Industrial production of technical drawing instruments started in 1853, when Englishman William Stanley (1829–1909) founded a technical manufacturing company in London. Even then, however, most tools were still made by hand. French curves are used for drawing curves which cannot be drawn with compasses. A faint freehand curve is first drawn through the known points; the longest possible curve that coincides exactly with the freehand curve is then found out from the French curves. Finally, a neat continuous curve is drawn with the aid of the French curves. Behold, grace and beauty is born.
