Slide rules

[Dave Liquorice]

Bung it back where it was with the instructions. It'll still work when all the power has gone and all the batteries are flat...

[Frank Erskine]

2·71828, ISTR.

[Peter Twydell]

I've got one that works with hexadecimal. Vintage 1970 or so. Used for calculations in IBM 360 debugging. ISTR they were quite expensive, so it was a good thing the company provided them.

Somewhere in the loft are my books of tables of logs and various other things, and a Faber Castell slide rule.

The 1960s drawing instruments still get used from time to time.

[Dave]

I am not alone then :-)

Dave

[Dave]

Many thanks for that Andrew, I never thought about google. Just got back from a google and I was amazed at how much detail has been archived on them. Fantastic.

Dave

[Dave]

Not really, I can remember numbers right away, but tell me your name and I will have forgotten it within seconds John :-)

Dave

[Dave]

I'll try anything. I have one or two other ideas of lubricant now, as well.

Dave

[John Rumm]

A5 size, purple cover? Handy if you want to know the radius of mars or the melting point of just about anything?

Got one somewhere... bought it when I was at school! (probably '82 ish)

[Colin Wilson]

Never used one personally (39 now) but I always thought they'd be a useful skill to learn... having had a quick look on google, i'm even more confused now, as there seem to be a shedload of variants.

I suspect i'd need a book of logs to do anything with them, but i'm not sure :-}

[Roger]

The message from Colin Wilson contains these words:

We weren't allowed to use slide rules at school (all log tables or long hand) so I didn't get to use one till I got to college.

All this talk of slide rules has finally persuaded me to dig out my own

- a double sided Sun Hemmi bamboo rule bought, I think, in 1963. Unfortunately the cursor glass is broken on one side but is otherwise in good working order unlike its leather case which has lost the stitching. Amazingly I also remembered where the destructions were. One of these days I must investigate and see what all the additional scales were fore. :-)

[Bob Eager]

No, you don't. They're essentially (oversimplifying) a mechanical version of log tables and a simple adding machine.

[nightjar]

At school I had a small single-sided slide rule that could be slipped in my top blazer pocket, behind the pens. The double sided one is a Thorton engeineer's slide rule from when I assumed that someone doing an engineering degree would end up doing engineering.

I still have the instructions. I just never found a need to use most of the functions.

Colin Bignell

[The Wanderer]

Of course, those in the know used a Curta!

[Mary Fisher]

Beeswax is sticky so not suitable. Paraffin ('ordinary') candles would work.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Far better than being young!

Mary

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[Bruce]

Thank you, Mary, for rescuing me!

[Dave]

I might revert to an angle grinder yet :-)

Dave

[Colin Wilson]

In that case, i'd be delighted if someone could give me a "guided tour" on how to set up a simple sum or two, and the way to read the answer on the virtual one from earlier in the thread :-}

[Bob Eager]

[Mary Fisher]

LOL! I think that's overkill . But it looks as thought there are lots around so one sacrifice wouldn't be a disaster!

Mary