On 3 Jun 2008 18:50:07 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

I just found the British Thornton one I bought in the second week of
October 1970! More to the point, it has the instructions...

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...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:48:15 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Bruce wrote:
Bob Minchin wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 07:07:27 UTC, Rod wrote:

Before we used slide rules, it was books of tables. Gawd, those
interpolation columns... Can you find yours and use that?
Mine are right here on the shelf. I *think* I can remember...

(Can you still buy such things? I'd be surprised if anyone is still
printing them.)
Hmmm. Amazon have books *containing* such tables, in print. But they're
basically books on other subjects, with tables included.

Nearly 40 years after I last used log tables I can still remember that
log Pi is 0.4971 as well as log 2, 3,5 & 6.
Sad or what?


I can recall pi (to ten places) = 3.141592754. Even sadder?

What about 'e'?

2.71 something innit?

2·71828, ISTR.

--
Frank Erskine

In message , Adrian C
writes
John Rumm wrote:

http://www.taswegian.com/TwoHeaded/U...niVirtual.html


Now that is cool ...

:-)

takes me back to days of slide rules, log tables, "turn the handle"
calculator machines

and this thing ...
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/mathematics/1986-1556.aspx


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.

But I was a decimal taught kid at school. Work that one out ;-)


--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

nightjar cpb@ wrote:

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
...

A couple of years back, I decided I would like a slide rule but
had long since lost my school one (British Thornton). Picked one
up on ebay, complete with original box and instructions and P&P
for under 10 quid.

I found that even not having used one for over 30 years, I still
remembered exactly how to use it.


Mine is a double sided rule with all sorts of odd outer scales and I'm not
sure I ever knew how to use all of them.

I am not alone then :-)

Dave

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
"nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here.me.uk writes:

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
...

A couple of years back, I decided I would like a slide rule but
had long since lost my school one (British Thornton). Picked one
up on ebay, complete with original box and instructions and P&P
for under 10 quid.

I found that even not having used one for over 30 years, I still
remembered exactly how to use it.

Mine is a double sided rule with all sorts of odd outer scales and I'm not
sure I ever knew how to use all of them.


The one I had at school was double-sided, but that wasn't
necessary for school work. It was my dad's, and he's a
physicist. The one I picked up from ebay is just single sided.

If you search with google, you can find people with pages
of just about every slide rule ever produced and what all
the scales on them were.

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

Bob Minchin wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:

On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 07:07:27 UTC, Rod wrote:

Before we used slide rules, it was books of tables. Gawd, those
interpolation columns... Can you find yours and use that?


Mine are right here on the shelf. I *think* I can remember...

(Can you still buy such things? I'd be surprised if anyone is still
printing them.)


Hmmm. Amazon have books *containing* such tables, in print. But
they're basically books on other subjects, with tables included.

Nearly 40 years after I last used log tables I can still remember that
log Pi is 0.4971 as well as log 2, 3,5 & 6.
Sad or what?

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

Dave

Adam Funk wrote:

On 2008-06-02, Bob Minchin wrote:


Dave, If the slide rule is a wooden one, there is sometimes a spring
deliberately designed to push the A & D scales together to compensate
for natural movement in the sliding section.
Graphite from a B pencil rubbed on the sliding surfaces can be helpful.


Rubbing beeswax or a candle on the sliding surfaces can also help (and
won't leave marks on your fingers, etc.).

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

Dave

Bob Mannix wrote:

The best such book (I have a copy) is the "Science Data Book" editted by RM
Tennent. It has the common tables plus a huge amount about materials,
chemistry, physics, common formulae etc.

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)



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Just got back from a google and I was amazed at how much detail has been
archived on them. Fantastic.

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 :-}

The message
from Colin Wilson
o.uk contains these
words:

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 :-}

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. :-)

--
Roger Chapman

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 02:50:11 UTC, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

Just got back from a google and I was amazed at how much detail has been
archived on them. Fantastic.

