Giant Slide Rule Sightings! | ||||
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| Sphere Research Corporation 3394 Sunnyside Rd. West Kelowna, BC, Canada V1Z 2V4 Phone: +1 (250) 769-1834 FAX:+1 (250) 769-4106 A great source for test equipment, repairs, calibrations, useful metrology information, and of course, SLIDE RULES! Just SCROLL DOWN to see everything! | |||
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 Many manufacturers made large slide rules for class demonstrations and as teaching aids. Sizes ranged from 4 to 8 feet in width. Picketts were the most common, as they offered these giant rules for free to schools that bought at least 24 rules. Other makers known to produce large display rules included POST, K+E, Faber-Castell and Aristo. Both simplex and duplex demonstrators were made, but only K+E had an ingenious rotating assembly that allowed simple reversal of the displayed side while mounted. Most are made of painted plywood or similar materials, and large plexiglass cursors. Only a few have survived because most were disposed of by schools over the years once slide rule operation was no longer taught in classes.
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Hemmi 260 + K+E 68-1100   ............CLICK above images for bigger PICs!  
............CLICK above images for bigger PICs! |
  5 and 6 Foot Display Rules from Venezuela!Two amazing finds discovered by collector Amedeo Muscelli, found neglected in local Venezuelan shops. The 5 foot overall Hemmi 260 slide rule is made of wood and painted with an air brush using a template. The cursor is a one sided frame with a wire in the middle, this frame work hooked onto the top of the rule and had to be rehung when the rule was reversed. The K+E 68-1100 Deci-lon is also a painted wooden duplex rule, with a fully working moveable plexiglass cursor. |
 FC 2/83N  CLICK for bigger PIC! |
6 Foot Experimental Rule DisplayAn astonishing display of digital techniques made by Al Kalian, and now proudly hanging in the front office of Sphere Research! Al managed to make a super high resolution scan of an FC 2/83N rule (my favorite), and after many frustrating adventures with printing companies, finally got one to output the file on a giant color plotter. The rest is history, as you see here. Al also discovered that even if he sold them for a zillion dollars each, it would barely cover the staggering production costs, not to mention the frustrations in getting vendors to cooperate, so this is the only one he ever made. Needless to say, we are eternally grateful, as the huge picture is truly breathtaking!. |
Solberg-Francis Texas Magnum CLICK for bigger PIC! |
352 Foot Working rule!An amazing bit of applied science created by Skip Solberg and Jay Francis, and now enshrined in the Guiness Book of World Records! This newspaper clipping tells most of the story pretty well. Early reports are 5 place accuracy, with the ability to resolve 6 places if the heavens are in correct alignment. Needless to say, they are from Texas. I wonder what the case looks like?Is there a belt loop? See also THIS SECTION for a late breaking report on WHY this rule was actually made and where it wound up.... |
 Pickett 7 Foot N1010ES |
7 Foot Teaching Rule, One of Pickett's popular school demonstration rules, held up by (and dwarfing) 5 foot 7 inch slide rule collector Craig Kielhofer. Craig scooped this beauty through an internet offer for sale, and drove to get it rather than trust to the uncertain mercies of motor freight. Pickett used to give these rules to schools that bought 25 rules or more for classes, and thus managed to get their rules prominently displayed in the field of view of many high school and college students all over America. Demo rules existed in many models, both simplex and duplex, and this example is essentially a giant N1010ES. These painted plywood rules also existed in 4 foot formats (much easier to ship, by the way). Here's a look at one end scale detail, and here's the other. 18 scales in total: Front: K, A, [ B, ST, T, S, C, ] D, DI Back: |
 7 foot K+E 68-1100 |
7 Foot Teaching Rule, One of K+E's seldom seen demonstration Deci-lon rules, captured by slide rule collector Al Kalian. Al tracked down this elusive beauty in his hometown of San Francisco, and couldn't turn down the chance to get this rare rule, despite the very healthy price. This is a painted plywood rule, with a plexiglass cursor. Here's a look at one end scale detail, and here's the other. 26 scales in total: Front: Ln-3, Ln-2, Ln-1, Ln-0, A, [ B, T, SRT, S, C, ] D, DI, K Back: Ln, DF, [ CF, CIF, CI, C, ] D, DI, L |
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