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Patent Model For Carpenter’s Combination Tool, Patent No. 70,547, Bevel and Try Square

This is a Patent Model for Carpenter’s Combination Tool, Patent No. 70,547.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from National Museum of American History as part of Tools: Extending Our Reach.

It is dated November 5, 1867. Its medium is steel, brass.

The patent for John Graham’s combination tool listed several carpentry tools including a bevel, marker, gauge, try square, and level—what Graham described as an "indicator." When the square was placed upon a surface, the indicator pointed vertically to twelve o’clock if the surface was level, varying to the left or right if not. The indicator was Graham’s main invention in his patent, but he also claimed "the combination of one or more supplemental movable or adjustable squares, with a try-square." This claim made Graham’s invention a multitool, a carpenter’s Swiss-Army knife of bevels, levels, and squares.

It is credited Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Cat. 210834.01.

Our curators have highlighted 5 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

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  • sheet steel.
  • Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, 1977.0460.01.
  • 14.2012.66

Its dimensions are

H x W: 12.7 x 14.9 cm (5 in. x 5 7/8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/35460339/ |title=Patent Model For Carpenter’s Combination Tool, Patent No. 70,547, Bevel and Try Square |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>