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 Visit our amazing document server.  CLICK for WHAT's NEW on the site.Welcome To The Sphere Research Slide Rule Universe archives. Learn about the amazing world of paper and plastic film rules called slide and wheel charts! | Sphere Research Corporation 3394 Sunnyside Rd. West Kelowna, BC, Canada V1Z 2V4 Phone: +1 (250) 769-1834 FAX:+1 (250) 769-4106 A great source for test equipment, repairs, calibrations, useful metrology information, and of course, SLIDE RULES! JUST SCROLL DOWN TO SEE EVERYTHING! |
 Click to VISIT or RETURN  To go to The Slide Rule Marketplace | The Wonderful World of Slide Charts, Wheel Charts and Perrygrafs  |
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Not all slide rules are formidable wood and plastic monsters. Some of the most useful and commonly used rules are inexpensive cardboard or thin plastic "purpose built" devices. One of the original, and largest makers of these specialized rules was Perrygraf, originally based in Maywood, Illinois. They were very ingenious at adapting basic slide rule concepts into product selectors, parameter analyzers, and dedicated calculators of all kinds. Perrygraf was sold in 1968 to Nashua Corporation, which moved the company operations to Los Angles, California, and to Puerto Rico. James E. Johnson, formerly of Perrygraf, didn't want to move in the new re-organization, and continued to make and design slide charts in his home. He also eventually took on the private customers of Perrygraf founder Oscar Perry after he passed away, and founded American Slide Chart in 1970. American Slide Chart was very successful, and eventually took over former competitor Perrygraf itself in 1988, making it the largest producer of this type of slide rule product, as well as pop-up 3D calendars. Founder James E. Johnson died in 1988 and the business is now run by his three sons, James D., David and Craig Johnson. Perrygraf and American Slide Chart ran and operated as individual companies, and often competed for the same customers, but ar enow one entity. Datalizer is another major slide chart/wheel chart player, also in Illinois (Addison), the state that seems to be the birthplace of most US activity in this area. Datalizer offers a unique capability in the form of a wide range of very useful commonly requested stock designs which can be bought in small quantity (as low as 100 pieces non-imprinted), either printed or non-imprinted with your company information. Datalizer Stock Examples
Some of these rules started out being fairly primitive, but many are very sophisticated such as the Planisphere above, and extremely useful for specific problem solving. The electronics industry has been a big user of these devices as product promotions and component specifier guides. The examples shown at the bottom of the page are mainly from my own personal collection over the years, and give a good idea of what is possible with this technology. These devices are still made today, and are one of the very few slide rules still in production. Where applicable, both side of the rule are shown. Clicking on the THUMBNAIL will bring up a larger view.
Notes: Sizes are given as the over-all size of the rule itself. CAUTION, the images while compressed JPEGs, are large in size to show the rule details, and may be slow loading from remote sites.YOU CAN STILL GET THESE! This type of rule, often called a "Slide Chart" (or Wheel Chart if it's circular), is still manufactured in large volume, and here's where to go and get them. Thanks to Craig Kielhofer and his excellent detective work, we can now give you this contact information on current manufacturers. They even have WEB SITES! just click on the company name below to go there.You can still get Slide Charts,
Wheel Charts and custom Slide Rules Here:  New Datalizer • 501 Westgate Drive • Addison, IL 60101-4524 Phone: (630) 543-6000 • Phone: 011+1+630-543-6000 • E-mail: info@datalizer.com CLICK To Visit Datalizer Slide Charts! 
Email Judy Studenski at Datalizer for Information HERE. 
American Slide Chart Co. Now the amalgamation of ASC and Perrygraf 25 W. 550 Geneva Road. Carol Stream, IL 60187 Phone: (630) 665-3333 / (800) 323-4433 E-mail: amslide@americanslidechart.com  Blundell-Harling Drawing Boards, Drawing Equipment, Slide Charts and Navigational Aids Tel: +44 (0) 1305 206000 Fax: +44 (0) 1305 760598 E-mail: sales@blundellharling.co.uk  CLICK HERE to Visit IWA in 3 Languages, with virtual working rules! IWA Incorporated attention: Christopher E. Gabbert 819 Newberry Drive, Batavia Il 60510 USA Tel: +1 630 879 1900 Fax: +1 630 879 1966 E-mail: cg@iwa-slidecharts.com |
| Manufacturer Customer | Slide Rule Type | Size, Core Material | Scales Features | IMAGE LINKS (Back to Return) |
| SEARS | Duplex 3764 |
8"
Gray and Clear Plastic | Universal Metric Converter, length, area, volume, weight, temperature. Plus a basic C/D slide rule. |   |
| Perrygraf Greey Lightnin | Duplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Volumetric calculator for all shapes. |   |
| Perrygraf Instrument Specialties | Duplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Shielding calculations. Abosorbtion loss, plane wave loss. Electric/magnetic field reflection loss. |   |
| Perrygraf Tadiran | Duplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Battery performance calculator, battery selector. |   |
| Philips | Duplex | 8"
Plastic | Multiple metric converters, formulas. C/D Scale slide rule. |   |
| Vibrachoc | Duplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Deflection, g-forces, velocity, frequency. Extensive mechanical force calculations for vibration related issues. Cover contains operating manual. |   |
| Perrygraf Spectrum Control | Duplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Voltage/dB/Watts conversions. Wave formats. |   |
| Perrygraf Bird | Simplex | 8"
White Cardboard | VSWR, loss, reflected power calculations. Rulers on one side |   |
| Perrygraf Sensym | Simplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Temperature, pressure calculations. Conversion factors on one side. |   |
| Anitec | Simplex Circular | 5"
White Plastic | Image sizing calculator (photreduction/enlargement) |  |
| Perrygraf General Semiconductor | Duplex | 8"
White Cardboard | Transient/impulse voltage calculations, device selector. |   |
| Kemet | Duplex Microfarad Manipulator |
8"
Clear/Tan Plastic | Capacitive reactance, ESR, ripple voltage, power calculations. |   |
| Guco Raychem | Simplex Circular 1004 |
5"
White Plastic | Calendar Date finder. |  |
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