Concise 300 Circular Slide Rule

someonesdad1@gmail.com 27 Aug 2012

This document looks at the Concise 300 circular slide rule, one of the few slide rules that is still in
production. At the time of writing, the could !e purchased from Concise in "apan for roughl #$0.
Why bother writing such a thing?
% can&t think of anone who would 'oluntaril gi'e up their electronic calculator or computer and go
!ack to the old methods of slide rules, ta!les, and hand calculations. (o %&m not writing this to
con'ince ou to do so. )ather, the intent is to alert ou to a tool that ou might occasionall find
useful.
*hen % went to college, the hand+held electronic calculator didn&t e,ist, so we had to use the old
techni-ues to get answers. % was happ to sa good riddance to them when electronic calculators
!ecame a'aila!le. .owe'er, after spending a career doing technical stuff, %&'e amended m
opinions a little !it/ there are occasions where hand calculations and slide rule calculations are
appropriate ++ mainl !ecause ou don&t ha'e a calculator or computer hand. %&'e co'ered the
mechanics of such stuff in 0dinosaur1.
2 reason for writing this is that the Concise 300 is one of a 'er few slide rules that are still !eing
manufactured ++ and ou ma find that ha'ing a slide rule can pro'e useful. %f m Concise 300 is
representati'e of how the current ones are manufactured, then it&s a slide rule that will outlast ou if
ou take care of it. % still ha'e a 345 2annheim slide rule that !elonged to m grandfather ++ and it
was made around 1610 7% can date it rather accuratel !ecause of the cursor stle and !ecause m
grandfather was !orn in the 1860&s9. %t does e'erthing it alwas has ++ and, e'en after 100 ears,
the !atteries still ha'en&t gone dead.
What is it?
The Concise 300 is a circular slide rule 110 mm in diameter. %t has a mass of $8 g. The !od of the
rule is 3.: mm thick and the ma,imum thickness of the rule is o'er the ri'et, which is 6 mm at the
thickest part. The thickness o'er the transparent cursor is ;.2 mm.
.ere&s a picture of what %&ll call the front of the rule/
Figure 1
.ere&s the !ack of the rule/
The diameter of the C and < scales are 80 mm, meaning their linear length is 80 or 2;1 mm or 6.6
inches. This means the resolution of the slide rule is the same as the tpical 10 inch linear slide
rule. =ut it&s more compact than a 10 inch linear slide rule and can slip into a tpical shirt pocket.
This is the reason % prefer a circular slide rule for general calculations o'er a linear slide rule.
5ach side of the rule consists of a fi,ed portion> the two fi,ed portions contain the <, A, and 3 scales
on the front and <, ??2, and ??3 scales on the !ack. 5ach side has a rotating disk> !oth rotating
disks ha'e a C scale at their @< that meshes with the < scale to pro'ide for multiplication and
di'ision. %t re-uires good manufacturing to get a close and concentric fit !etween the rotating scale
and the fi,ed scale.
The two sides of the rule are independent and not tpicall used together. %f ou put the cursor on
the 1 of the < scale on one side, it will !e lined up with the 1 on the < scale of the other side.
=ecause the < scale has its num!ers increase clockwise on each side, ou can theoreticall set a
num!er on one < scale, then flip the rule o'er and read the reciprocal on the other scale. % sa
theoreticall !ecause in practice, this doesn&t work as well as using the C and C% scales for
reciprocals. Aor e,ample, on m 300, setting the cursor o'er 2.; and flipping the rule gi'es 3.66 on
Figure 2
the other scale 7it should !e $.009.
Construction
The rule appears to !e made from a sheet plastic like BCC. %&'e seen slide rules made ! Concise
hold up well, as % ha'e some that % !ought 30D ears ago
1
and the still work well. The construction
is good and, with care, these slide rules should work indefinitel. The graduations and lettering
appear to !e chemicall etched and the indentations are filled with !lack or red coloring. Thus,
mo'ing our fingers o'er the rule should ne'er wear the markings off like can happen with cheaper
rules that Eust print the markings on the surface.
%f % had to guess how the&re made, there are two thicknesses of BCC sheet/ 0.8 mm and 1.; mm.
The main !od would !e constructed ! gluing two annuli and a disk together> the side 'iew would
!e
The ellow annuli are 0.8 mm thick and pro'ide the relief for the inner rotating scales 7light orange9
on each side. The gra disk is 1.; mm thick and pro'ides the slide rule&s rigidit.
