Pointing machine

[5] However, similar devices were used in ancient times, when the copying of Greek sculptures for the Roman market was a large industry.

It is not possible to use a pointing machine to produce enlarged or reduced copies; the traditional instruments for this are a set of calipers or a three-dimensional version of the pantograph.

[7] To better control the result of the finished sculpture, sculptors have increasingly taken to making a detailed model and then reproducing it, on the same scale or enlarged, in stone.

The advantages of this method are that the result is very controllable and that the chance of making irreparable mistakes is reduced drastically.

Sculptors eventually returned to more direct forms of expression, by means of for example the 'direct carving method', impressionism and expressionism.

The pointing machine's popularity waned as a result, reflecting the diminishing knowledge and skills of carving in wood and stone during the 20th century.

In using the pointing machine, the sculptor mounts or glues three metal rivets, that correspond to each other, on both model and block of stone or wood.

By subsequently carving or drilling carefully until the needle touches the stop, the sculptor can place their measuring point exactly in the block.

The latest developments are computer guided router systems that scan[10] a model and can reproduce it in a variety of materials and in any desired size.