4 ms·

The hand-cranked Curta mechanical calculator (2021)

63 points by dangle1 4y ago

mhb 4y ago
https://hn.algolia.com/?q=curta https://hn.algolia.com/?q=curta
danielnoiz 4y ago
Ever since reading William Gibson's /Pattern Recognition/ I've wanted to own one of these. I inherited a much less sophisticated mechanical calculator from my grandfather. It is a flat rectangle that has slots cut in to both sides, about the size of an A5 sheet of paper. One side is addition and the opposite is subtraction. A clever use of space, but not half as clever as a Curta.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- themadturk 4y ago
  This book was where I learned of the Curta as well...but the whole Blue Ant trilogy was a gateway to existing things I had no idea were real. Gibson turning his considerable talents to something close to "real life" makes these three books my favorites of his.
- user-extended 4y ago
  Hey, totally hijacking this thread for something else, but some days ago you commented on my thread about your life experiences, and I was wondering if I could send you a private message asking about something you pointed out to me. Feel free to email me, or I can send you an email message/discord/whatever you may prefer. user_extended@proton.me If you do not wish to say anything, thanks anyway for your comment in that other thread, I have re-read it many times and I am genuinely thankful to you for making it.
ableal 4y ago
For context, the pre-existing larger mechanical calculators such as the 1936 Facit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRGu1OBFPrc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRGu1OBFPrc I saw one of these still in use before the takeover by electronic calculators in the 1970s. I think it was replaced by a TI-58, which was programmable and was supplied by a manufacturer with several magnetic program cards for the specific field of use (industrial lab). P.S. text and photos of the Facit: https://mechanicalcalculators.wordpress.com/about/facit-calculators/ https://mechanicalcalculators.wordpress.com/about/facit-calc...
VLM 4y ago
I wonder what he would have thought of the people 3-d printing Curta-alikes a decade ago.
drewg123 4y ago
I have one of these, inherited from my dad who was a physicist working as an engineer. I frankly have no idea how it works, but I fondly recall my dad using it before he got a calculator in the 80s
- anyfoo 4y ago
  It’s really simple. You can look it up online and know pretty much everything necessary for using it after about 5 minutes.
Malic 4y ago
Adam Savage, of Mythbusters-fame, has one of these - and loves it dearly. He had the opportunity to have it CT scanned, to show its inner workings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n564Cw0lHLk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n564Cw0lHLk
BXLE_1-1-BitIs1 4y ago
I remember seeing one whipped out during my university days in the 60s. Awesome little thing.
ilyt 4y ago
It's weird that for that many made they still fetch pretty penny on ebay
anyfoo 4y ago
I’ve got one, in pristine condition no less. Using it is satisfying in a way that is very hard for me to bring across in text. You can feel the mechanism when turning the crank, and it feels very “intricate, but not fragile”. It clicks and burrs just in the right way. I have once or twice used it for simple calculations in some special context for fun (calculating salary related stuff after a raise or something like that), but obviously it’s much quicker to just enter that into a modern calculator or computer. It’s a marvelous piece of art now, basically.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  I have a pristine one, also. It was one of the first things I bought fifty years ago, when I got a real job - I'd always wanted one. Turning the crank sets up an amazing internal vibration as the mechanism operates.
dmd 4y ago
When I first was invited up to my now-wife's apartment 11 years ago and saw a Curta - which was sitting on top of her operating NeXTCube - I knew I'd hit the jackpot.

63 points by dangle1 4y ago

mhb 4y ago

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=curta https://hn.algolia.com/?q=curta

Ever since reading William Gibson's /Pattern Recognition/ I've wanted to own one of these. I inherited a much less sophisticated mechanical calculator from my grandfather. It is a flat rectangle that has slots cut in to both sides, about the size of an A5 sheet of paper. One side is addition and the opposite is subtraction. A clever use of space, but not half as clever as a Curta.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
themadturk 4y ago
This book was where I learned of the Curta as well...but the whole Blue Ant trilogy was a gateway to existing things I had no idea were real. Gibson turning his considerable talents to something close to "real life" makes these three books my favorites of his.
user-extended 4y ago
Hey, totally hijacking this thread for something else, but some days ago you commented on my thread about your life experiences, and I was wondering if I could send you a private message asking about something you pointed out to me. Feel free to email me, or I can send you an email message/discord/whatever you may prefer. user_extended@proton.me If you do not wish to say anything, thanks anyway for your comment in that other thread, I have re-read it many times and I am genuinely thankful to you for making it.

ableal 4y ago

For context, the pre-existing larger mechanical calculators such as the 1936 Facit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRGu1OBFPrc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRGu1OBFPrc I saw one of these still in use before the takeover by electronic calculators in the 1970s. I think it was replaced by a TI-58, which was programmable and was supplied by a manufacturer with several magnetic program cards for the specific field of use (industrial lab). P.S. text and photos of the Facit: https://mechanicalcalculators.wordpress.com/about/facit-calculators/ https://mechanicalcalculators.wordpress.com/about/facit-calc...

VLM 4y ago

I wonder what he would have thought of the people 3-d printing Curta-alikes a decade ago.

drewg123 4y ago

I have one of these, inherited from my dad who was a physicist working as an engineer. I frankly have no idea how it works, but I fondly recall my dad using it before he got a calculator in the 80s

anyfoo 4y ago
It’s really simple. You can look it up online and know pretty much everything necessary for using it after about 5 minutes.

Malic 4y ago

Adam Savage, of Mythbusters-fame, has one of these - and loves it dearly. He had the opportunity to have it CT scanned, to show its inner workings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n564Cw0lHLk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n564Cw0lHLk

BXLE_1-1-BitIs1 4y ago

I remember seeing one whipped out during my university days in the 60s. Awesome little thing.

ilyt 4y ago

It's weird that for that many made they still fetch pretty penny on ebay

anyfoo 4y ago

I’ve got one, in pristine condition no less. Using it is satisfying in a way that is very hard for me to bring across in text. You can feel the mechanism when turning the crank, and it feels very “intricate, but not fragile”. It clicks and burrs just in the right way. I have once or twice used it for simple calculations in some special context for fun (calculating salary related stuff after a raise or something like that), but obviously it’s much quicker to just enter that into a modern calculator or computer. It’s a marvelous piece of art now, basically.

wrycoder 4y ago
I have a pristine one, also. It was one of the first things I bought fifty years ago, when I got a real job - I'd always wanted one. Turning the crank sets up an amazing internal vibration as the mechanism operates.

dmd 4y ago

When I first was invited up to my now-wife's apartment 11 years ago and saw a Curta - which was sitting on top of her operating NeXTCube - I knew I'd hit the jackpot.