The two rotating disks are 80 mm in diameter and are 0.8 mm thick.
The slide rule is held together ! a metal assem!l 7%&ll call it a ri'et9 that is pro!a!l pressed
together and permanentl assem!les itself through some metal deformation. 5ach rotating disk has
a wa' washer to pro'ide friction along with what appears to !e a thin 7perhaps 0.1 mm thick9 BCC
washer to insulate the rotating disk from the wa' washer. The metal ri'et also holds the clear
plastic cursor, which is a piece that is !ent o'er 180F and has hairlines scri!ed and filled on them
7with red paint or ink9. % suspect the primar purpose of the wa' washers is to pro'ide suita!le
friction for the cursor.
The plastic cursor is made from a transparent plastic a!out 0.8 mm thick. The edges ha'e !een
milled and the cursor was pro!a!l !ent while warm into the final position. %t&s likel either
polcar!onate or acrlic. =ecause of the wa a small section of it scratched with a small
screwdri'er, % would guess it&s acrlic.
@ne of the !eauties of such a tool is that once it&s assem!led correctl, there&s !asicall nothing that
can go wrong with it after that 7e,cluding a design flaw9. Concise has !een making slide rules since
16$6, so %&ll assume the&'e got the process down pat. The onl things that % can en'ision that would
damage these slide rules would !e/
1. 5,cessi'e heat. The manual sas to not e,pose them to temperatures greater than :0 FC
71$0 FA9.
2. (ome organic sol'ents.
3. (trong acids or !ases or acidicG!asic 'apors.
$. =eing left out in the sun which can cause HC discoloration and em!rittlement if the plastic isn&t
HC+sta!iliIed.
;. 2echanical damage 7!eing run o'er ! a car, chewed on ! a dog, a!rasion, etc.9.
:. (trong nuclear radiations.
7. =eing put into a microwa'e o'en.
% would imagine that the rule could !e resistant to ha'ing things like coffee or a soft drink spilled on
1 @ne of them has some faint ellowing of the transparent plastic of the cursor, a pro!lem common to the
cursors on the old Jilson slide rules made with celluloid in the 1630&s to 16;0&s. Another one % !ought at the
same time has no ellowing.
)otating scale
K=ack!oneK
it. %t would pro!a!l clean up well in hot 7no more than :0 FC9, clean tap water ! rinsing a num!er
of times 7a mild detergent wouldn&t hurt anthing, !ut %&d use the plain water first to see if it did the
Eo!9.
%nspection of the marks and lettering with $L and 10L loupes show that the marks are 'er clean
and well+made. % would assume that the method in'ol'es an etching process, as etching technolog
has !een well+de'eloped for the semiconductor industr. At 10L magnification, the lettering appears
to ha'e !een made ! a computer image.
The finish of the rule&s surface is predominantl matte, !ut there&s a small amount of specular
reflection. %t&s not annoing enough to interfere with the use of the rule.
How it's made
%t&s fun to speculate on how the slide rule itself is made. .ere&s how % would do it, although %&'e not
worked in a place that made things like this, so it&s a guess on m part. %&d ha'e the raw sheet
punched to siIe and de!urred if necessar 7mainl the %< of the annular pieces and the @<s of the
K!ack!oneK and the rotating slides9. The !ack!one would ha'e some mechanism for inde,ing the
rule during su!se-uent construction> %&d pick two tooling holes une-uall spaced in the aIimuthal
direction and with different radii. This would then let the piece fit on su!se-uent tooling in onl one
wa. The central hole for the ri'et could also !e made at this time> it would !e accuratel drilled and
reamed.
The two annuli and the !ack!one would then !e sol'ent welded together. This is eas to do with
BCC> the tpical sol'ent is a mi,ture of tetrahdrofuran, acetone, and 253.
Then the !od assem!l would ha'e the scales chemicall etched on them> the three tooling holes
would pro'ide registration. The lines of the < scale would !e a !it longer than the need to !e, as
the e,cess will get machined off. The lines and lettering would !e filled with appropriate colors at
this point> this is pro!a!l done with the aid of suita!le masks and the paintGink is spraed onto the
plastic. The cleaning step is pro!a!l a careful wipe+off on a flat rag moistened with a suita!le
sol'ent for the ink or paint.
