Tool for recording the cross-sectional shape of a surface
A profile gauge or contour gauge is a tool for recording the cross-sectional shape of a surface. Contour gauges consist of a set of steel or plastic pins that are set tightly against one another in a frame which keeps them in the same plane and parallel while allowing them to move independently, perpendicularly to the frame. When pressed against an object, the pins conform to the object. The gauge can then be used to draw the profile or to copy it on to another surface.
^Neal Vogel, Christopher Jenks, "Documentation Projects, Part 2: Measured Drawings", Common Bond (New York Landmarks Conservancy) Winter, 1991 full textArchived 2011-01-13 at the Wayback Machine