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 :-}

No, you don't. They're essentially (oversimplifying) a mechanical
version of log tables and a simple adding machine.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here.me.uk writes:

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
...
A couple of years back, I decided I would like a slide rule but
had long since lost my school one (British Thornton). Picked one
up on ebay, complete with original box and instructions and P&P
for under 10 quid.

I found that even not having used one for over 30 years, I still
remembered exactly how to use it.

Mine is a double sided rule with all sorts of odd outer scales and I'm
not
sure I ever knew how to use all of them.

The one I had at school was double-sided, but that wasn't
necessary for school work. It was my dad's, and he's a
physicist. The one I picked up from ebay is just single sided.

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.

If you search with google, you can find people with pages
of just about every slide rule ever produced and what all
the scales on them were.

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

Colin Bignell

On Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:40:56 +0100, Dave wrote:

I wanted to show our g daughters what we used for a calculator before
electronic calculators came into existence, but it has developed a fault.

Of course, those in the know used a Curta!

http://www.vcalc.net/curta_simulator_en.htm

--
the dot wanderer at tesco dot net

"Adam Funk" wrote in message
...
On 2008-06-02, Bob Minchin wrote:

Dave, If the slide rule is a wooden one, there is sometimes a spring
deliberately designed to push the A & D scales together to compensate
for natural movement in the sliding section.
Graphite from a B pencil rubbed on the sliding surfaces can be helpful.

Rubbing beeswax or a candle on the sliding surfaces can also help (and
won't leave marks on your fingers, etc.).

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

Mary

"Bruce" wrote in message
...
Andy Champ wrote:

Bruce wrote:


I can recall pi (to ten places) = 3.141592754. Even sadder?

Yes. You got it wrong! :P

I remembered the 1st 8 digits and just asked Windows Calc to check for
me that it's

3.141592 6 535897932384626433832795 (about)

The isolated digit being the last one I remembered, and the first one
you have wrong...


Well that's it then. I am officially ...

OLD. :-(

Far better than being young!

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote:
"Bruce" wrote:

Well that's it then. I am officially ...

OLD. :-(

Far better than being young!


Thank you, Mary, for rescuing me!

Mary Fisher wrote:

"Adam Funk" wrote in message
...

On 2008-06-02, Bob Minchin wrote:


Dave, If the slide rule is a wooden one, there is sometimes a spring
deliberately designed to push the A & D scales together to compensate
for natural movement in the sliding section.
Graphite from a B pencil rubbed on the sliding surfaces can be helpful.

Rubbing beeswax or a candle on the sliding surfaces can also help (and
won't leave marks on your fingers, etc.).


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

I might revert to an angle grinder yet :-)

Dave

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

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 :-}

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:24:28 UTC, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

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

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 :-}

http://www.hpmuseum.org/srinst.htm

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:

"Adam Funk" wrote in message
...

On 2008-06-02, Bob Minchin wrote:


Dave, If the slide rule is a wooden one, there is sometimes a spring
deliberately designed to push the A & D scales together to compensate
for natural movement in the sliding section.
Graphite from a B pencil rubbed on the sliding surfaces can be helpful.

Rubbing beeswax or a candle on the sliding surfaces can also help (and
won't leave marks on your fingers, etc.).


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

I might revert to an angle grinder yet :-)

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

Mary

On 2008-06-04, Mary Fisher wrote:

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

You're right; thanks for the correction.

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 :-}
http://www.hpmuseum.org/srinst.htm

I'd already tried looking at that, but it's starting to make a little
more sense now :-}

I suppose it'd help if I knew what the hell the different scales I was
supposed to be looking at were !

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 20:14:54 UTC, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

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 :-}
http://www.hpmuseum.org/srinst.htm

I'd already tried looking at that, but it's starting to make a little
more sense now :-}

I suppose it'd help if I knew what the hell the different scales I was
supposed to be looking at were !

Use the link at the bottom of the page I quoted, to get 'back' to a page
that explains a bit more.