Then the !od assem!l would !e put on a lathe and the two recesses for the mo'ing slides would
!e accuratel machined, as would the @<. A small chamfer would !e put on the @<. This operation
could also !e done on a machine like a pin router, which would !e cheaper than a lathe. %&d want to
do the final machining after the etching to make sure the inner edges were nice and sharp 7lightl
remo'e an !urr9.
The inserts would !e chemicall etched, filled with paintGink, and ha'e their @<s machined to match
the diameter of the machined recesses in the !ack!one.
The cursor is made from a transparent plastic. % would assume the material could !e punched to
rough siIe and the two holes put into the piece 7the holes need to !e accuratel located and ha'e
tight restrictions on siIe so that the cursor doesn&t wo!!le9. Then man pieces could !e ganged
together and ha'e their outside machined to finished siIe. The ne,t step would !e to scri!e or
machine the hairlines accuratel with respect to the two holes and fill them with red paintGink. The
last step would !e to heat and !end the cursor to final shape.
The wa' washers would !e purchased and the ri'et is pro!a!l farmed out to a screw machine
house.
At this point the rule could !e assem!led. %&d assume this is a -uick step, as all an operator would
ha'e to do would !e to assem!le the correct parts together and press the ri'et hal'es together> then
the rule is permanentl assem!led.
Slide rule scales
.ere % descri!e the scales on each side of the rule, starting at the outermost scale and working in
towards the center.
Side 1
@utermost scales on fi,ed part of rule and their use 7, is the setting on the C or < scale9/
3 ,
3
A ,
2
< Jeneral multiplication, di'ision, ratios
%nnermost scales on rotating part of rule and their use 7, is the setting on the C or < scale9/
C Jeneral multiplication, di'ision, ratios
C% )eciprocals
= ,
2
? log7,9
Side 2
@utermost scales on fi,ed part of rule and their use 7, is the setting on the C or < scale9/
??3 e
,
??2 e
0.1,
< Jeneral multiplication, di'ision, ratios
%nnermost scales on rotating part of rule and their use 7, is the setting on the C or < scale9/
C Jeneral multiplication, di'ision, ratios
( sin
+1
7,9, for , from 0.1 to 1
T1 tan
+1
7,9, for , from 0.1 to 1
T2 tan
+1
7,9, for , from 1 to 10
(T sin
+1
7,9 and tan
+1
7,9, for , from 0.01 to 0.1
Intended users
This is a slide rule that is aimed mostl at technical workers. The reason is !ecause of the addition
of the ??2 and ??3 scales> these scales are used to raise num!ers to a power and get natural
logarithms. This is a common task for engineers and scientists.
The other feature that is used ! technical workers is the a!ilit to calculate trigonometric functions.
These are commonl used in the solution of triangles. %f ou don&t need the ?? scales !ut need the
trig functions, the Concise model 270 ma !e a !etter choice, as it has some e,tra scales for use
with the trig scales.
Opinions
Likes
The construction of this rule is first rate. % cannot see an reasona!le wa of impro'ing the e,isting
mechanical design. Hnless the cursor ellows !adl o'er time, % would assume the rule would last
indefinitel. The secret would !e to store the rule out of the light> its cheap 'inl case is suita!le for
this.
An engineering refinement would !e to design a central ri'et that could !e s-ueeIed with the two
fingers. *hen s-ueeIed, the ri'et would clamp the rotating disks so the couldn&t mo'e. The one
danger when using a rule is that there&s a slight mo'ement of the scales while ou&re turning it to get
a look at a needed graduation, leading to a numerical error. This impro'ement could reduce the
chances of that happening.
Another refinement would !e a small adEusting screw on each side that could !e used to adEust the
turning friction of the rotating scales. %t appears that the wa' washer is used to pro'ide the friction,
!ut this is non+adEusta!le. This of course would add to the cost, !ut that would get amortiIed out
easil o'er a long period of time. @ne reason %&d like this feature is that one side of m rule turns a
!it too freel and the other side is Eust perfect ++ and e'erone has different tastes.
The rotating disks are eas to turn with our thum! while the rule is held in one hand. This lea'es
our other hand free for e.g. writing with a pencil. Mou can easil read off s-uares, s-uare roots, trig
'alues, etc. %t&s also not difficult to multipl and di'ide with one hand, although it&s easier with two
hands.
Aor older ees, %&d like the rule scaled up ! roughl 20+2;N and the font siIe of the num!ers to !e
increased. This would make it easier to use without finding a pair of magnifing glasses.
