Well, there is more to the gizmo story; I came up with the initial idea but I used two set screws through the sides of the gizmo to hold the pencil in place, it was loosen a screw, push the pencil up a little and tighten the screw to hold it in place.
Here it is, the very first tillering gizmo;
I gave one of my early gizmos to a friend named Daniel Willoughby at a shoot in Mississippi. I saw Daniel at the next shoot and he showed me how he had altered the gizmo to make it work better. He came up with the idea of tapping a 5/16" nut in the hole to hold the pencil, brilliant!
My first gizmos were square, I later slanted the ends. Another guy, unfortunately I can't remember who, came up with the pyramid shape I now use.
So my idea, with some great design changes from the users to make the gizmo what it is today.