveying chains. Using these simple instruments, he completed more than 200 surveying jobs.

 

Thomas Jefferson also was a notable surveyor, and among his many wonderful pieces of surveying equipment, Jefferson possessed a surveyor’s compass and used this instrument as one of his main surveying tools for many years. Eventually, he purchased a theodolite from famed theodolite maker Jesse Ramsden, but this smaller surveying compass still might have been used often as the theodolite is bulky and not as easy to tote out into the field as a compass.

 

Types of Land Surveying

Land surveying is crucial for many purposes, from construction tasks to mapping and much more. Here’s a quick look at just a few of the many types of surveying.

 

Boundary Survey

Determining the boundary lines on a piece of land has always been important. Surveyors who complete these tasks sometimes are even asked to testify in court cases regarding boundary disputes. Knowing the boundary of a land parcel ensures that the owners of that parcel don’t infringe on the property rights of adjacent landowners.

 

Construction Survey

Before anyone begins construction of buildings, homes, roads, bridges or just about any type of structure, a thorough construction survey must be completed. Whether you are starting with a blank plot of land or adding on to an existing structure or making improvements to an existing structure, surveying the area is crucial.

 

Topographic Survey

Whether you are studying an area of land for mapping purposes or to determine whether or not a site is suitable for a construction project, a topographic survey will be necessary. For these surveys, the surveyor makes a note of all of the geographical features on a parcel of land, this could include natural features such as a creek or stream as well as manmade items, such as houses or outbuildings or fencing.

 

Warren Knight Surveying Equipment

At Warren Knight, we’ve been building precision instruments for more than 100 years and this includes many types of surveying instruments, including our WK-40-1300 Surveyor Compass.

 

This compass is ideal for land surveying and designed for long-term use with ease of adjustment and repair. It has a four-quadrant Vernier scale and will outperform any surveyor’s compass ever made. We also have the WK-40-1360 compass model which includes an azimuth 360-degree scale.

 

In addition to our surveyor’s compass, we also have a high-quality forestry compass (ideal for measuring tree height and forestry surveys) and a wide variety of clinometers, including drum clinometers, Vernier clinometers, scale ball clinometers and pendulum clinometers.

 

If you need transits, total stations, theodolites, field computers or any type of level, we also have these available, and we can provide you with a custom design if needed. We also rent many types of equipment, including:

  • Transits
  • Transit Levels
  • Automatic Levels
  • Precision Levels
  • Clinometers/Inclinometers
  • Precision Tilt Levels
  • Slope Lasers
  • Laser Levels
  • Total Stations
  • Theodolites
  • Field Computers/Data Collectors
  • Tripods, Rods & Stands

 

If you rent a piece of equipment and like the instrument, you can purchase the item and your rental fee will act as credit toward your purchase. We also can provide you with repair services for any of the aforementioned pieces of equipment as well as for just about any precision instrument, including metrology equipment, alignment telescopes and much more.

 

Whether you are in the market for a surveyor compass or other types of surveying equipment, the team at Warren Knight likely can provide whatever you need. You can contact us at (215) 464-9300 or click on the Get A Quote tab at the top of this page and fill out our quick contact form.