% ha'e a small Jilson slide rule too 7it was sold ! Bost9. %t has impressi'e capa!ilities, !ut % don&t
care for the two+cursor design. % prefer the design of this Concise slide rule. *hile the 8 inch
diameter Jilson =inar was the !est all+around circular slide rule design for accurate calculations
and 'ersatilit, pro!a!l all of us use a calculator or computer for our calculations. *hen a slide rule
is used, it&s for con'enience and speed, not high resolution.
Dislikes
2 !iggest dislike of the Concise 300 slide rule is that on the trig scales, the small angles and
fractions of larger angles are graduated in minutes instead of decimal degrees. Aor e,ample, in
Aigure 2, ou can see that the graduations !etween 7F and 8F are in ; minute inter'als. % ne'er met
anone during m career who liked working with se,agesimal measure and % cannot understand wh
someone would design a slide rule this wa. .owe'er, m whining a!out it won&t change the
markings, so one has to li'e with them. 2 concern is that it&s eas to forget that the scales are
marked this wa !ecause % Eust assume the&re decimal like all the other scales, then make a
mistake when making a calculation. %n m opinion, it&s a design flaw.
A minor nit is that the &&, &, and F marks should !e on all the C and < scales, not the one C scale
on one side of the rule. The C mark is used to get the area of circles from the diameter, so it reall
onl needs to !e on the side of the rule with the A and = scales. =ut since there&s an A outer scale
and an inner = scale, the C mark should !e on !oth the C and < scales. This would let ou use
what&s closest, not ha'e to go looking for it.
hings you can do with it
%f ou&'e ne'er used a slide rule !efore, ou ma !e surprised to learn that the are good tools for
1N tpe calculations. Aor such 1N+tpe calculations, an e,perienced slide rule user usuall gets the
answers faster than a calculator user as long as no addition or su!traction is in'ol'ed.
(ome of the capa!ilities are of the Concise 300 are
2
/
1. 2ultipl and di'ide> general operations like
abc
uvw
are done -uickl with minimum
mo'ements.
2. )atio calculations of the form
x
a
=
c
d
and
a
x
=
c
d
can !e -uickl sol'ed. %n com!ination with the
( scale, this means triangles can !e sol'ed using the sine law. *ith con'ersion factors like
2;.$ mm O 1 inch, unit con'ersions can !e gotten.
3. (ines, cosines, and tangents and their in'erse functions can !e gotten.
$. log7,9 7common logarithm9 and 10
,
can !e calculated.
;. ln7,9 7natural logarithm9 and e
,
can !e calculated.
:. Brofit and markup percentages in !usiness can !e calculated.
2 The tpical linear log+log slide rule does these things too.
7. %n'erse proportional relationships can !e calculated.
8. (-uares and s-uare roots can !e taken.
6. Cu!es and cu!e roots can !e taken.
10. Bowers like ,

can !e calculated.
11. Calculate the area of a circle of known diameter and the diameter of a circle with known area.
Pote/ the Concise 270 slide rule doesn&t ha'e the log log 7??9 scales> instead, it has au,iliar scales
to help with trig calculations. These ancillar trig scales gi'e the rule more power for sol'ing trig
pro!lems.
%n the following material, %&ll gi'e some e,amples of things done with slide rules. The list is certainl
not e,hausti'e> there are man slide rule resources on the we! should ou want to learn more.
Chained calculations
The C, <, and C% scales make it eas to do calculations of the form
a b c
u v w
(uppose we ha'e the pro!lem
$7.8 0.22 7$0
16
The first rule of using an tool to sol'e pro!lems 7slide rule, calculator, computer9 is to appro,imate
the answer> this gi'es ou a check against the actual computation. %f the check num!er and the
computation&s result differ too much, one or !oth are wrong.
The !asic method of appro,imating the answer is to change things to one significant figure andGor
round to a con'enient num!er 7see 0dinosaur1 for more details9. This pro!lem gets changed to
;0 0.2 7;0
20
=
7;0
2
= 37;
which ou should !e a!le to do in our head 7practice with paper and pencil if ou can&t> with practice
ou&ll get !etter9. Mou mentall sa to ourself, K;0 times 0.2 is 10> then cross out the ending Ieros
on the 10 and 20 to get 7;0G2. (ince 0.7; is 3G$ 7ou know our !asic fractions& decimal
e-ui'alents9, half is 3G8, which is 0.37;.K %t takes much longer to write a!out it and read the
e,planation than doing it.
