Makeba-Kombinator Pencil Slide Rule

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.

Currently not on view