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1969 Slide Rule Competition
Paul Tarantolo, Houston, TX
I won this medal for second place in my district slide rule competition in 1969. The guy that won was my team mate.
Both of us were using Gilson Binary circular slide rules. All of the other competitors were using straight slide rules - mostly Pickett brand.
The Gilson circular rule was more accurate and faster to use than the normal 10" straight rules which probably gave us an edge over the others.
I used that same slide rule in college until I acquired an HP-35 in my junior year. It felt pretty good to place second given that it was my first and only slide rule competition.
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Reproduction Magnifier for Dempster RotaRule
W. Richard Davis, Las Vegas, Nevada
The original Dempster Magnifier (shown in the lower right) is missing on many Dempster RotaRules. I decided I could probably make a reproduction for my collection. My first attempt was put together from parts obtained from the local electronic surplus store (a 2" stainless standoff, a 1/4" shaft coupler, a small magnifying glass, a knurled thumb screw, a brass jamb nut and a stainless steel screw, tapered to insert into the slide rule). Later I refined this design by using a 5/16" diameter standoff with a 1/4" hole drilled through for the magnifying glass. The other components remained the same and are shown in the upper left. I have since replaced the brass jamb nut with a stainless steel nut.
Click picture for larger image
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Before & After - Cleaning a K&E Slide Rule
Clark McCoy, Roseville, CA (www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com)
Slide Rule Cleaning Demonstration
If the problem is general dirt which is the dark looking grime that comes from finger oils being deposited and collecting dirt the simplest method is to use a rag or paper towel lightly wetted with 409 general purpose cleaner. Care should be taken not to get the wood parts of the frame wet. If any wood does get wet wipe it off immediately.
The rule that was chosen for this demonstration is a 20" K&E 4081-5 that was stored in one of K&Es synthetic leather green cases. Apparently under certain storage conditions the chemistry of the green case and the metal parts on the rule are not compatible. The cursor frames were corroded so bad that they fell apart. I salvaged the cursor glass and the end blocks of the cursor and used these parts to rebuild the cursor on another 20" rule that had rotten cursor blocks.
The rest of this rule had rust marks and some type of green corrosion marks on the slide where it was under the end frames. This green corrosion actually was built up quite a bit.
The first step was to scrape the large parts of the corrosion with the end of a nut pick.
The second step was to use a 320 grit wet-or-dry sand paper in a linear motion along the length of the rule. As you can see this was very effective.
To see more images and description, please visit Clark's website at: www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com
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Clark Mccoy
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Slide Rule Loan Program
Mike Konshak, Louisville, Colorado
If you are an educator, or know an educator, wishing to give your students a hands-on experience with actual slide rules, Mike Konshak, curator of the on-line International Slide Rule Museum will supply quantities of up to 25 matching slide rules for temporary use, free of charge, courtesy of several collectors.
Requests on school letterheads must be received in order for the slide rules to be shipped. The school will be responsible for return postage and safe return of the slide rules in the time period requested.
Contact Mike Konshak : Home: 303-673-9853, Cell: 303-921-8709, or email: curator "at" sliderulemuseum.com
If you are a collector who wishes to participate in this program by furnishing slide rules for loan, please let us know. We are looking for more international contacts. We currently have slide rules in the USA and Australia available for loan.
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Slide Rule Math and Rocket Course
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