.ere&s the method of doing this chained calculation on the Concise 300 slide rule. 2o'e the cursor
to $.78 on the < scale. Then, ou alwas think of adding logarithms for multipling and su!tracting
them for di'ision. To add the logarithm of 0.22, ou put 2.2 on the C% scale underneath the cursor.
=ecause the C% scale is !ackwards, mo'ing off to the right to the 1 inde, on the C% 7which is also the
inde, for the C scale9 points to the product on the < scale. (ince there&s another multiplication to
do, we don&t use the inde,, !ut mo'e the cursor to 7.$, which gi'es the product on the C scale/ 7.76.
Aor the di'ision, we mo'e the rotating scale to put 1.6 on the C scale under the cursor and read the
-uotient on the < scale opposite the inde, mark on the C scale. This gi'es the answer $.10. Thus,
our answer is $10. A calculator gi'es $06.:. This method of using the C% scales is efficient.
Aor di'ision, % personall don&t think of su!tracting logarithms in this case ++ instead, for a/b, % put a
on the < scale and b on the C scale underneath it and look at the inde, mark to see what num!er
has the same ratio with 1 as the ratio a/b. @f course, it&s the -uotient.
There&s a certain elegance to doing the pro!lem with the slide rule, as it comes faster with practice ++
and ou acknowledge that it can !e faster than punching num!ers into a calculator. *hile % wouldn&t
want to ha'e to depend solel on slide rule calculations, the are useful when the answer is onl
need to a!out half to one percent or so.
!illing out tables
The slide rule is an analog computer. %t lets ou see man solutions to similar pro!lems at once.
Aor e,ample, suppose ou wanted to sketch a pie chart for the following sales figures/
Mou can use the slide rule to calculate the percentage of the total that each month&s sales
represents. The onl calculation ou&d need to do would !e to sum the num!ers to get #10:0.
Mou&d put 10:0 on the < scale o'er the 1 on the C scale, then read off the percentages on the C
scale. Mou&d -uickl fill out the following ta!le/
Pe,t, ou&d set 3:0 on C under 1 on C and read off the angles for the pie chart on C opposite the
percentage on </
Mou&d then construct the pie chart with a straightedge and a protractor. @f course, 'irtuall e'erone
would use a spreadsheet program to do such things toda, !ut when a computer isn&t hand, it isn&t
hard to make hand+drawn graphs. %n fact, it was a common task for engineers to hand+sketch
graphs !efore computers !ecame common and it wasn&t a horri!l onerous task, as long as the
calculation for the points !eing plotted weren&t too demanding. %n fact, when ou&re KthinkingK in our
la! note!ook, it&s common to make -uickl+drawn graphs without resorting to the computer> the slide
rule can !e a good tool to help with the needed calculations. @f course, if %&m at m desk with m
electronic calculator, %&ll use it, especiall if % need to write a simple program to help with the
calculations.
"roportional allot#ent
A similar task eas to sol'e with a slide rule is proportional allotment. (uppose Hncle (crooge left
.ue, <ewe, and ?ouis 1.37 !illion dollars
3
with the stipulation that the nephews get the following
shares/
3 There&s !een a !it of inflation since % read those comics when % was a kid...
N of total
"an #120 11.3N
Ae! #230 21.7N
2ar #160 17.6N
Apr #170 1:.0N
2a #1;0 1$.2N
"un #200 18.6N
Total #1,0:0
N of total
"an #120 11.3N $1
Ae! #230 21.7N 78
2ar #160 17.6N :;
Apr #170 1:.0N ;8
2a #1;0 1$.2N ;1
"un #200 18.6N :8
Total #1,0:0
Angle, F
"an #120
Ae! #230
2ar #160
Apr #170
2a #1;0
"un #200
.ow much should each nephew getQ This is sol'ed ! summing the num!er of shares to get 31.
Then 1.37 on < is put opposite 31 on C and the mone amounts are read off the < scale opposite
the share 'alue on C. This lets us -uickl fill out the following ta!le/
%&d imagine that .ue will pro!a!l feel he got stiffed ++ poor !o, he&ll ha'e to s-ueak ! on 3;$
million dollars.