Most basic are the A and B scales; simple scales for multiplication.
Slide 1 on B to the multiplicand on A. Then read off the product on A
against the multiplier on B (any value you like, so it makes a kind of
'times table').

C and D are similar but only cover one order of magnitude instead of
two. This gives better accuracy, but at the expense of 'going off the
end' and having to scale things sometimes.

DF and CF (if you have them) work similarly, but run from pi to pi*10,
which keeps some calculations in a more convenient pace on the rule.

Other scales (rules vary) have simple read-offs of squares and cubes,
log, sin, tan, exp, reciprocals, etc.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Mary Fisher wrote on 03/06/2008 :
The mention of logs reminded me that I still have the tables, I don't need to
use them any more (don't use a calculator either for the basic sums I can do
in my head) but I loved any excuse to use them when at school. They were
fascinating!

I first came across slide rules at college and also found them
absolutely fascinating - once you had accepted the idea of not needing
absolute precision.

I have never been much good at doing it in my head, I always need to
write the figures down to help me 'visualise' it. I suffer a poor short
term memory, unless I put in a massive effort to remember figures. I
must say I do occasionally ignoring a calculator and working things out
on paper just to refresh the way I was taught combined with the self
taught short cuts I devised.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

In message , Adrian C
writes
John Rumm wrote:

http://www.taswegian.com/TwoHeaded/U...niVirtual.html


Now that is cool ...

:-)

takes me back to days of slide rules, log tables, "turn the handle"
calculator machines

and this thing ...
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/mathematics/1986-1556.aspx

But I was a decimal taught kid at school. Work that one out ;-)


Ooh, I had one similar, but in green, circa 1965


--
geoff

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 17:53:02 UTC, Adrian C wrote:

takes me back to days of slide rules, log tables, "turn the handle"
calculator machines

and this thing ...
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/mathematics/1986-1556.aspx

But I was a decimal taught kid at school. Work that one out ;-)

I have one of these, in working condition...!


http://www.vintage-technology.info/p...achikk562a.htm

I bet there are a dozen of those in my parents' garage

--
geoff

In message , John Rumm
writes
Bob Mannix wrote:

The best such book (I have a copy) is the "Science Data Book" editted
by RM Tennent. It has the common tables plus a huge amount about
materials, chemistry, physics, common formulae etc.

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)

Pah - there is only one ...

Kaye and Labey

As for log tables - light blue book with white text on the cover,
somewhere


--
geoff

In message , Bruce
writes
Bob Minchin wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 07:07:27 UTC, Rod wrote:

Before we used slide rules, it was books of tables. Gawd, those
interpolation columns... Can you find yours and use that?

Mine are right here on the shelf. I *think* I can remember...

(Can you still buy such things? I'd be surprised if anyone is still
printing them.)

Hmmm. Amazon have books *containing* such tables, in print. But they're
basically books on other subjects, with tables included.

Nearly 40 years after I last used log tables I can still remember that
log Pi is 0.4971 as well as log 2, 3,5 & 6.
Sad or what?


I can recall pi (to ten places) = 3.141592754. Even sadder?

I USED to be able to do it to 30 places

but then, I used to know the correct name for the capital of Thailand
too

(Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok
Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman
Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit)

sad, or what ?

--
geoff

Most basic are the A and B scales; simple scales for multiplication.
Slide 1 on B to the multiplicand on A. Then read off the product on A
against the multiplier on B (any value you like, so it makes a kind of
'times table').

I'm looking at the virtual one at:

http://www.taswegian.com/TwoHeaded/U...niVirtual.html

....and I really can't get my head around even the "simple" one - there
is no B :-}

In article ,
geoff writes:

but then, I used to know the correct name for the capital of Thailand
too

(Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok
Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman
Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit)

sad, or what ?

Or is that the Thai version of the early 1970's Pepsi advert?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NNMDQ3f6Y94

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:

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 :-}
http://www.hpmuseum.org/srinst.htm

I'd already tried looking at that, but it's starting to make a little
more sense now :-}

I suppose it'd help if I knew what the hell the different scales I was
supposed to be looking at were !


