12" Wing Compass

I love this monstrosity. It's huge. It makes big circle cutouts on all my woodworking projects. Can go as far as a 25"-circle, or anywhere in between, down to a 6"-inch circle. For that once in a while occasional project that needs something this big. It's very heavy and tough. Simple to figure out and can function on a multitude of projects. The pencil insert is a bit crude, but it's manageable.

For whatever reason, I recently decided to hand-sew a quilt full of large concentric circles. I now realize why most quilts don’t have circles in them - it’s not easy. That said, this compass (and a lot of math I never thought I’d need) makes it possible. I actually think my high school geometry teacher would be pretty proud. The compass itself is very sturdy, heavy-duty, and easy to use. It has a sharp point, so I’ve had to put a piece of cardboard under it to keep it from digging a hole in my dining room table. When it arrived it was a bit greasy, but nothing a good wipe down with paper towels couldn’t fix. I do wish it came with a pencil - I had to hunt for longer than you’d think to find a non-mechanical pencil in my house. Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase and feel quite professional using this giant compass to measure out my quilt circles.

For $13.99 I did not expect such solid construction. The compass is constructed of machined carbon steel. Note that this is not stainless steel so one would have to make sure it is wiped with WD-40 once in a while. Out of the box, there was no rusting as it is coated with somewhat heavy oil of some sort.. The hinge is made from machined metal and holds the two legs solidly. The precision of the hinge is good and there is no slop so one is guaranteed that the angle will hold solidly as one draws the circle. Ergonomically, the thumb screw is of sufficient size and can be tightened by hand easily and solidly to hold the angle very securely. The pencil holder is large enough to hold an average sized pencil. The size of the thumb screw that holds the pencil in place is of sufficient size to easily turn the thumb screw. However, be careful to not tighten too tightly as the threaded portion of the thumb screw is a little thin and will bore into the pencil if turned too tightly. I wish they would have made the threaded part a little larger diameter so one can clamp down on the pencil more. However, as a workaround, if I insert a thin metal shim between the pencil and the screw, should I ever need to tighten the pencil more. Overall impression is that this is great value. once the angle is set and the thumb screw tightened, it holds the angle very securely and it is easy to draw an accurate circle up to about 30 inches in diameter. If one is careful, one can draw circles up to about 34 inches in diameter with this as the maximum width to which one can set the compass is 16 inches, point to point. I like this product very much! This is a solid value!

I just received the compass. You could use it for a club or defensive weapon. It is very sturdy, big, heavy and would be able to withstand heavy abuse. There is so much metal in this compass we should experience a shortage metal on the market. Durability....don't worry. I have not used it yet so more to come!

Excellent, finally found a pair my large hands can hang on to. Seems to be very good quality. Glad I bought them 😃

This is exactly what I have been searching for. I wanted something that would draw large circles. By using a long pencil in the holder, I can draw a circle even larger than the 12" it advertises. Yes, the tips are very sharp but I will be using it to create a template on paper placed a protective mat. That way the very sharp tips won't damage the fabric. It's very sturdy. I am very happy with my purchase!

I am super happy I bought this compass for my art projects. It is super heavy duty! I bought one for my husband for his wood projects and he loves his too. Very happy with the quality and price.

A great value. Not the best machining. I fixed that in a few minutes with my bench grinder. The settings stay locked very well when set. That is the most important. These don't have a need for precision other than locking the setting that you want them to be set to. So they do what they are supposed to just fine.

Bonne qualité, je recommande.

Topteil!

Solid, heavy and well crafted metal compass! Great price too!

Sturdy compass. Needs small pliers to open screw. Well made

Just what i needed very good