How about slide rules?

[bonneyman]

A shaving forum I belong to has a free-for-all section where anybody can talk about anything that isn't flame-worthy. Some how slide rules came up. I thought I'd rather post pics and info here where my friends can see them and comment. With my faith in old, analog, non-electronic stuff slide rules are a necessity.
IIRC the last year they were manufactured was 1976 - right at the start of the digital calculator era. I just missed learning it in HS, and used one of the early NOVUS LED calculators.

For those interested in slide rules I have some links.
To purchase parts and accessories:
http://www.srtco.us/partske.htm
http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/exchange.html

To learn how to use a slide rule.
http://www.sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Class/OS-ISRM_SlideRuleSeminar.pdf

[bonneyman]

This is my first one, an 10"  Engineering Instruments (USA). Received in the last batch of tools that Centerpunch sent me. Got me going on rules, hats off to him. I might never have thought about these "obsolete" things if it hadn't been for him. Toward the end of my business I carried it in my forms holder to calculate tax when the calculator gave out. Didn't need extreme accuracy - I'd just round down the amount to the nearest whole number and pay the extra myself. My aunt and uncle (Ph.D. level) saw the rule and freaked out over it!
The back has the logarithm scales and conversion factor right on the handle. Nice.

[bonneyman]

Some great users. A 12.5 inch Faber-Castell (Swiss), and a 6" Sterling (USA)

[bonneyman]

My really old , expensive one. A 20" Keuffel & Esser Co. engineers rule (USA), # 4053-5. From what I can find my example was made between 1922 and 1925, but, I'm no expert.

Has a straight edge ruler - inches on one side, mm on the other.  Solid mahogany with some sort of white plastic reading surface (celluloid?). Discolored, but I don't dare touch it with cleaner. Being my longest one the numbers are easier to see and accuracy better between digits.
Missing the cursor - from what I can gather parts are NOT cheap! I keep it in a cardboard tube mailer for storage, hoping to find the parts for it someday.
Update: I think I found a proper cursor for $35, and one is selling on ebay starting at $125 (supposedly a rare one)!

And a K&E slide rule manual, again really hard to find these days. After 2 years of searching I found this at a used book sale for $1.

[oldnslo]

If I close my eyes, and think real hard, I can imagine the pics that were probably supposed to have been posted.

(where's the emoticon hiding under the chair icon when you need one)

Oh...and the beer dude. Bring back the beer dude icon!

[J.A.F.E.]

I can play! I have two or three but don't really use them. I do think they are neat devices and a very clever innovation. My favorite is this Pickett & Eckel N1006-ES. The ES is for eye saver and indicates the base color is yellow rather than white. It's a 5" pocket model  made mainly for solving trig problems and is all aluminum.

It's in really nice shape even the case is just about pristine. Not sure what this cost when new but it was quite expensive.









All Al laminated construction.





The case is well thought out as well and includes a lift tab on the back to make removing it from the case easier.

[bonneyman]

And my historical one, I guess - a 6" Pickett N600-ES (USA). Found out today this is the model slide rule that was carried aloft on Apollo 13. Very similar to JAFE's.

[bonneyman]

If I close my eyes, and think real hard, I can imagine the pics that were probably supposed to have been posted.

(where's the emoticon hiding under the chair icon when you need one)

Oh...and the beer dude. Bring back the beer dude icon!

You can open your eyes now, O&S. lol

[J.A.F.E.]

Very nice Bonneyman. Some of these have become worth just stunning money.

[john k]

I saw this subject hashed over at another forum, and then bought a few when they were still cheap.   Was not one of the kids at high school that used one of these.   Those kids had holsters on their belt, to show them off between classes.   Was never instructed in how to use one, but have figured out most of it. 

[bonneyman]

I saw this subject hashed over at another forum, and then bought a few when they were still cheap.   Was not one of the kids at high school that used one of these.   Those kids had holsters on their belt, to show them off between classes.   Was never instructed in how to use one, but have figured out most of it.

Yeah, I can do the basic functions, and can get by with roots. The 3 trig functions I'm having trouble with....and as I recall I couldn't get them in high school, either! lol

[bonneyman]

Very nice Bonneyman. Some of these have become worth just stunning money.

Just saw a cursor for sale for my K&E asking $190!

[john k]

A cursor eh?   If you have pic, you could make one??

[J.A.F.E.]

Some of them go for hundreds and parts are almost impossible. There are a couple companies still making them but the heyday is over.

[bonneyman]

A cursor eh?   If you have pic, you could make one??

Plenty of pics. I don't think it would be too hard to make. Would make the tool usable.

