ALVINCompass Pro Speed Bow with Beam Bar 6" Model 205V Compass for Geometry and Engineering, Included Beam Bar Allows for Drawing Large Circles, Drawing and Architecture Tool - 6 inch

Excellent compass. Beautifully designed and easy to use.

This is a very good compass. It has a solid feel to it and the build material is very good as well. It comes in a plastic case which is not shown here. And that is really nice container to have to protect your investment.I've used my compass mainly for drawing, illustrations, and geometric figures and for each application it performs as you would expect. There is a compass I would rate higher, and that would be Rotring compass, but its more expensive and it takes much longer to set the radii for it; it's really meant for precision. This Alvin compass hits the sweet spot for me in terms of precision, quickness, and ease of use.Now for the bad. I've used this compass for about 2 years and its finally wearing out. I really wish it had lasted longer. The biggest problem is the jointed legs. If you look at the picture, you'll see that each leg is hinged where the screws are. No matter how tight you make the screws, the legs eventually start to bend as you use the instrument about. Its most noticeable when you are making small radius circles (because the 'elbows' bend out.) If you are careful, you can prevent the bending by gingerly twisting the compass. But that's annoying to do.Finally, the next problem I find is that the pen/pencil adapter is too narrow for some of the pens I like to use. Jetstream pens will not fit, and Uniball Signo pens barely fit. Also, to secure the writing instrument, you need to tighten a screw which 'drills' into your pen. I would much prefer the screw tightens the 'arms' embracing the pen. I'm just worried about knicking my pen with a screw mark.Overall, it's a good compass, and I plan to purchase another. Just some small adjustments would make this a much better product. First, lose the hinge to make the legs last longer. Add a 2nd adapter to allow for wider pens.

The media could not be loaded. I didn't know about this particular brand. I wanted a german made compass, I knew about Staedtler, so that's the one I got first, to my surprise it was made out of plastic and it was bending when tracing circles. The only thing that was dissapointing was the packaging, when in transport, the plastic container opened inside the cardboard box and a screw fell out of a gap in transport, I didn't want to go through the process of exanching it, so I kept it. I would buy Alvin again.

As you’ll notice in many of the other reviews on this item, it doesn’t always come “complete” for lack of a better term. In my case, one of the speed levers which serve to lock the arms into place was missing the rivet that constituted it’s fulcrum. Without this part, one leg has a full 1.5” of play to it, alloying it to move around while using it and defeating the purpose of a compass. I will say though, beyond this crucial flaw, the rest of the construction on mine was great! It feels great in the hand, has a nice weight to it and otherwise a solid product. Given the number of reviews sharing in similar issues, there’s a significant chance when buying this it may not arrive intact or operational. However, it’s a good product, so if you decide to buy one, be mindful that you may likely need to return it or expect to make repairs yourself.

Very disappointed with this purchase. It feels like a quality product and looks nice, however, the tightening knobs do not tighten it enough to keep the pieces from moving and changing as you use it. It is especially useless with the beam arm attached. No matter how hard I try to crank the tightening knob, the arm moves around a lot in the slot and just can't make a consistent circle.I suppose if you are using it very lightly it may hold its position better (not with the beam arm though). I use this in my artwork and need it to make a nice, visible mark and it just can't do it.I totally wasted my money on this one.Update: After a couple months of use, one of the tightening knobs snapped off. It is garbage.

I’ve tried a dozen compasses. The Alvin non-quick release compass is slightly better as it has zero play for acurate drawing - especially sacred geometry or complex polygons.However, for quick release and for pens, this is the best compass out there. I’ve tried so many other compasses, like Mr Pen, and they have way too much play - at lease the quick release models.Highly recommend