Slide Rule & Calculator Museum
 

Click to view details on Slide Rules : Their History, Models, And Makers, by Peter HoppSlide rules have come in different formats over the years. The most familiar is probably the  3-part model with a fixed outer frame and a sliding inner rod, and a sliding clear window with a reticle line etched into it for aligning numbers (the cursor). While Click for more info on Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, by Dieter von Jezierskifar from being any type of "collection," I do have a couple nicely preserved models. The ones from Keufel & Esser (K&E) are at the top of the table below. The Beginner's slide rule model is very basic with graduations on one side and some conversions on the other. The best of all is the Pickett N600 ES Log Log that is in new condition and actually still has the box, leather case, instructions and certificate. The   Pickett N600 ES is the slide rule model that went to the moon with the Apollo astronauts (not the one I own, of course).

Simulated Pickett N909-ES Slide Rule - online & interactive - excellent!Finally, a few of the cardboard calculator I have are at the bottom. Probably only the VSWR Calculator from M/A-COM can be considered collectible. My good friend Patrick Fitzgerald bestowed it upon me when I went to work for him at General Electric right out of college. I can recall some of the older engineers still using slide rules there when I arrived in the 1980s. In fact, the first algebra textbook I had in a community college right out of high school in 1976 had a section in it on how to use a slide rule. The Sterling 684 plastic slide rule that I bought at the bookstore is show below. Shortly thereafter, the HP-35 hit the market and the world changed forever (now that was truly a disruptive technology).

Click for more info on Slide Rules and Submarines: American Scientists and Subsurface Warfare in World War II, by Montgomery C. Meigs Here is the definitive source: International Slide Rule Museum
      Slide Rule Library Archive of books, manuals, instructions and ephemera
      Instructions on how to use a slide rule

Or, try the Slide Rule Guy

Visit the Oughtred Society (William Oughtred - inventor of the slide rule in 1622)
Buy new-in-the-box, mint condition slide rules
Here is a website on vintage instruments (slide rules and other instruments of math, drafting, science, and music)

My Personal Slide Rule Collection

RF Cafe - FXR (Microlab/FXR) Slide Rule / Smith Chart (this is the Smith Chart side)RF Cafe - FXR (Microlab/FXR) Slide Rule / Smith Chart
Smith Chart Side

RF Cafe - FXR (Microlab/FXR) Slide Rule / Smith Chart (this is the slide rule side)RF Cafe - FXR (Microlab/FXR) Slide Rule / Smith Chart
Slide Rule Side

FXR (now Microlab/FXR)
Combination Smith Chart Calculator
and Slide Rule

(thanks to Gary Steinhour for the donation)

Pickett N600 ES Log-Log Slide Rule - the same model that the Apollo astronauts took to the moon with them

Original Pickett N600 ES Log-Log Slide Rule Box

Pickett N600 ES Log-Log Slide Rule Certificates

Pickett N600 ES Log-Log Slide Rule
(this is the same model that went to
 the moon w/the Apollo astronauts)

K&E Model N4080-3 Log Log Duplex Trig S/N 467192, Copyright 1947

K&E Model N4080-3 Log Log Duplex Trig
S/N 467192, Copyright 1947
Slide Rule
(wooden frame & bar w/metal ends)

K&E Model 4081-3 Slide Rule S/N 087105

K&E Model 4081-3 Slide Rule
S/N 087105
(wooden frame & bar w/metal ends)

Sterling 684 White Plastic Slide Rule

Sterling 684 White Plastic Slide Rule
(I bought this for my first algebra class in 1976)

M/A-COM VSWR Calculator

M/A-COM VSWR Calculator
(copyright 1983)
M/A-COM VSWR Calculator

(flip side w/ratio-to-dB converters)

 

Lawrence Slide Rule Instruction Book
Lawrence Slide Rule Instruction Book
(copyright 1952)

Cleveland Institute of Electronics, Slide Rule Product Feature, January 1965 Popular Science
Cleveland Institute of Electronics
Slide Rule Product Feature
January 1965 Popular Science

Skala Slide Rule - markings on leather case include "SP-NIA"  "PRACY" "WARSZAWA" "WILCZA 32"

Skala Slide Rule LogoSkala Wilcza 32 Wooden Slide Rule
(Poland)
Thanks to Alan Kealey for the donation!

Pickett N1010-T Slide Rule
(found in my father-in-law's basement)

Cleveland Institute 515-T Slide Rule, made by Pickett

Cleveland Institute 515-T Slide Rule, made by Pickett

Cleveland Institute 515-T Slide Rule, made by Pickett

Cleveland Institute 515-T Slide Rule
(made by Pickett)
Send me an e-mail if you want a PDF file of a partial (10 pages) copy of the instruction manual.

K&E Beginner's Slide Rule Model 4058C

K&E Beginner's Slide Rule Model 4058C

K&E Beginner's Slide Rule
Model 4058C
(all-wood frame & bar)

GE Mobile Radio Range and Transmitter Power Calculator - Front Side

GE Mobile Radio Range and Transmitter Power Calculator - Back Side
GE Mobile Radio
Range and Transmitter Power Calculator
(copyright 1977)
Thanks to Alan Kealey for the donation!

Andrew Microwave Antenna System Computer

Andrew Microwave Antenna System Computer
(copyright 1994)
Andrew Microwave Antenna System Computer

(flip side w/coaxial transmission line selector)

Sage Wireline/Wirepac Calculator

Sage Wireline/Wirepac Calculator
(copyright 1992)
Sage Wireline/Wirepac Calculator

(flip side w/mechanical dimensions drawings)

Other Interesting Slide Rule Configurations

From the International Slide Rule Museum website
Gong Se He Ying
Metalworking calculator for Iron materials

Slide rule wallpaper
Slide Rule Wallpaper
Click on the image to open it in a new window, then right-click on it and choose
Set as Background

Texas Magnum - World's Longest Slide Rule
Texas Magnum
World's Longest Slide Rule
(352 feet long, 300 pounds)

From the International Slide Rule Museum website
Soviet Slide Rule Watch

From the Slide Rule Guy website
Projection Slide Rule