[toolman]

I have one like J.A.F.E. posted, that i found last year. Funny Story: While attending College many years ago, we were required to learn, and use a slide rule. I had a good instructor, who had a 6 foot monster S.R. hanging above the chalk board. I tried and tried, but had a mental block in learning it. So, when ever test time came around, with some algebra involved, i would have to work out all the calculations in long hand on paper. The square root calculations alone, would take up half a page of scratch paper, and allot of wear on my pencil lead.lol!!! 

[J.A.F.E.]

I remember those huge classroom models. I'd love to snag one just to hang up.

I suspect my wife would be a little less enthusiastic about the idea though if I ever found one.

[bonneyman]

I have one like J.A.F.E. posted, that i found last year. Funny Story: While attending College many years ago, we were required to learn, and use a slide rule. I had a good instructor, who had a 6 foot monster S.R. hanging above the chalk board. I tried and tried, but had a mental block in learning it. So, when ever test time came around, with some algebra involved, i would have to work out all the calculations in long hand on paper. The square root calculations alone, would take up half a page of scratch paper, and allot of wear on my pencil lead.lol!!! 

For awhile there I didn't have a calculator, so would do tax calculations long hand for every work ticket I wrote up. I felt it was keeping me in practice. 

[goodfellow]

You guys have some wonderful keepsakes there. I still have one -- somewhere, but in the early 70's I was in engineering school when the transition between the slide rule and the scientific calculator started to happen. My sophomore year the school recommended the latest in modern tech -- a TI30, HP35, or HP45

Bought a HP45 for $450 -- what a bargain!!! -- but I was glad to get rid of that slide rule

[bonneyman]

6 inch ones are probably the best for me and my needs now. (Although an 8 or 10 inch would be easier to hold and read accurately). Doing sales tax and fuel mileage on the cars is what the SR has been reduced to in my house. Plus, it's a great prepper tool....and EMP proof! 

[skfarmer]

i have never used one  and was never taught anything about them. why don't  you teach us hairy knuckled sloths a little about them! 

[goodfellow]

i have never used one  and was never taught anything about them. why don't  you teach us hairy knuckled sloths a little about them! 

Gov't training film on slide rule manipulation  -- a very good tutorial from 1944. Many colleges used to teach a required course on slide rule calculating to incoming freshmen in engineering and the physical sciences.

[skfarmer]

i watched to about 7 minutes and my eyes  started to fog over.

[goodfellow]

i watched to about 7 minutes and my eyes  started to fog over.

LOL -- that's how I felt back in college when we started working trigonometric functions using that damn thing. The first HP and TI scientific calculators were a true game changer over the slide rule  -- by an order of magnitude.

[strik9]

I took algebra1 three times to finally barely pass it.    By then I was only filling spaces on a class schedule as I had "applied math" credits enough to graduate.

   And promptly forgot it all in a week with that soup of numbers and symbols moving around.  Meanwhile my siblings were in alg3 or better at least by then.

   A guy tried to show me how to use a micrometer too and that didn't work well.  I have a digital now and am calculating the price of a battery....lol!  For about 3 years now.  Its very important after all.

   Different strokes for different folks.....

   

[J.A.F.E.]

I think for most people a slide rule makes their eyes fog over. Takes a lot of practice and a lot of use to get comfortable and a calculator is more accurate and a lot easier for most of us.

[bonneyman]

I think for most people a slide rule makes their eyes fog over. Takes a lot of practice and a lot of use to get comfortable and a calculator is more accurate and a lot easier for most of us.

I agree, but over the last year or two I'm having calculators regularly drop a LCD pixel or two out of the blue - got tired of 6's and 0's that were really 8's with a pixel missing. 
Finally decided that when my current group of digital calcs quit I ain't buying any more. Even my newer TI-30 X lost some pixels over time - and it didn't get hardly any use..

[strik9]

Every phone I have has a basic calculator function built in.  I don't need to carry or even own any other anymore.

     The rare occasion I need one I always forget its there......

[highland512]

I have never been able to use a slide rule successfully, I grew up after full calculator integration was complete. My mother the calculus and trigonometry teacher is a wiz with one though. (she is a nerds nerd, who else will sit down and do formulas because its "fun")

Most of my work is performed on a TI-84 (mainly sin, cos, tan functions) or a construction master V. The construction master was carried in my pocket everyday for the last 10 years, it is invaluable in my construction life.

