Makeba-Kombinator Pencil Slide Rule

Makeba-Kombinator Pencil Slide Rule

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Description
This instrument combines a mechanical pencil and a slide rule. The pencil has a metal body surrounding a black plastic tube, which is pulled out to move the scales. Four white plastic logarithmic scales are glued to the pencil. One pair of scales is divided logarithmically from 1 to 100 (as A and B scales), and the other pair is divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 (as C and D scales).
The black plastic tube (underneath one of the A/B scales) is marked: MAKEBA-KOMBINATOR. The black plastic tube surrounds a metal tube and spring, which connect a metal tip and a plastic pusher. A pencil lead is inside the metal tube. A sliding plastic indicator is in a metal frame with a ridged edge for gripping.
Makeba was established in Bautzen, Germany, in 1922. By the 1950s, it was a sub-brand of Markant, an East German company that copied designs for Pelikan fountain pens as late as the 1970s.
Reference: Der neue Makeba-Kombinator: Fallstift mit Rechenschieber (Bautzen, East Germany: VEB Füllhalterfabrik Makeba, 1957). According to Worldcat, a copy of this publication is in the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek in Leipzig. See http://d-nb.info/574971327.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
slide rule & pencil
date made
ca 1957
maker
Makeba
place made
Germany: Saxony, Bautzen
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
metal (inside material)
graphite (inside material)
Measurements
overall: 1.5 cm x 17.6 cm x 1.5 cm; 19/32 in x 6 15/16 in x 19/32 in
ID Number
1977.1120.01
catalog number
336447
accession number
1977.1120
Credit Line
Gift of L. Marton
subject
Mathematics
Rule, Calculating
writing implements
Novelty
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Slide Rules
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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