They are logarithmic scales. You add the logarithm of one number to
the logarithm of the other. The sum or the two logarithms is the
logarithm of the product of the two numbers.

In other words, log(a) + log(b) = Log (a x b).

For example, log(2) + log(3) = log(6)

The slide rule makes the conversion into logarithms for you. All you
have to do is input the two numbers, and read off their product.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 22:28:48 UTC, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

Most basic are the A and B scales; simple scales for multiplication.
Slide 1 on B to the multiplicand on A. Then read off the product on A
against the multiplier on B (any value you like, so it makes a kind of
'times table').

I'm looking at the virtual one at:

http://www.taswegian.com/TwoHeaded/U...niVirtual.html

...and I really can't get my head around even the "simple" one - there
is no B :-}

I'm not surprised - that is a bit weird. You can add and remove scales,
and everything, but...

Here's a nice simple one...!

http://www.antiquark.com/sliderule/s...l-n909-es.html
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 22:42:03 UTC, Bruce wrote:

Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:

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 :-}
http://www.hpmuseum.org/srinst.htm

I'd already tried looking at that, but it's starting to make a little
more sense now :-}

I suppose it'd help if I knew what the hell the different scales I was
supposed to be looking at were !


They are logarithmic scales. You add the logarithm of one number to
the logarithm of the other. The sum or the two logarithms is the
logarithm of the product of the two numbers.

If you look at the emulator mentioned, you'll see why he's confused!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
geoff writes:

but then, I used to know the correct name for the capital of Thailand
too

(Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok
Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman
Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit)

sad, or what ?

Or is that the Thai version of the early 1970's Pepsi advert?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NNMDQ3f6Y94


dunno - I don't have audio on this computer

I learnt it in Thailand in the mid 70's

--
geoff

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

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 :-}

Sliderules don't do sums. They do multiplicatin and division, and trig
and logs.

You are expected to be able to add up before you use one.

On 2008-06-04 23:31:16 +0100, (Andrew
Gabriel) said:

In article ,
geoff writes:

but then, I used to know the correct name for the capital of Thailand
too

(Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok
Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman
Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit)

sad, or what ?

Or is that the Thai version of the early 1970's Pepsi advert?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NNMDQ3f6Y94

I think she's speaking Danish...

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Colin Wilson wrote:
No, you don't. They're essentially (oversimplifying) a mechanical
version of log tables and a simple adding machine.

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 :-}

Sliderules don't do sums. They do multiplicatin and division, and trig and
logs.

If you are going to be pedantic.. they only add or subtract numbers.
You are expected to know what the scales mean.


You are expected to be able to add up before you use one.

No need, I have seen slide rule price comparators that were simple enough
for a granny to work out which pack was cheapest, no sums involved.

"Bob Eager" wrote:

If you look at the emulator mentioned, you'll see why he's confused!


Good grief! How to make a simple task complicated! ;-)

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 15:32:53 UTC, Bruce wrote:

"Bob Eager" wrote:

If you look at the emulator mentioned, you'll see why he's confused!

Good grief! How to make a simple task complicated! ;-)

The one I mentioned afterwards is usable with the basic directions I
gave...

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Most basic are the A and B scales; simple scales for multiplication.
Slide 1 on B to the multiplicand on A. Then read off the product on A
against the multiplier on B (any value you like, so it makes a kind of
'times table').
http://www.taswegian.com/TwoHeaded/U...niVirtual.html
...and I really can't get my head around even the "simple" one - there
is no B :-}
I'm not surprised - that is a bit weird. You can add and remove scales,
and everything, but...
Here's a nice simple one...!
http://www.antiquark.com/sliderule/s...l-n909-es.html

OK, plan B

Result: still can't get my head around it :-}

I think you were talking about moving the cursor to the value of B on
A, once you set the A & B to the values you want to multiply to read
the answer.

The first one I tried worked, but nothing beyond that :-}