Trying to FIX a Mechanical BEAUTY - Vintage CALCULATOR

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  • Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
  • This has the nicest inside I have ever seen. It is a shame to cover it up. I purchased this mechanical calculator faulty from eBay. Can I get it working again with zero knowledge of the item being fixed?
    Merch is here!!!!! www.puddlt.com...
    If you would like to support these videos, please click here / mymatevince
    If you have an interesting 'non returnable' item for a 'trying to fix' video then my PO box is:
    PO Box 2597
    WATFORD
    WD18 1HT
    UK
    Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

Комментарии • 325

  • @niclasericsson
    @niclasericsson 2 года назад +125

    Hi, Vince. I'm the great grandson of Elof Ericsson, who was the President of Facit 1922-1952, and grandson of Gunnar Ericsson, who ran the company 1957-1970. I'm also a longtime subscriber to your channel! As always, a great episode. These machines are amazing.

    • @sepgorut2492
      @sepgorut2492 2 года назад +7

      The English wikipedia entry is quite interesting for Facit. It says they even had a go at microcomputer manufacture in the 70s

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +20

      Thanks Niclas, wow, cool family history. These machines are amazing and I learnt from the comments that Facit made typewriters too. They are built to last for sure. Hopefully I can find other faulty Facit items in the future 👍👍👍

    • @travisolson9413
      @travisolson9413 2 года назад +10

      Good testament to your family's company and the quality of product they made. After all these years, it took a little oil and effort to get it back to life. And all of us that enjoy these videos got a brief glimpse into the history and workings of this machine. Awesome. Your family should be proud of the product, and Vince should be proud of the work he put into this video. One of my top 5 of his.

  • @TheBlueRoseKnight
    @TheBlueRoseKnight 2 года назад +2

    That "Ooohh!" for the bell going off for the total made my day!

  • @myfunnyval1
    @myfunnyval1 2 года назад +18

    Vince,
    Used one of these back in the Seventies.
    You're right, the bell is for going negative, or for when a division is too much.
    One point you missed is this:
    When multiplying, you needn't have turned the handle ten times. If you move the carriage back one space, and turn the handle once, this will have the effect of multiplying by ten. Extend that logic for hundreds, thousands etc.
    It's a brilliant machine, and that was a great video.

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +3

      Oh yes, of course. Thanks for the tip David 👍👍👍👍

  • @TechGorilla1987
    @TechGorilla1987 2 года назад +28

    True story - When I was young, mum took us Christmas shopping for Dad at The May Company (SoCal in the early 70's) and she was looking at a new pocket calculator for my father. He was a machinist and used one heavily. The helpful salesman showed her the latest "solar" calculator and mum was hooked. After a moment or two, she told the salesman that since my father worked inside, she doubted that it would work. The salesman assured her that during her own testing, she, indeed, was not in the sun either. That's what dad got for Christmas.

    • @Dave-fs5uu
      @Dave-fs5uu 2 года назад +3

      Yeah I''m probably around your age and seeing a solar calculator for 1st time and being absolutely amazed at how such a small calculator worked with no wires. Seemed like magic to me at the time being so young. Remember playing with it and how amazed I was that I remember this to this day. First wireless thing I ever saw. No clue that EVERYTHING would or could be wireless. Young kids no way can comprehend how wired we were back in the day.

    • @bryanobrien2726
      @bryanobrien2726 2 года назад +2

      I received a Casio solar credit card calculator for Christmas when I was a kid around 1985 . It was amazing tech , fit in your wallet , never needs batteries , Casio Japan quality . I still have it , still works .

    • @erik.dahlberg
      @erik.dahlberg 2 года назад

      It's amazing that the solar technology just NOW in 2022 reached TV remotes. The latest lines of Samsung remotes have this function, and it still amazes me that you never will need to charge/switch batteries in them again.

  • @SPEXWISE
    @SPEXWISE 2 года назад +8

    Such lovely engineering. What we had back in the day was something special, now you get apps that come with ads.

  • @MrKeebs
    @MrKeebs 2 года назад +27

    Been a subscriber forever and this was one of the most interesting items ever. I just love how it looks on the thumbnail and the digits changing are so so satisfying. Great find and great video Vince!

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +7

      Thanks Felipe, it certainly is an interesting piece for sure, mechanical art really 👍👍👍👍

  • @matthew_mawson
    @matthew_mawson 2 года назад +7

    As a collector of vintage calculators this is a great showcase for the hobby, and I must say you did a good job restoring this one! I have a similar machine; the Facit NTK with the green body from 1956, along with one of their later Nixie tube display electronic machines!

  • @StezStixFix
    @StezStixFix 2 года назад +7

    I don't imagine I'm the only one to snigger at the "number 2" part 🤣 . Incredible how this thing works, that's some serious engineering right there! 👍

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +4

      🤣 It is incredible, if anything deserves a clear cover then this is it!

