SCALES FOR BUILDING YOUR OWN SLIDE RULE

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Slide Rule Reference Scales

These are very handy when trying to describe an older slide rule without scale labels or when the instructions are written in Cyrillic. These superb graphics are courtesy of Andrew Nikitin. The graphics can be used to construct a custom slide rule scale set by copying and pasting into a picture editor and printing out onto paper or transparancies.

Due to popular request, the following 75 reference scale images are combined into one file that you can download: SR_scales.zip. Just right-click and save target to your computer, then you can un-zip them.

cm
inch
3R1
3R2
3R3
A
Adk
AI
B
Bdk
BI
C
Cdk
Cel
CF
CF10
CF1M
CF36
CFM
CI
CIdk
CIF
CIF10
CIF1M
CIF36
D
Ddk
DF
DF10
DF1M
DF36
DFM
DI
DIF
DIF10
DIF36
DIFM
F
Far
FI
ISTd
K
Kdk
KI
L
Ldk
LL0
LL00
LL01
LL02
LL03
LL1
LL2
LL3
Ln
P
R1
R2
S
S'
sin
sin'
ST
ST'
T
T'
T2
T2'
U
U-1
U12
V
V-1
V12
V2
X
Y
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Scales to make a Basic Slide Rule - Basic A,B,C,D - Brian Ronald

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Scales to make a Mannheim Slide Rule - K,A,B,L,C,D - Kinsman

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Scales to make a Log-Log Slide Rule - Version A - John Savard

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Scales to make a Log-Log Slide Rule - Version B - John Savard

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Scales to make a Log-Log Slide Rule - Version C - John Savard

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Scales to make a Circular Slide Rule - Multiple Overlays - John Savard

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Scales to make a Circular Slide Rule - Log-Log Version A - Charles Kankelborg


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Scales to make a Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule

Author: Wayne Harrison, nwharrison@sympatico.ca Copyright January 2002


Thacher Cylindrical SR c1910


Thacher Scale Example

Thacher Bars, full-sized, prints on single sheet 18.5" x 20"
Thacher Drum, full-sized, prints on single sheet 13.5" x 20"

Thacher Bars, legal sheet size, multiple pages
Thacher Drum, legal sheet size, multiple pages.

Kinko's print ready Adobe format .KDF Thacher Bars, full sized, prints on single sheet 18.5" x 20"
Kinko's print ready Adobe format .KDF Thacher Drum, full sized, prints on single sheet 13.5" x 20"

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Thacher Build Example

David White of Essex, Massachusetts, built this beautiful rendition of a Thacher using the above Thacher scales.
Click on the pictures and pdf to see how he did it. Contact: whitey5656 [at] hotmail.com



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The Scales of the Slide Rule - Doing the Math

Note: The following was written in 1999 by Jason Waskiewicz. It is a very good example on how the divisions of the slide rule scales are calculated. You can use these to create any length of slide rule - Mike

In the first column is the scale name. In the second column is the formula used for that scale. Any simplification is left as an exercise for the reader. The convention used is that R denote the length of the rule and # denotes the number on the scale whose position is being calculated. The final column contains notes about the particular scale.

Derivation of the scales was not always easy, and I have not shown here how it was done. Essentially, I went in knowing that the whole thing was based on logarithms, and then played around until I came up with something that worked. Generally I started out quite close -- it became mainly a matter of playing with constants. Jason.

Scale Formula Comments
A/B (R/2)*log(#) Used to calculate squares and square roots with the D scale, used to calculate the sine of an angle with the S scale on a Mannheim slide rule
C/D R*log(#) Used in multiplication and division, and also used with many other scales in various operations
CF/DF (log# - logPI)*R if # less than R then add R The folded scales used as a shortcut in multiplication and division
CI abs[R*log(10/#)-R] The inverse of the C scale, often used as a shortcut in division
CIF
abs[R*(log(1/#) - log(1/PI))]
if #<(10/PI)
abs[R*(log(1/#) - log(1/PI)) - 25]
if #>(10/PI)
The inverse of the CF scale
K (R/3)*log(#) Used with the D scale to find the cube or cube root of a number
L #*R Used with the D scale to calculate the logarithm log10(#) of a number
LL0 log(ln(#))*R + 3*R Contains all numbers greater than or equal to 1.001 and less than or equal to 1.01; these scales (LL0-LL3) are used for logarithms, roots, and powers
LL1 log(ln(#))*R + 2*R Contains all numbers greater than or equal to 1.01 and less than or equal to 1.105
LL2 log(ln(#))*R + R Contains all numbers greater than or equal to 1.105 and less than or equal to e
LL3 log(ln(#))*R This contains all numbers greater than or equal to e
LL/0 log(ln(1/#))*R + 3*R This contains all numbers greater than or equal to e-0.01 and less than or equal to e-0.001
LL/1 log(ln(1/#))*R + 2*R This contains all numbers greater than or equal to e-0.1 and less than or equal to e-0.01
LL/2 log(ln(1/#))*R + R This contains all numbers greater than or equal to e-1.0 and less than or equal to e-0.1
LL/3 log(ln(1/#))*R This contains all numbers greater than or equal to e-10.0 and less than or equal to e-1.0
R1 log(#)*2*R Used with the D scale to find squares and square roots; those numbers greater than about 3.13 are on the R2 scale
R2 [log(#)*2*R] - 25 Used with the D scale to find squares and square roots; those numbers greater than about 3.13 are on the R2 scale
Smannheim (R/2)*[2 + log(sin(#))] Used with the A scale to calculate the sine of a number, or the tangent of a number less than 5.7 degrees
S,T [log(100*sin(#))]*R Used with the C scale to calculate the sine or the tangent of a number less than 5.7 degrees
S [log(10*sin(#))]*R Used with the C scale to calculate the sine of a number greater than 5.7 degrees
T R*log[10*tan(#) Used with the D scale to calculate the tangent of angles greater than 5.7 degrees
copyright © 1999 Jason Waskiewicz - Contact: waskiewi [at] sendit.nodak.edu


Copyright (c) 2003-2007