Scribe Mate invented by Jeremiah Bolton

Overview

When builders are on site and constructing a building, they are often required to butt a straight piece of material, such as timber, metal, plastic or other sheet materials like these, to a surface that is uneven. At the moment builders find this difficult to do because they use a makeshift pointed block or a compass to transcribe the shape of the surface onto the material with a pencil. This line is used to cut the material to fit the surface and inaccuracies can produce a poor result.

Scribe-mate is a device that allows you to draw an accurate parallel line no matter how bumpy or curvy the surface you’re measuring.

About the Inventor

Jeremiah Bolton is 19 years and from Sydney.

He has just finished the HSC and is training to become a builder. He is currently doing voluntary work experience with licensed builders to help build a library for a school. 

His two main hobbies are playing sport (cricket, soccer, football, basketball) and making models of aircraft.

Jeremiah also enjoys playing guitar. 

Inspiration

Jeremiah invented Scribe-mate for his year 12 design project. He wanted to design something helpful. While working with builders at his construction course he was told about the problem they had with matching pieces of timber to the sandstone of the buildings in the school.

The invention is a device for accurately transferring the curve of an uneven surface to another material. The device can be operated with one hand.

Scribe-mate has one pointed end, a means for holding and securing a writing implement, a handle, and an integrated spirit level. The device includes a means for adjusting the distance between the pointed end and the writing implement.

How it Works

The device is used as follows:

First, the surface which will receive the scribed line is fixed temporarily against the uneven surface.

Second, the writing implement, typically a pencil, is inserted into the device and secured by a screw. This frees up one of the user’s hands and also eliminates one of the items upon which the user must concentrate.

Thirdly, the distance between the pointed tip and the writing implement is adjusted to suit the surfaces and is secured in place by the second screw.

Fourthly, holding the handle, the user can quickly scribe a line by pulling the device along the uneven surface. The user concentrates their attention on the integrated spirit level, thus ensuring that the angle of the device remains constant and an accurate curve is produced.

Scribe-mate can work on many surfaces, wood, metal, plastic anything that you can mark with a pencil.