In$erse proportions
%n'erse proportions are eas too. (uppose a construction proEect can !e done in 30 das with :0
men. The !oss Eust changed the schedule so that the work can !e done in $; das. .ow man
men will !e neededQ (et 30 on < o'er :0 on C%. Then opposite $; on <, read $0.1 men on C%.
Mou&d round it to $0 men.
.ere&s the logic of this solution. (uppose ou ha'e 2 men that do the work in time t. The Eo! thus
takes Mt man+das of effort. %n this pro!lem, the men&s work rate is such that the Eo! takes 1800
man+das. %f the amount of time for the proEect is changed to T, the Eo! will still take 1800 man+das.
%nstead of using a product, we can e,press this pro!lem with the ratio
MT =
T
1/M
=1800
= setting T O 30 on < and 2 O :0 on C%, we&'e set the slide rule up in this ratio 7the C% scale gi'es
the reciprocal 1G29. Then we sol'e for other num!er pairs that are in the same relationship. %t&s fast
and efficient ++ and we can see man different solutions at once if the $; das num!er isn&t cast in
concrete.
"ro%it and #arkup
%n !usiness, profit and markup are often dealt with. %f B is profit and 2 is markup, !oth decimal
fractions, it&s not hard to deri'e the e-uations 7see 0markup19
P =
M
1M
and M =
P
1P
The slide rule lets ou sol'e for one gi'en the other.
5,ample/ (crooge 2c<uck decides he wants to make 73N profit on some spats. .ow much
should he mark them up o'er his costQ The rele'ant ratio gi'en ! the second e-uation is
73
10073
=
73
27
7note we can con'ert to percentages to make arithmetic with integers9. Mou set 73
on < opposite 27 on C. @pposite the 1 on C, ou read the markup 2.70;, which means the markup
must !e 270N. Thus, to get the selling price, ou multipl the cost ! 1 M =3.70 to get #8;.2. %n
other words, we Eust sol'ed the arithmetic pro!lem
23

1
73
27

%f ou want to calculate the multiplier m from the profit, the e-uation is

(hare
.ue 8
<ewe 11
?ouis 12
(hare
.ue 8 0.3;$
<ewe 11 0.$8:
?ouis 12 0.;30
# amount,
!illion
m =
1
1P
To use the slide rule for this, con'ert to percent. Then su!tract B from 100, set the cursor to the
result on the C% scale and read the multiplier on the C scale. 5,ample/ for 73N profit, set the cursor
on 100 73 =27 on the C% scale and read the multiplier m =3.70, Eust as we found a!o'e.
Shop trigono#etry
%&m !uilding a !race in a carpentr proEect and % need to know how to set m miter saw to cut the
angles gi'en in the following picture. % also need to know how long the !race should !e.
% need to calculate the length of the hpotenuse h and the two angles and R 7the triangle is a right
triangle9. h can !e gotten using the Bthagorean Theorem/ h = :20
2
$72
2
. (etting :.2 on the <
scale, we read the s-uare opposite this on the A scale as 38.;> similar, the s-uare of $.72 is 22.3.
These two sum to :0.8> we set this on the A scale and read the s-uare root 7.8 opposite on the <
scale. Thus, h O 780. Pote the shifting of the decimal points to make things easier 7this is how ou
would do the calculation using scientific notation9. .ere are two was of getting . Airst, use the
tangent/ tan =
$72
:20
. The di'ision ields the num!er 0.7:1. *e set 0.7:2 on the C scale and
read 37.3F on the T1 scale 7we use the T1 scale !ecause the angle is less than $;F9. .owe'er, this
takes two slide mo'ements. A !etter wa is to set the ratio
:20
$72
so that the :20 is on the < scale.
Then <&s inde, points to the ratio 0.7:1 on the C scale and ou can use the cursor to translate that
position to the T1 scale, gi'ing 37.3F as the angle with that tangent.
The second wa is using the sine/ sin =
$72
780
. The ratio is 0.:0;. (etting that 'alue on the C
scale lets us read the angle 37.2F. %&d ha'e to set m miter saw to cut this angle appropriatel.
A calculator gi'es the correct 'alue for h as 776.22. Assuming the dimensions were in mm, an error
of 0.8 mm ma or ma not !e important for this proEect> the allowed error would determine whether
or not it was appropriate to do this pro!lem with a slide rule or not.
