NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Traditional navigation by slide rule
From: Paul Hirose
Date: 2024 Jul 29, 15:05 -0700
From: Paul Hirose
Date: 2024 Jul 29, 15:05 -0700
I just bought a couple slide rules from Sphere Research. Neither was very expensive. One was a Logarex / KOH-I-NOOR 27401-X, which is a rule of Czech manufacture with the Reitz scale arrangement (10 scales). Trig scales are graduated in degrees and minutes. Image from the International Slide Rule Museum: https://www.sliderulemuseum.com/MiscEuro/Logarex_27401-X_Rietz_DavidHecht-172.jpg Sphere has many more of that model in stock. I also bought a UTO 631U 5-inch rule, which was made in Denmark. One curiousity is the double S scale (sines & cosines). There's one on the slide, one on the body: https://www.sliderulemuseum.com/MiscEuro/UTO_631U_Hoffman_LogLogDuplex_GiftOfPhilipStanley.jpg Sorry, I got the only one in stock. Both rules show the European fondness for auxiliary hairlines on the cursor. I have never seen that on an American rule. If you can stand the high cost, Sphere has several examples of the legendary Faber Castell 2/83 N Novo Duplex, which has been extravagantly praised as the greatest slide rule ever made. I'm skeptical. With trig scales on the body, how do you calculate products of sines or cosines? But it has an elaborate set of scales and looks great. That's what counts to many collectors. I own a few flagship slide rules but never had the urge for a Novo Duplex. https://www.sliderulemuseum.com/Faber/Faber-Castell_2-83N_NovoDuplex_DonatedByRodVance.jpg Sphere ships slide rules in a cardboard box. Mine arrived in new condition. https://www.sphere.bc.ca/ -- Paul Hirose sofajpl.com
