Graphoplex Model Number Archive

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Graphoplex

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Graphoplex (often mistakenly called Raphoplex because people do not realize the large stylized surrounding G is part of the name) was the main slide rule manufacturer in France. They were based in Paris, and all their rules found so far are of plastic construction, and from the materials used, would seem to be a post-WW2 manufacturer. Only short form catalog additions to instructions sheets have been found so far, so the complete model range and dates of manufacture are not known at this time.

The rules are all very distinctive in style, and are exceptionally attractive and well designed. Common color schemes were maroon, violet and gray, and cases were typically a two part plastic case (maroon or later, gray), or a thin brown flap-style leather case.

The large stylized G with 'raphoplex' inside is their logo, and often confuses people into thinking the rules are called 'Raphoplex' rules. The higher end (gray end brace) duplex rules from Graphoplex were also sold in the USA by the large drafting supply distributor, Koh-I-Noor, based in New Jersey, and still have the Graphoplex logo.

Like other slide rule makers, Graphoplex either produced general drafting items or distributed them as well. Drafting sets with the Graphoplex logo, as well as other related drafting and art items are known to exist. I have been unable to locate a current company called Graphoplex in France today, but they supposedly were involved in other plastics molding and manufacturing, so may now exist as a different company, or as part of a larger conglomerate.

Graphoplex clearly exported rules outside of France, as the instructions supplied with rules come with French, Spanish, German and Italian inserts, and were rules were also redistributed to the USA via Koh-I-Noor. Despite this, they are quite uncommon outside of France today, and virtually all the examples here were obtained in France for me by fellow collector Stéphane Guglielmi [sguglielmi@free.fr] from local store finds. I was able to find two Koh-I-Noor sets here, but only one other original Graphoplex rule.

So far, we have located a wide variety of simplex pocket and full sized rules, and several full sized duplex rules, all in plastic construction. Circular rules existed under the tradename Roplex, with an uncommon wheel-rotation design. Pocket duplex rules were quite uncommon, with only a single example found so far, the 692b. Many later Graphoplex rules have a very unusual color scheme, with violet, red and gray markings, with gray end braces, and maroon cases. They are visually very striking, something often hard to judge well from a scan, which tends to increase the visual contrast (gray becomes black), and makes exact colors hard to reproduce. The 621 has crisp black scales, with inverse and extension areas in red, and many extra secondary numbers in pale blue, an exceptionally clean and clear rule layout, worth tracking down. The surface finish is very glossy on most rules, and the scale markings appear to be underneath a thin clear surface coating or layer.

Thanks also to John Mosand, Marc Thomas and Bill Robinson for additional model information and corrections.

The ARCHIVE will appear below shortly!

ARCHIVE:

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Here are the original French instructions included with typical Graphoplex rules:

CLICK for bigger PIC!

Instructions were typically very short, folded brochures, often folded to fit inside the cases. A short form catalog often was present at the top, listing similar rules by model number.

