Artists Esp... What do you call that thing?

There is a two-headed pen (or pencil) device you might have used as a kid that allows you to enlarge or copy an image as you simply trace over the original image with a dummy pencil point. Between the two points are a series of criss-cross, “X”-like bars allowing the device to stretch and flex as necessary.

IIRC, it was actually invented by Ben Franklin. I want to say it was called a pendograph? Anyone recall? Maybe some artists, perhaps graphic artists esp., use this device to get the right sized-image?

Thanks,
Jinx

A pantograph.

Pantograph

It was inventeed not by Benjamin Franklin (I know this because I saw one that pre-dates Franklin), but by Christian Schneider in 1630.

Could that be Christof Scheiner? He’s usually credited with its invention c. 1603-1605. It looks as if it was constantly being reinvented: for instance, by William Wallace (not the Braveheart one) and Mrs Samuel Harrington.

Has anyone used one successfully? Maybe it’s just that I had a cheap plastic one as a kid, but I finally ditched it and drew a grid over the original and then transferred the image to a bigger grid. This turned out to better training for art school later; since you can’t use a pantograph with a brushload of paint).

Of course nowadays you just slap it on the scanner & set your enlargement %.

There is a big one at the U.S. mint that runs the milling maching that creates the coin-stamping dies.

(Thank you, History Channel!)