[bonneyman]

I have never been able to use a slide rule successfully, I grew up after full calculator integration was complete. My mother the calculus and trigonometry teacher is a wiz with one though. (she is a nerds nerd, who else will sit down and do formulas because its "fun")

Most of my work is performed on a TI-84 (mainly sin, cos, tan functions) or a construction master V. The construction master was carried in my pocket everyday for the last 10 years, it is invaluable in my construction life.

Learning calculus is about the only thing left on my bucket list that I haven't done.
I've tried several times but just can't get it. I think either you're gifted and have a brain that's wired for it, or you gotta put TONS of time into learning. Neither of which I have.

[goodfellow]

I have never been able to use a slide rule successfully, I grew up after full calculator integration was complete. My mother the calculus and trigonometry teacher is a wiz with one though. (she is a nerds nerd, who else will sit down and do formulas because its "fun")

Most of my work is performed on a TI-84 (mainly sin, cos, tan functions) or a construction master V. The construction master was carried in my pocket everyday for the last 10 years, it is invaluable in my construction life.

Learning calculus is about the only thing left on my bucket list that I haven't done.
I've tried several times but just can't get it. I think either you're gifted and have a brain that's wired for it, or you gotta put TONS of time into learning. Neither of which I have.

I was the same way learning from traditional theory-based books back in the day. That was until a Professor advisor gave me a couple of books that were written from an applied perspective. It showed how useful Trig and Calculus were in real industry applications, and how these disciplines solve problems in machining, warehousing, production planning, and industrial automation (just to name a few). It was a changing point -- from that time on I studied/concentrated on applied science research and it made sense.

[highland512]

Learning calculus is about the only thing left on my bucket list that I haven't done.
I've tried several times but just can't get it. I think either you're gifted and have a brain that's wired for it, or you gotta put TONS of time into learning. Neither of which I have.

She is very wired for it. She can do most of it in her head, I often imagined her daydreams looked something like rain man's.
 Imagine her disappointment when I was in her calc 1 class and was struggling my ass off to get a C, sorry mom. (Yes my mom was my math teacher all through high school, it was a real drag) 

[J.A.F.E.]

Yes my mom was my math teacher all through high school, it was a real drag

It probably was a drag but you must have had great help for the homework.

[Rural53]

I also went to school after slide rules were superseded by calculators. Casio FX-82 right the way through high school and university. When I learnt to fly we used a mechanical flight computer. Basically a circular slide rule on one side and a wind/course vector solver on the other. In the middle of the slide rule side there were also a series of conversions, weight, fuel weight, speed etc. I've still got it somewhere.

[bonneyman]

I also went to school after slide rules were superseded by calculators. Casio FX-82 right the way through high school and university. When I learnt to fly we used a mechanical flight computer. Basically a circular slide rule on one side and a wind/course vector solver on the other. In the middle of the slide rule side there were also a series of conversions, weight, fuel weight, speed etc. I've still got it somewhere.

Dang, I think I just saw one of those at an estate sale weekend before last! It was aluminum, and knew it had something to do with aviation. Should have snagged it - it was only $6. 

[DeadNutz]

I also went to school after slide rules were superseded by calculators. Casio FX-82 right the way through high school and university. When I learnt to fly we used a mechanical flight computer. Basically a circular slide rule on one side and a wind/course vector solver on the other. In the middle of the slide rule side there were also a series of conversions, weight, fuel weight, speed etc. I've still got it somewhere.

Those are what I learned on back in 1979 while learning to fly. I still have several of them. Once you understood it flight planning was a breeze.

[bonneyman]

I think of slide rules as good back-up, like tape measures and bubble levels. Sure, the modern digital and laser tools are more accurate and idiot proof to learn, but it's never a bad idea to have a back-up plan in case something breaks.

Heck, I'd never give up my tape measure and spirit levels no matter how good the fancy ones get!   

[highland512]

Yes my mom was my math teacher all through high school, it was a real drag

It probably was a drag but you must have had great help for the homework.

The help was great, it was everything else.

She once pulled me out of another class to chew my ass because I had been suspended for 2 days. Trouble was nobody had told me yet and I had no clue what she was yelling about. Or when she was embarrassed due to the fact my friends and I relocated the principals desk to his parking spot before the last day of junior year.   

[J.A.F.E.]

Seems like it was hard to get away with anything.

One of the guys I went to HS with his mother taught in the school. He kicked a fountain off the wall one day and did he ever get in trouble. Of course there was a lot of water everywhere so the school got pretty upset about it. He ended up having to pay for the damage.

[Rural53]

Yes my mom was my math teacher all through high school, it was a real drag

It probably was a drag but you must have had great help for the homework.

My mother was a high school English teacher. After being taught by her father for most of her primary school years, she made sure she never taught in the school I went to.

