page30

DIETZGEN IMAGE ARCHIVE

    Lets start out our Dietzgen archive with something fun. It's going to become common knowledge, if it isn't already, that Dietzgen bought rules from several other makers, like the one at left. Above left we have the 1739L CLEAR SCALE slide rule, and below it a Faber-Castell 152/82. These two are comparable, though actually if you want to be technically correct the 1739L is made from a 52/82, the difference being that the 152 series rule has braces on one side of the body only. 52 series had them on both sides, as on our 1739L.
     These Dietzgen re-branded Faber-Castell rules even came with German printed instructions, re-badged as well! It was Dietzgen's habit to simply re-brand everything that came with a rule, manuals included. For example, Ricoh rules re-badged came with the standard Ricoh manuals, with a new cover on them! But inside, they are exactly the same as other Ricoh manuals.
     One thing commonly done by F/C for Dietzgen was to change the color of the scale accent stripes, as you can see here it was usually blue. This goes for any of the re-badged F/C types which had accent stripes.
     Dietzgen apparently liked F/C rules, as they sold more than a few types, though it is currently believed that they only contracted to do so relatively late in the slide rule era. Keep an eye out for them though, they're all very nice rules.

   Time for more "who made what". And time for another company many collectors closely associate with Dietzgen, that being Keuffel and Esser. While no proof exists that K+E made rules for Dietzgen, what I am sure of is that Dietzgen was definately trying to compete with K+E, and intentionally offering rules styled like those of K+E. While many similarities exist, there are enough big differences in the rules to make it seem unlikely that they were made in the same factory, or even to exactly the same plans.
    At left, we see two rules. One is a Dietzgen 1732, the other a K+E 4081-3. If you're up on your cursor ID info, then you already know which is which. If not, then these rules appear to be almost identical. And it is views like this, especially those seen in auctions, that perpetuate the "identical" myth. And, when you only see a few of these a year, in bad auction photos, one could indeed reach the conclusion that they were made by the same company.
    The top rule is the 1732, an early frameless cursor job, while the lower rule is a 4081-3 from K+E. THESE RULES MAY NOT BE CONTEMPORARY, as it is still possible that Dietzgen was following one "scale set" behind K+E. Many info sources back this contention up, including manual dates, known purchase dates, and other ephmera.
    Check the log-log rule scale set progression carefully, and compare it to the progression of K+E. Quite similar. And I'm sure it was intentional.

   Dietzgen finally dropped their scale set "matching" with K+E when they brought out their N1733 rules. This would be their last and indeed best scale set, and would be featured in a large number of formats. Not only were there the standard wood/celluloid rules, we had the "MICROMATIC' adjustment N1732, the TEFLON grooved "MICROGLIDE" 1734, the Geroplast Faber-Castell made G-1734, and more! There are actually a fair number of most of these variants around, in fact some are more common than earlier 1732 variants.
     At left, we see two of the many types with this last, biggest scale set. At top, the N1732, which is in my opinion one of the FINEST slide rules ever made, with an innovation in adjustment that ought to have caught on but may have been too little too late, and below it the RICOH made B-1734. This rule is a custom job, using an existing body blank, but with Dietzgen's unique scale arrangement. Both are outstanding rules when found in good condition, and I've always thought that if I'd found myself in school equipped with any of the variants of this scale set, well I'd have been just fine.
     It is interesting to note that some US makers were quite resistant to 8 log-log scale layouts, with K+E holding out until 1962, and Dietzgen never realy adopting it, except for the 1741, a re-badged Faber-Castell 2/83 late in the game. But the 6 log-log scale set rules were just fine, more than enough for many applications, and so this is as "big" as Dietzgen got on their own.