:
2
0
$72
h
S
R
Other slide rules
% chose to write a!out the Concise 300 since % ha'e one and like it. %f ou want a relia!le, well+made
tool that will outlast an electronic calculator ou can !u 7e'en m !elo'ed and still+working
.B+$2s, which %&'e had for 2; ears9, consider getting one of these slide rules. %t doesn&t ha'e to !e
a Concise circular slide rule ++ there are hundreds of different tpes of slide rules to choose from.
% use slide rules to help me with -uick calculations, especiall when %&m not at m desk where m
calculator is. Aor such a task, the handiest slide rule is a little one % can slip into m pocket. %f %
knew % was going to !e doing a fair !it of numerical work and wanted to use a slide rule, %&d pro!a!l
take the Concise 300 with me. .owe'er, for general purpose stuff, it&s hard to !eat the small (ama
4 5tani slide rules that were made ! Concise in the 16:0&s to the 1680&s. The were concei'ed
and marketed ! (ama 4 5tani and were -uite popular 7see some pictures at 0sama19. 2an were
used for marketing promotional materials. The were small plastic cards 7;,110 mm and a!out 2
mm thick. A :0 mm diameter circular slide rule comprised the front. A reference card could !e
pulled out of the middle of the de'ice and the !ack of the de'ice was printed with material rele'ant to
the tpe of de'ice 7e.g., there was one for electronics, one for chemistr and chemical engineering,
one for science, and one for metric con'ersions9. The pull+out card tpicall had unit con'ersion
factors and domain+specific information. These things are a!out 2 cm larger than a credit card in
each dimension and, thus, are small and -uite hand. The scales on the slide are/ <, C, C%
7reciprocals9, ? 7!ase 10 logs9, A 7s-uares9, ( 7sines9, T 7tangents9, and 3 7cu!es9> i.e., !asicall
what ou would find on a 2annheim slide rule.
%f % didn&t ha'e a few of the (ama 4 5tani slide rules, %&d pro!a!l use a small ; inch linear rule. %
ha'e a cheapl+made plastic one from (terling and it does anthing a 2annheim slide rule will do.
%t has the A, =, C, <, C%, (, T, 3, and ? scales, which will handle all m slide rule needs nicel.
*hen ou&re some place where ou need to make a calculation and this is all ou ha'e, ou&ll !e
thankful ou ha'e it ++ e'en if it isn&t terri!l capa!le compared to other models or an electronic
calculator.
There are man slide rules a'aila!le on the we!. *hile certain models ha'e !een scooped up !
collectors, there are man other good choices ++ and ou can still !u new+in+the !o, slide rules
nearl four decades after the were last manufactured. The&re hand for doing !asic appro,imate
calculations and, for these, ou don&t need anthing fanc.
@h, a final comment. <ecades ago two companies in the H3 made specialt calculators that sol'ed
specialiIed engineering tasks 7see 0fearns1 for some e,amples9. The two companies were Aearns
and 2ear 7see 0hist1 for some histor9. % !elie'e Aearns went out of !usiness, !ut 2ear is still in
!usiness 7see 0mear19. *hile their calculators can cost significantl more than a cheap electronic
calculator, the are !uilt for long life and hard usage. % ha'e three different models and !ecause
the&'e !een taken care of, the look new ++ e'en after 30 ears. The are tpicall used to sol'e a
specific engineering pro!lem such as water flow in pipes, spring design, metal weights, etc. Check
out 2ear&s we! pages to see the tpes of things the offer. Aor an engineer or scientist who needs
to sol'e these specialiIed pro!lems a lot in their Eo!, these calculators are easil worth their cost.
Re%erences
0dinosaur1 <inosaurArithmetic.pdf at http/GGcode.google.comGpGho!!utilG.
0fearns1 http/GGwww.tinaEuliecordon.we!space.'irginmedia.comG(lide
N20)ulesGAearns2ear(lide)ules.html
0hist1 http/GGwww.mathsinstruments.me.ukGpage:1.html
0markup1 2arkup.pdf at http/GGcode.google.comGpGho!!utilG
0mear1 http/GGwww.mhmear.comG
0sama1 http/GGwww.tinaEuliecordon.we!space.'irginmedia.comG(lide
)ulesGCircular(lide)ules.html
0post1 Arederick Bost Compan, The Versalog Slide Rule, 16;1. This is a good
instruction manual for using a slide rule. %t&s aimed primaril at the 10 inch slide
rule like the Cersalog, !ut the !asic principles will !e usa!le on 'irtuall an
slide rule, straight or circular.