Longtime readers of this blog will know that I get more than just a little excited by devices—both mechanical and virtual—that draw conic sections. I’ve written about the conic section-drawing devices of the 17th-century Dutch mathematician Frans van Schooten as well as other methods of generating conics in a variety of posts. I also wrote the Sketchpad module Exploring Conic Sections with The Geometer’s Sketchpad.

From a practical standpoint, building physical models of curve-drawing devices isn’t so simple. Virtual Web Sketchpad models of these drawing devices permit us to tinker with their parameters, allowing us to see in an instant how the changes we make affect the shape of the curves. But nonetheless, the action of drawing a conic section by hand is immensely pleasurable.

Years ago, a friend of mine, Matt Malina, asked an architect friend of his to build a model of the Congruent Triangles device that draws ellipses. You can see it below.

Until now, this was the only physical device I owned for drawing ellipses (other than the bare-bones Two Pins and String construction.) I’d seen several models of a trammel (also known as an ellipsograph), but never owned one. I contented myself with the Web Sketchpad trammel below.

But yesterday, while idly scrolling my Instagram feed, I came across a Kickstarter from the British company, Makers Cabinet. Their campaign to finance trammels (what they’re calling an Elipso) was already at $121,000, with more than 1,000 backers. Apparently the demand for trammels is much larger than I ever imagined!

The Makers Cabinet trammel is built of solid brass, and its motion looks to be smooth and highly accurate. The cost of buying their trammel certainly isn’t cheap, but I know that I want one.

The Kickstarter campaign will soon be over, but I imagine the Elipso will be available for sale on the Makers Cabinet site in 2026.