So lets get those whiz wheel templates out

[Puster Bill]

You can find several different slide rule templates, both circular and linear, in .pdf format here:

http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/build.html

This picture has a couple of examples that I built recently:



At the top is EtchASketch's venerable WhizWheel, showing the slide-rule side (the other side is a tool for finding AOB). It works, but due to the limitations of the images used to produce it, it isn't the prettiest thing to look at.

In the middle is a simple ABCD slide rule I printed out on cardstock. You can multiply, divide, find squares and square roots with it, but that is about it. It was my first experiment from the website I listed above.

At the bottom is a more advanced (both in for and in terms of construction) Log-Log slide rule. It appears to have all the scales that EtchASketch's WhizWheel has, I just haven't had the chance to try it out in an actual scenario yet. I made it out of cardboard cut from a Revell model kit box (specifically, a German Type XXI U-boat. I assume one made from a Gato class box would work just as well!).

That one is really an 'engineering model'. I plan to print out the scales for the slide rule again, and make one out of sheets of acrylic plastic. I did it in cardboard first to get a bit of experience in building one first. If you are a real stickler for historical accuracy, you could use wood or some sort of sheet metal, like brass, instead.

One note about making the cursors: On the WhizWheel and on the more advanced slide rule, I used black thread, which while fine on the wheel is really too coarse for the slide rule. Being blessed with a wife who has long, fine hair, I am going to use one of her hairs from a brush to make the cursor for my next rule.