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Planned Contents for The Journal of the Oughtred Society
Volume 16, No. 2, 2007
Kate Matthews, Sonora, California
All articles listed are in the hands of our capable editors and are planned for publication in the upcoming issue. However, readers should recognize that because the actual final content may be different due to any number of factors.
- Boardman Slide Rule Collection by McCoy
- Roman Numeral Artihmetic by Kennedy
- Recollections of a Pickett Industries Employee by Boardman
- Surveying Slide Rule by Hughes
- A Nystrom Slide Rule by Schure
- Edmund Wingate’s Rule of 1640
- Leibnitz and his Logarithmic Calculating Cylinder by Rudowski
- Quarter Squares Revisited by McFarland
- Collecting, Preservation and Stewardship by Van Poelje
- Benford’s Logartihmic Distribution of Digits by van der Salm
- More about Slide Chart Devices by Wyman
- A Summary of Gauging Practices Employed by English Excise Officers by Wyman
- Buying and Selling Slide Rules and Related Items on eBay by Gotlib
- IM 2007 – The Dutch Excel Again by Wyman
- The Oughtred Society Award
- Book Reviews
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The Oughtred Society Swap Sheet Online
Gary Flom, Stockbridge, Georgia
The swap sheet is located at www.oughtred.org.
This is the marketplace for buying and selling slide rules through The Oughtred Society web site. In addition, many people place listings seeking information for research or personal interest.
Starting a few months ago, we opened the swap sheet such that non-members may also post listings as well as participate in transactions.
Placing a listing, as well as transacting, is free of charge. A listing will post for 4 months, and you may renew your posting at that time, just let me know.
The swap sheet is updated on the first Sunday, every other month. We would like to see more activity in the swap sheet. It used to be much more active.
Please send listings to me at any time. They will post with the next update.
This is a great place to sell or buy slide rules, as the participants are quite knowledgeable about slide rules, and all transactions have been a pleasant experience.
The equivalent of a hundred percent positive feedback!
swapsheet "at" oughtred.org
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Promotion of the Oughtred Society on Individual Websites
The Editors
Do you have a website? Promote the Oughtred Society by placing an announcement on the home page of your site. This activity has been started by a few website owners.
The suggested announcement is : "Interested in Slide Rules? Join The Oughtred Society. International organization dedicated to the preservation and history of slide rules and other calculating instruments. www.oughtred.org"
See these sites :
Dick Lyons' Otis King site
Jay Francis' The Slide Rule Guy
Paul Ross’ The Slide Rule Trading Co.
Mike Konshak's International Slide Rule Museum
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International Slide Rule Group -- Recent Discussion Highlights
Jerry McKenna, Randall, Minnesota
- Zero tolerance for slider solution
(There were several threads here including one on a student’s rule.)
The reference marker for scale-center is difficult to see, but there is one at each end of the rule. The router's collet (not required here anyhow) is removed to achieve the proper angle for the cutter attachment. The camera distortion makes the ruler look really long, but it's actually only about 10.5"
(See photo at left.)
--Tim
The problem with printers depends on the direction you print the scales. If the scale runs in the direction that the paper moves through the printer, then you will get inaccuracies due to variations in paper feeding speed (due to slippage). If the scale runs perpendicular to that (i.e. across the page), it should be as accurate as the precision of the printer allows.
--Stefan Vorkoetter
Centering the spindle seems to be the most difficult task in making a circular slide rule (the
slight errors on a few of my Concise rules relate to marginally off-centre spindles). CD packs and spindles seem to offer a precision solution, if scales can be centered precisely enough when printing onto disks. Alternatively, I wonder if the scales could be printed onto other media, which might then be more easily positioned precisely on the CD
--Cyril Catt
- Lubricating Faber-Castell 2/83N and other plastic body rules
(The consensus is to use some product with silicone oil in it.)
“ First step is ALWAYS to clean all surfaces. ….
Finally, spray some Pledge (furniture polish) on a soft cloth, and wipe all the sliding surfaces. This works MUCH better than any heavy lubricant , like silicone grease.”
-- Walter Shawlee 2
(Author’s note : Pledge contains silicone oil. Faber-Castell’s instructions recommend
Vaseline or silicone oil … and they spell it silicon oil.)
“I read in one of Pickett's instruction books to use silicone. They said it gets into the metal. I tried it and it works much better than any grease I have tried. I used a silicone penetrating oil.”
-- KKayser
"I believe that the polish works better in some cases - my Deci-Lon and Doric like this better."
-- Ray Johnson
I use Vaseline just for the cleaning part. I put some on the slide and then insert it back in the rule and work it back and forth several times. Then remove the slide and with a rag, wipe off the grey junk from the slide and inside the grooves of the stators. Repeat this until there is no more grey that rubs off.
-- Gary Flom
Editor's Note : To view The International Slide Rule Group's complete discussions, see www.tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sliderule
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Promotion of the Oughtred Society in eBay Auctions
The Editors, Earth
Do you ever sell on eBay? Promote the Oughtred Society by placing a notice in your auction description …as does OS member Ron Knapp … baja_ron on eBay.
He displays the OS logo plus "Interested in Slide Rules? Join The Oughtred Society. International organization dedicated to the preservation and history of slide rules and other calculating instruments. www.oughtred.org"
Write to us at osbulletin "at" zipnet.us and we will send you a copy of the OS logo and this message, ready for you to place into your auction!
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Quotations, Facts and Fun Things
Ted Hume, San Angelo, Texas
Experience is what enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Franklin P. Jones
25 = per cent of your bones which are in your feet
It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations if you live near him.
J. R. R. Tolkien
10 million = people who have the same birthday as you
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries,
is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'
Isaac Asimov
10 = per cent of all human beings ever born who are alive at this very moment
Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children."
Author Unknown
43.7 = per cent of all statistics which are made up on the spot
Fun Math Trick ---
- Cut a coin in half (a bolt cutter works well for this, or a hacksaw.) Keep it with 3 other coins in your pocket.
- Ask someone to select a number between 1 and 10 (or between 1 and 20, or 1 and 100, if they are quick at mental math) and not tell you what it is.
- Tell them to double the number.
- Then add 7.
- Then divide by 2.
- Then subtract the original number.
- Now say, “What would you say if I told you I had the same number of coins in my closed hand as the last number you calculated?
- (The answer to their calculations is 3½, no matter what number they selected to start. It is ½ of the 7 they added. If you tell them to add 5, the answer will be 2½, etc.)
- Very few will believe you have 3½ coins in your hand ! When you drop them on the table, your friends will be quite surprised!
- (If you use this trick to win bets, our commission is 25%!)
- Those of you who are algebra fans can easily write the equation for this trick and see how it works.
You are invited to contribute your favorite quotations, facts and fun things. Send them to osbulletin "at" zipnet.us
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Suggestion Box / Questions & Answers / Letters to the Editor
The Editors
The Suggestion Box is now open. We constantly strive for improvement and invite your comments, suggestions, questions, feedback and participation. Whether or not this Bulletin continues will be based upon feedback from the readers. If there is little to no feedback, then the Bulletin may be discontinued, so please let us know your what you think, good or bad. Emails can be sent to osbulletin “at” zipnet.us
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