I really like this Isaac Chandlee Plain Compass. The compass is beautiful and has a wonderful patina. The compass was likely made between 1790 and 1810.

The compass features easy to remove sight vanes. With most compasses, to remove the sight vanes the surveyor has to unscrew the thumbscrews completely. This took a bit of time and also made it somewhat easier to misplace or even lose a thumbscrew. With an Isaac Chandlee compass, however, the surveyor can remove the sight vanes by simply loosening the thumbscrews. This approach is more efficient and protects the thumbscrew from being misplaced or lost. In some of the pics below you can how Isaac used keyhole-like cutouts to make it possible to remove the sight vanes with only a loosening of the thumbscrews.

The compass is 14 inches long with a 5 inch needle. There is no box or compass cover.

Some info on Isaac:

Isaac Chandlee was born in Nottingham on September 12, 1760, the son of Benjamin Chandlee, Junior. He died, unmarried, in Nottingham on December 10, 1813. Isaac was Goldsmith Chandlee’s younger brother (by 9 years).

Isaac is not as famous as his older brother but Isaac produced some really nice compasses.

I think the Isaac Chandlee would make for a wonderful display.

Isaac Chandlee compass are highly sought after for three reasons - (1) Isaac was a highly skilled maker of instruments and all of his compasses are works of art, (2) Isaac was Goldsmith Chandlee's younger brother, and (3) unlike Goldsmith, Isaac did not make very many compasses. For these reasons Isaac Chandlee compasses command a significant premium when the come up for sale, which isn't very often.

This beautiful compass Isaac Chandlee compass for example sold for $11k in a Cowan Auction in 2009. A year later a dated Isaac Chandlee plain compass (1798) sold for $9600 (including the 20% auction fee) at a Cowans Auction.

You can read more about Isaac and see some other examples of his work at my Isaac Chandlee Makers Webpage.