Graphoplex Model Number	Slide Rule Type	Size, Core Material	Scales Features	IMAGE LINKS (Browser Back to Return)
612	Pocket Rietz	12.5cm/5" White Plastic	cm ruler B³, B², [ b², a, b, ] B, L -or- K, A, [ B, CI, C, ] D, L [ S, S&T, T ] leather slip case 3 line Simplex indicator, Note the unusual scale markings (B's) on the lower early rule. Leather slip case
615	Pocket Rietz	15cm/6" White Plastic	cm ruler K, A, [ B, CI, C, ] D, L [ S, S&T, T ] leather slip case 3 line Simplex indicator, Leather slip case
621	Rietz S	25cm/10" White Plastic	cm ruler P, SRT, A, [ B, T, S, CI, C, ] D, K, L [ Blank ] 3 line Simplex indicator, Unusual black, red and blue scale markings, fine secondary numbers in blue. Leather flap case
643	Pocket Electric Log Log	12.5cm/5" White Plastic	cm ruler L, Cos, B³, B², [ b², a, b, ] B, LL3, LL2, LL1 [ S, S&T, T ] leather slip case 3 line Simplex indicator, Note the unusual scale markings (B's) on the rule. Leather slip case
645	Commercial	25cm/10" White Plastic	cm ruler +/-%, DF, [ CF, CI, C, ] D, L, Factors [ LL3, LL2, LL1, C ] Directions leather slip case 1 line Simplex indicator, Specialized commercial rule, mark up, discount, factor conversion. Leather Flap case
650	Pocket Electro	12.5cm/5" White Plastic
690a	Neperlog	25cm/10" White Plastic Gray end braces	LL00, L, T>45, A, [ B, T<45, SRT, S, C, ] D, P, DI LL0 LL01, LL02, LL03, DF, [ CF, CIF, K, CI, C, ] D, LL3, LL2, LL1 5/4-line Duplex indicator, Extended capacity log log rule, has (P) Pythagorean scale. Leather Flap case. Original French manual for this series, courtesy of Daniel Fournier, CLICK HERE to download PDF (3Mb).
691a	Neperlog Hyperbolic	25cm/10" White Plastic Gray end braces	L, P, Ch, A, [ B, T, ST, S, C, ] D, P, Th, Sh2, Sh1 LL01, LL02, LL03, DF, [ CF, CIF, K, CI, C, ] D, LL3, LL2, LL1 5/4-line Duplex indicator, Extended capacity hyperbolic log log rule, has (P) Pythagorean scale. Leather slip case
692b	Pocket Tecnilog	12.5cm/5" White Plastic Gray end braces	LL00, L, T, A, [ B, T, SRT, S, C, ] D, P, DI, LL0 LL01, LL02, LL03, DF, [ CF, CIF, K, CI, C, ] D, LL3, LL2, LL1 5/4-line Duplex indicator, Extended capacity log log rule, has (P) Pythagorean scale. Leather slip case
694a	Tecnilog	25cm/10" White Plastic Gray end braces	P, T, A, [ B, T, SRT, S, C, ] D, DI, K L, LL3, DF, [ CF, CIF, CI, C, ] D, LL2, LL1 1/4-line Duplex indicator, Extended capacity trig rule, has (P) Pythagorean scale. Leather flap case
698	Electronic Duplex Log Log	25cm/10" White Plastic Gray end braces	f, Xc, Xl, A, [ B, Ind, Cap, CI, C, ] D, f', f, Log/dB ST, T, S, DF, [ CF, CIF, K, CI, C, ] D, LL3, LL2, LL1 leather slip case Multi-line Duplex indicator, Specialty electronics engineering rule for direct calculation of frequency, capacitive reactance, inductive reactance, etc. Leather flap case
1600	Rietz C.A.P.	25cm/10" White Plastic	cm ruler L, T, A, [ B, K, CI, C, ] D, S, ST, T [ BLANK ] 3 line Simplex indicator, General purpose simplex trig rule. 2 part maroon (later gray) plastic hard case
1614	Log Log C.A.P.	25cm/10" White Plastic	cm ruler LL2, LL3, L, A, [ B, K, CI, C, ] D, S, ST, T [ BLANK ] 3 line Simplex indicator, General purpose high end simplex rule. 2 part maroon (later gray) plastic hard case
1694	Trig	25cm/10" White Plastic	P, K, A, DF, [ CF, L, CI, C, ] D, S, SRT, T 3-line Simplex indicator, Extended capacity trig rule, has (P) Pythagorean scale. Leather flap case
10000	Koh-i-log	25cm/10" White Plastic Gray end braces	LL00, L, T, A, [ B, T, SRT, S, C, ] D, P, DI, LL0 LL01, LL02, LL03, DF, [ CF, CIF, K, CI, C, ] D, LL3, LL2, LL1 1/1-line Duplex indicator, Extended capacity log log rule, has (P) Pythagorean scale. Black Leather flap case
10010	Techno-log	25cm/10" White Plastic Gray end braces	LL01, L, A, [ B, T, SRT, S, C, ] D, DI, LL1 LL02, LL03, DF, [ CF, CIF, K, CI, C, ] D, LL3, LL2 1/1-line Duplex indicator, Extended capacity trig rule with log log scales. Black Leather flap case

CLICK on each image to see the page in full size!

1600/1614 Instructions
here is the full manual packed with these rules (in French), including some application data. This is typical of the instructions supplied with most of the more complex rules. Ther is also a formula chart (strip form) included with some rules.

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