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If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

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    #1

    If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?



    Back when I was an undergrad if you actually USED a MARS or Rapidograph pen, and could then actually justify carrying one.....you had arrived..... but now... What's that!?

    There isn't even a drafting store in town that carries them and only one even knew who Dick Blick is.. what a sad state of affairs....

    If you don't know your history, you are condemned to repeat it's mistakes applies to a lot of situations..

    Just goes to show how really old I am...

    So...for a lower price than getting a new tip I bought a package of four "archival quality" fiber tip pens that are actually finer than my Koh-I-Nooor... AND got a "diagonal nib" that produces a smoother trace than a metal nib....

    woodgettin'toooldsmoke
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    #2
    Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

    Lol, My dad's a retired architect so I might be the only one here that knows what you're talking about!

    I helped him convert to AutoCad almost 20 years ago and he gave up drafting by hand a couple of years after that. There was still some things done more efficiently by a draftsman, but he'd hire someone for piece-work in those cases.

    In his case, his Radiograph pens were replaced by a digitizer pad and a standing drafting printer that could handle 4x6 paper and had 8 (I think) pens in it. Cool as heck to watch...

    Please Read Me
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      #3
      Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

      yep, they are that!

      woodsmoke
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        #4
        Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

        The "mark" of arrival when I was in graduate school was the Post Versalog Sliderule!

        Mine is still hanging from a hook in the ceiling of my office, secure in its leather case with belt loop!
        "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
        – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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          #5
          Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

          I could never afford a versalog...had to make do with a plasticky one!
          woodsmoke
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            #6
            Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

            I still have an old Pickett slide rule out in the garage someplace, probably in the same box with my old Heathkit VTVM.
            Last time I found it it still worked. Well, it still slides. Don't remember how to use it.

            I think I figured out why my hair is all grey. It's grey matter is leaking out!

            Old Time Ken.
            Opinions are like rear-ends, everybody has one. Here's mine. (|)
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              #7
              Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

              Originally posted by lcorken
              ....
              I think I figured out why my hair is all grey. It's grey matter is leaking out!
              ...
              And when all the gray matter leaks out the hair FALLS OUT!
              (which explains my chrome dome)
              "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
              – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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                #8
                Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

                LOL

                A few semesters back an "alternative" student that I had came up at the end of the semester, he had a confirmed A, after the final and quietly told me that he is a "slipstick" collector and showed me a picture of literally hundreds of them on a display wall in the "visiting room" in his garage. And then he also, quietly, said: "I thought you might appreciate this."

                And thereupon laid, in a very nice brown leather holster, a Picket "U.S. Air Force Aerial Photo Slide Rule Type A-1" (white on aluminum full size) on the desk and smiled and left!

                Haven't seen him since!

                woodsmoke

                http://sliderule.ozmanor.com/rules/s...ck520t-01.html

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                  #9
                  Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

                  That's a nice slide rule. One fellow student came to class with a Pickett circular slide rule, which was very accurate and wasn't affected by humidity like those made with Bamboo were (even though Bamboo is the least affected wood).
                  "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
                  – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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                    #10
                    Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

                    My father gave me his 5" K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig Slide Rule, model 4181-1, in leather case (not the original, but a K&E for a 5" rule), and with a 1947 manual. I've never used a slide rule, but he did when he was a boy, and into College and beyond. He still on occassion uses the larger one he still has. It symbolizes a time now almost totally gone and forgotten. There's a reason they were often refered to as 'bones' (see Napier's bones)

                    Interesting site: Keuffel & Esser Co. Slide Rules
                    Windows no longer obstructs my view.
                    Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                    "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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                      #11
                      Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

                      Nice comments guys...
                      and that K&E site is very interesting!

                      As a note, one of the major chemical companies in the area uses a dedicated slide rule to make chemicals and a "nomogram" which is three numbers on scales and a stick to make calculations for single vat processes.

                      Another school was throwing away one of the big lecture rules(yellow) and the guy called me to ask if I wanted it and grabbed it...

                      Used it every year for 9th grade physical science, each kid had to demonstrate, at some time, how to multiply two numbers and divide two numbers.... one kid did a nomogram as a hurry up project for science fair and won second place in the math section! lol

                      but...again, nice comments

                      I'm gonna print off that catalogue!

                      woodsmoke
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                        #12
                        Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

                        Here's what I saved up my Pocket Money for in 1957 :

                        http://www.svpal.org/~dickel/OK/OtisKing.html

                        Wow! A long scale wound round a cylinder! 3 or 4 figure accuracy - great idea. Still works too!! No batteries.
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                          #13
                          Re: If you had a MARS or Rapidograph pen you had ARRIVED..now..what's that?

                          Wow, Napier's Bones!

                          That brought back memories. I made a set of bones (not the tray, though) to experiment with when I was in the 5th grade. On the "1" bone I put "2", "3" and "4" on the other sides of the square rod. On the "2" bone I added 3, 4 and 5 on the other sides, etc...., so that problems with numbers have two or more of the same digits could be calculated.

                          I used my Post VersaLog through college and into the final semester of my last year in grad school, 1968. That spring, as I mentioned before in another thread, the Frieden Electronic Calculator was purchased by our Physics department and I solved most of my assignments using that device.

                          You can always tell if a person using a slide rule is proficient in its use by how they hold it and move the slide. They'll hold it with both hands and move the slide with their little fingers. Because the better slide rules has "folded scales" one rarely had to move the slide more than 1/3rd its length. Decimal points were, of course, tracked mentally, along with the exponent of 10.
                          "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
                          – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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