Edit: At one time my mother, her sister and her father all taught at the same high school, all with different surnames so very few people knew.

[Cruiser808]

Wow, this thread brings back fond memories of my younger days on the drafting table. I think I still have my old 
Faber-Castell slide rule in a box with some ancient drafting tools and a Kroy lettering set somewhere around the house. Maybe?

[bonneyman]

Somebody stop me! I found another slide rule, and just couldn't leave it there. Priced at $6, b ut I had some store credit so got it for free.
A USA made K&E Log rule, 12 1/2" long with hard case. Probably late 40's - marked with a 1947 copyright but all of us here know that's no guarantee of date. Wood overlayed with plastic. Maybe it's worth some money.

[john k]

Havent come across any more slide rules lately but everywhere I turn there are the boxed drafting sets.  Used to open the cases to see how complete they are, all that chrome, and graphite dust.  I turned down mechanical drawing in high school as I had that teacher previously and had little confidence in his abilities and no respect for him as a person.  MIght just buy a set yet, even though at most I build things by rule of thumb and TLAR,  (that looks about right).  Anyone get into mechanical drawing/drafting ?

[bonneyman]

I used to do pencil drawing and some painting as a twenty-something. Mostly just for entertainment. Picked up and air brush and did T-shirt air brushing in the mid 80's. Nothing since.

[bonneyman]

Found another slide rule today - a circular one! Basically like new condition, nice construction, with carry case and instruction pamphlet. Will take some getting used to but - for $1 - I couldn't leave it.

[nelstomlinson]

 That's a nice one!  Concise is still in business, and I bought a couple of new circular slide rules direct from Japan a few years back. Not nearly as cool as your Collins branded one. Can't tell from your pics; does yours have any special electronics scales?

[bonneyman]

Thanks for the compliment!

Doesn't appear to have any special scales to me. I like it, though. Really compact!

[bonneyman]

Just used the new circular rule to compute my gas mileage on the Astrovan. 12.76 gallons to go 215 miles. Read a bit more than 16.8 mpg.
Did it on the calculator: 16.84. Close enough for the girls I go with!    Plus, I'm amazed the mileage is so good on a moving white box of a vehicle!

[nelstomlinson]

I wear a watch with an E6B flight computer around the outside. That's just a C and D scale with some special gauge marks for pilots. I usually use it at the gas station, too.

[DeadNutz]

I wear a watch with an E6B flight computer around the outside. That's just a C and D scale with some special gauge marks for pilots. I usually use it at the gas station, too.

How about a picture of the watch?

[bonneyman]

Found another beauty! A 12" Pickett, trig model in aluminum. With leather case.

Immaculate condition, 1959 copyright date. Paid $1.50

[DeadNutz]

That is a beauty George. When an EMP attack takes out our computers you will have a bunch of treasure.

[goodfellow]

That is a beauty George. When an EMP attack takes out our computers you will have a bunch of treasure.

Indeed Les, but in my case I wouldn't remember how to use one. My freshman year in college we had to take a course in the use of the slide rule, but thankfully that same year Hewlett-Packard released their HP-35 scientific calculator, which made "the stick" obsolete in just a few months.

[bonneyman]

If anyone needs "bathroom reading material" - or something to put you to sleep - here's an on-line article of 91 pages all about slide rules. 


https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/switchgear/presentations/tp_files/2012-1_Lunch_Webb.pdf

[bonneyman]

Found another Pickett 12"er at an estate sale, a model N902-T Simplex Trig. Got it for basically free (as it was part of a small lot we bought). Got it just for parts, as it has some issues (Dirty and chipped finish, missing screws, damaged cursor, broken cursor spring). But then upon research discovered it was a 1949 magnesium bodied trig model, so might just try restoring it and using it.

It also has instructions on how to use it embossed on the back.

[bonneyman]

Well, I worked on the latest rule today. Found a body screw (my biggest concern) and cleaned it up. But the faceplate enamel was pretty thin. But the cursor plastic just fell apart while disassembling it. One can be had for $40, but that's not in my budget. So I'll hang on to it to see if an appropriate donor becomes available.  Not a bad deal for free.

[bonneyman]

Found another unique slide rule today. A circular binary rule. 8" diameter, a bit unusual and will take some getting used to but I think once mastered it will be easier to use that the linear types. Aluminum body, with 3 slides arms. Will also do fractions, and drill and tap sizes. Faux leather carry case and user manual included! Cost me $2.

[nelstomlinson]

I have one of those! Yes, it is a bit easier to use once you get used to it.