Collectables

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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:17 am

I thought I would share this. It's amazing what folk will pay for something so it can be added to a collection.

I collect slide rules and every once in while one of these comes up:

Old (v desirable) Slide Rule in Mint Condition

It's already over what I could afford to pay so that's my chance of owning one gone for now. These can go for well over a thousand dollars on a good day. Still five and a half days to go on this auction.

I thought I was being really smart collecting slide rules as they can be picked up for a few pounds/dollars/euros. Then I discovered there was another end to the market.

Should have chose something easy to collect like North Korean wristwatches say. Very Happy

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:10 am

Use a calculator Twisted Evil

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 11:47 am

Hmmm, a while ago I ran across one somewhere in my managerie of stuff. I'll probably never see it again but if I do I'll try to get it to you.

People collect most anything. You just gotta know what it is and get it in the right place to sell it.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:20 pm

I grew up in the age when calculators were first introduced and I think most of us tossed out the old sliderules the first chance we got. Who would have ever believed that they would bring these sort of prices! Looking back I can appreciate the beauty of having all the solutions sitting right in front of you without having to punch calculator buttons for each problem.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:25 pm

Makes me want to go rooting in my Mum's cupboards next time I visit, I know I had one, and have no idea hat happened to it.

When I took my maths 'O' and 'A' levels, only the very rich kids had calculators, so it was slide rules or logarithmic tables only in the exam room.

ETA: I wouldn't want that one CP, it only works in German! Laughing

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:38 pm

The thing with slide rules is, you need to have a rough idea what the answer is going to be before you make the calculation.

With electronic calculators, mistakes happen because the answer is generally accepted as being right whether or not the right buttons were pushed.

I still use one to calculate areas when pricing work. Never fails to impress customers.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:03 pm

I wouldn't want one of those in my collection unless one came up really cheap. Don't think they look particularly nice.

This is regarded as one of the most beautiful slide rules ever made:

Faber Castell Novo Duplex 2/83N

Amazingly, they can still be be bought from Faber Castell. They found some old stocks and are selling them off direct. Though only with German instructions.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Captain Pugwash wrote:

Should have chose something easy to collect like North Korean wristwatches say. Very Happy

I see what you did there.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:46 pm

I sympathise Pugsy! I have a collection of vintage powder compacts, mostly bought when I was younger at various car boot sales and antiques fairs. It's a decent collection, just over 200 compacts covering most makes and types. I haven't added to the collection for a few years, partly as these days I have other financial priorities (you know, mortgage, food, bills... Wink

) and partly because the cost of any significant addition is now out of my price range. Yes there are still lots of cheaper buys out there, but in most cases I'd be duplicating ones I already have. It needs to be something special to get my finger twitching, but when that happens they usually go on the market at my top-end so I'm quickly out of the running. Sad

Still, there's always that potential lucky find at a car boot sale. Sometimes the search is half the fun. Very Happy

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:43 am

Now you have me curious and I need to go find my fathers slide rule.Dates from sometime in the 30s I would think.Not quite as fancy as those,but it does have an impressive sliding magnifier on it as I recall.

Baiting Guru Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 2531 Location: AU

Roycropper wrote:

Makes me want to go rooting in my Mum's cupboards next time I visit

interesting fetish there mr cropper

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:11 am

Captain Pugwash wrote:

Should have chose something easy to collect like North Korean wristwatches say. Very Happy

They have more than one?

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:49 am

doc holliday wrote:

Dates from sometime in the 30s I would think.Not quite as fancy as those,but it does have an impressive sliding magnifier on it as I recall.

If you find it and want to know more go here: Slide Rule Museum

If you're in the US could be either a Keuffel & Esser or Sun-Hemmi. Though Pickett and Ricoh also made rules with pretty impressive lumps of magnifying glass as optional extras.

Normal 'cursors' were flat or slightly convex.

This Aristo 0972 similar to the one I posted above made a staggering amount last year:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mint-ARIST...-/121034368152

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:29 pm

Old joke alert...

What does a constipated mathematician do?

Works it out with a slide rule Shocked

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:01 pm

Oh, its jokes time Very Happy

A physicist, a biologist and a mathematician are sitting in a street cafe. Suddenly the physicist jumps up: "Wow, I just saw a paradox! In that House over there, just a minute ago, two people entered the house and now three left it."
The biologist said: "For a physicist this may be a paradox, but for me its just common reproduction."
The mathematician said: "Two went in and three went out. So if one will enter the house it would be empty. qed!"

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 5:12 pm

They still have their place - I have a rotary one for working out thread diameters and tapping drill sizes (sadly it doesn't do roll taps) and another one for antenna gain vs. aperture/frequency/efficiency. It also calculates wind loading for diameter vs windspeed/configuration. These were produced in their thousands in the 80s as promotional goodies but they are still incredibly useful. They're only made of cardboard so they are also very light and can be carried inside a notebook.

Cap'n - Have you got one of these? it's a flight comuter which does dozens of different things to do with windspeed, heading/bearing, endurance, mach numbers, etc etc. It's a pretty amazing thing. I have one but I still haven't got to grips with all it can do.

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 5:57 pm

^ Nooooooooooooooooo! Don't get me started on circular slide rules. Laughing

I play the Silent Hunter games, (a nerdy sub sim game) and part of the 'fun' is working out angles, distance, time-distance and speed calculations. One of those would help. Flight computers can still be picked up for around £45.00-£50.00 but are a bit too extravagant as a gaming aid. Early all aluminium one's fetch a bit.

I'm trying to concentrate on the later all plastic types. I have a few early boxwood/celluloid types that came with multi-item sales, but they'll probably get sold sometime soon.

Have a look at this site: stefanv.com He's an interesting guy who has written a guide on using aviation rules. You'll find them useful.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

I like your passion for keeping old things alive. Here is the current (working) telephone on my desk.

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:51 pm

Just stick with "regular" hobbies, like coin collecting.

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:20 pm

Whenever I fill in "information" for lads I list my occupation as "sliderule calibrater." I have my old sliderule to thank for motivating me to learn logarithms.

But speaking of collectibles, I saw this news just yesterday and I have two of them!

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:27 am

^^^ Great phone. Dial phones need some rewiring to work in the UK since our system went digital.

^ I had one of the original Sony Walkman cassette players. The blue brushed aluminium one with orange mute button. My then, boss's wife was Japanese and was involved in the launch over in Japan, and brought me one back about a year and a half before they could be bought here. Wish I'd looked after it better.

I like collecting things that can still be used and don't rely on a power source (other than me). Most of my woodworking hand-tools are antique or I restored them back to working order.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

^ When I bought it I had no idea if it would still be compatible in our digital world. I wired an RJ11 to the phone, plugged and prayed. To my amazement, it worked. The thing weighs about 8 pounds and doubles as a weapon, just in case a bear sneaks into my office.

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:38 pm

Captain Pugwash wrote:

I like collecting things that can still be used

Well, at least it is useful, unlike my collection of 1,500+ Heroclix miniatures. Laughing

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:08 pm

^It was Timpo back in my day. Razz

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:04 pm

^ Oh, those - I used to play with those when I was a kid in the 70's. Good times. No stats on the base, though. Laughing

This is what I'm talking about:

Ufortunately, my collector cromosome kicked in, and after 5 years, 1,500+ bought miniatures (closer to 2,000, actually), lots of spent money, and a lot less room, I gave up. Because it never ends... those game manufacturers know what they're doing, and keep sending out new booster packs. Mad