Slide Rules

**WithTheGrain** · 05-22-2009, 10:49 AM

Any math nerds here know of a good place to get a slide rule? My brother has been looking for one for ages and I agreed to help him out. While looking for one, I have gotten an itch to get one for myself. Of course I found one for him today (2 bucks at the thrift store), but now need to find one for me. Any ideas for a good place to find a cheapish (20-30 bucks max) one online? They seem to be like razors-- astronomical prices in many places...

Any ideas?

**sparkchaser** · 05-22-2009, 10:58 AM

I have one here somewhere. Picked it up for $1 at a flea market.

Check eBay. Lots there at inexpensive prices.

**Bertilak** · 05-22-2009, 11:00 AM

Check out http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/sruniverse.html

**erudolph** · 05-22-2009, 11:04 AM

That's a great link Robert. Makes me think of my K&E boxed up in the basement.

**WithTheGrain** · 05-22-2009, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by Robert Paulsen

Check out http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/sruniverse.html

Great site, a ton of variety. I am now wishing I would have kept this one and kept looking for my brother; these things get spendy! I think I will do some more flea market/thrift store/ebay searching before I give in to paying full price. Finding the bargain is half the fun after all.

Since we have an audience, what should I be looking for? I am sure a student rule would well fulfill my needs, but is there any holygrail that I should keep in mind?

**Bertilak** · 05-22-2009, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by erudolph

That's a great link Robert. Makes me think of my K&E boxed up in the basement.

Yup -- I browse through it every few months. I wish I had a job or hobby where I could use one. Even if I did, I wouldn't need to buy one as I have a Post that I've owned since it was new and an older-yet K&E from my father. Went to an engineering school where they were as necessary as a pen or pencil, or probably a calculator today.

Most stolen thing on campus. The Post I still have was, I think, the third one I had to buy. It looked nerdy to carry it on your belt but that was about the only practical way to secure it.

(The most valuable thing stolen on campus was the town police car. It happened twice. But that's another story for another time!).

**Bertilak** · 05-22-2009, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by WithTheGrain

Great site, a ton of variety. I am now wishing I would have kept this one and kept looking for my brother; these things get spendy! I think I will do some more flea market/thrift store/ebay searching before I give in to paying full price. Finding the bargain is half the fun after all.

They do have a section for inexpensive slide rules, most about $39. Which reminds me, when I was buying them new they were about $20. At the time that was enough to feed me for two weeks!

Since we have an audience, what should I be looking for? I am sure a student rule would well fulfill my needs, but is there any holygrail that I should keep in mind?

That's like asking what's the best Razor, or shaving soap!

EDIT: I guess I can add that the most popular "back in the day" were Post (bamboo) K&E (mahogany) and Pickett (magnesium and more expensive).

**Bertilak** · 05-22-2009, 11:54 AM

OK, you got me started. I'll try not to go too far with this.

We fussed over slide rules like we fuss over razors here. With slide rules the questions were

What's the best way to lubricate them? (graphite for bamboo and mahogany, light oil for magnesium)
Which had the better "action"? That was a question for the slide and the cursor. A "sticky" action made it hard to get a precise setting.
Was the cursor adjustable to get a perfectly perpendicular index line? How well did the adjustment hold once set? Was the adjustment "stable" -- i.e. did it stay the same moment-to-moment or was it wobbly?
How well did the scales stay lined up with temperature and humidity changes? Very important in a place where the temperatures routinely went to 20F below zero.
How useful were the lesser-used scales included on the rule?
The Pickett was magnesium. Could it actually be set on fire? (As far as I know we never tried because no one was willing to sacrifice one.)

**Roman414** · 05-22-2009, 11:54 AM

Not entirely like razors because different slide rules have different scales which, depending on your calculating needs, may be of much use or of no use to you. Me, I like the bamboo ones. But I have a neat little six inch metal rule with a leather sheath that clips to my shirt pocket. It is a Post, I think, but I would have to dig it out of a drawer somewhere to verify that.

**Hawkeye5** · 05-22-2009, 12:25 PM

Somewhere I have a pocket slide rule, but I've not seen it in years. More than likely packed away in a box up in the attic. After I'm gone and the kids are cleaning out the house they will wonder "what the heck is this thing".

**Nishnabotna** · 05-22-2009, 01:33 PM

I have a Keuffel & Esser Co "Beginner's Slide Rule", N4058W. I'm pretty sure it's not a classic, but my parents gave it to me. Came with the little case.

**bogiesan** · 05-22-2009, 05:24 PM

I have my dad's circular steel slider here someplace. He flew C47s in the Berlin Airlift. He used it to calculate fuel consumption and other navigational data for more than thirty years. When I took advanced math in junior high school (1968-69) we were encouraged to get and learn how to use slide rules. The circular unit got me in trouble with the jerk teacher but I refused to give it up. I don't think I could remember how to use it, tho.

david boise ID