All properties regarding traces and envelopes of a standard trammel are extended to these more general trammels. Two generalizations are introduced: a zigzag trammel, obtained by dividing a standard trammel into several hinged pieces, and a flexible trammel whose length may vary during the motion. During the motion, points on the trammel trace ellipses, and the trammel produces an astroid as an envelope that is also the envelope of the family of traced ellipses.
![trammel of archimedes trammel of archimedes](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sYh5Hc2TBTA/maxresdefault.jpg)
TRAMMEL OF ARCHIMEDES SERIES
I have only had to make a couple of oval rosettes for restoration work for those I made a series of inside and outside templates and then just cut everything by hand.
![trammel of archimedes trammel of archimedes](https://www.geogebra.org/resource/wwa8a9zq/MDPDh8Wk5NDAi4dh/material-wwa8a9zq.png)
I keep trying to convince him it is time to pass it on to some younger fellow with the right last name to keep the story going something like John to James to John to James sounds about right! I have never seen a commercial unit like this available for sale, and if or when one comes up for sale, I'd guess that I just did a number on increasing the selling price, and John is holding on to his. I wrote an article on it for American Lutherie magazine last year. It was based upon a mechanical double cut way that produces an ellipse and is often attributed to Archimedes. He showed me an interesting tool that had quite a lineage: Originally acquired by D'Angelico, passed down to D'Aquisto, and then to Monteleone. The following day, I was at John Monteleone's place getting in a few laughs, playing a few tunes, and getting an earful while picking his brain about the restoration of that mandolin. While there, I was able to blueprint the D'Aquisto mandolin in their collection. Last year I did some backstage work at The Metropolitain Museum of Art incredible place and really nice people to work with.