  • @MyRetroWatches
    @MyRetroWatches 2 года назад +15

    Wanted one of these for ages after seeing one on the repair shop. I will enjoy watching this mate.

    • @andersmmvfc.8376
      @andersmmvfc.8376 2 года назад

      Oh i will get you a shout next time i find one in the charity shop.
      Last one a saw was for about 35 euros but postage for the calculator and its suitcase will be massive.
      I live in the small city of åtvidaberg where this was made and they are pretty common still.
      I never seen one in this bad condition though.
      Would love another video about this!

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад

      Cheers Mike, I will try and find it. Now that you mention it, it is the perfect item to feature on The Repair Shop 👍👍

  • @someonespadre
    @someonespadre Год назад +2

    I own a Monroe Model K (1921) which is an awesome machine. It can do reverse multiplication which is really handy. It was working when I got it except unjamming it from all the people in the thrift store fiddling with it. A little sewing machine oil and it’s as good as new. They used natural oils that don’t gum up.
    I also acquired a Monroe LA5 (mid 1930s). It was stuck in certain places but with effort I got the calculator mechanism free, oiled and working. It is electric drive which I haven’t figured out. It can be operated manually but a better crank would help. The calculator mechanism is fairly simple, the motor controls are very complicated.

  • @Martinchox
    @Martinchox 2 года назад +2

    props to whomever design it.

  • @davidmelbourne5480
    @davidmelbourne5480 2 года назад +9

    If you could make a really accurate drawing of one of the buttons, I am sure we could 3D print you one for the missing one (ABS would be tough enough) Great fix as usual.
    .

  • @Titanic4
    @Titanic4 2 года назад +38

    The bell inside of this mechanical calculator is heard when the main result register either overflows, or when the value in it goes below 0, as the calculator can't display negative numbers.

    • @mousefad3673
      @mousefad3673 2 года назад +1

      Came here to say this. :)

    • @someonespadre
      @someonespadre Год назад +1

      If you add and subtract a column of numbers (such as a list of debits and credits) into underflow territory, clear the keyboard, copy the result including the leading 9s down onto the keyboard, subtract twice and the result dial will show the answer to which you add a negative sign. I learned that from a 1931 Monroe business machine course book.

  • @grubbin6432
    @grubbin6432 2 года назад +21

    Get yourself a good sewing machine oil instead of the WD-40. WD-40 is a good penetrating oil to free things up, however in about six months it will dry out and get gummy again.

    • @lesrogers7310
      @lesrogers7310 2 года назад +7

      Exactly, WD-40 is not a lubricant. I would personally recommend the 3-IN-ONE High Performance Lubricant with PTFE for this type of renovation.

    • @shadowtheimpure
      @shadowtheimpure 2 года назад +1

      @@lesrogers7310 In this case, he isn't using it as lube. He was using it to get it clean and freed up. He mentioned that he might get the correct grease for it and properly lubricate it another time.

    • @someonespadre
      @someonespadre Год назад

      I 2nd sewing machine oil. Find a fabric store, they usually have it.

  • @Rebel9668
    @Rebel9668 2 года назад +6

    While I appreciate your perseverance in cleaning the mechanics of this machine I'd like to offer some advice if I may. If you have access to lacquer thinner a bit of it in a squirt bottle would speed the cleaning ten fold. It will dissolve old grease like that almost instantly. I use it when I'm freeing up the mechanisms on old BSR turntables and it works a treat. Other substitutes that work equally as well would be aerosol cans of brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner as they can blast away the grime deep down inside the machine that's hard to reach and any of those 3 solvents evaporate very quickly. When it's clean and ready for new lubrication a drop or two of Singer sewing machine oil is more than enough in the places that need it. Careful not to over oil the parts as that will simply attract more dust & dirt and leave you where you started again eventually. :)

  • @scorsagain
    @scorsagain 2 года назад +3

    Cannot imagine how the designer/engineer came up with the concept and then the final product that someone could learn to use.

  • @Crumbleofborg
    @Crumbleofborg 2 года назад +3

    Lovely video! I remember learning how to use these at school. The noise of a classful of these machines all crunching away at the same time was really something. Can't remember how to use them now, but I do remember the immense satisfaction I felt when I finally mastered how to do a square root calculation!

    • @erik.dahlberg
      @erik.dahlberg 2 года назад

      I must ask you, was this introduced after you had mastered a standard slide-rule? For what type of calculations were these machines considered to be better than that?
      The reason I ask is because I'm highly sceptical to how current mathematics is taught in middle and high schools in Sweden today. We try to teach students to learn the proper operations manually, dividing with the chair and so on, to then just introduce the small electronic calculators so that most people forget about these techniques and get lazy. And then, when studying mathematics in university you just have re-learn the manual operations again! And the poor students of other disciplines (economics, engineering) never really get a proper foundation to really understand what really goes on with various algebraic manipulation techniques.
      My argument is that this is mainly due to lazy habits formed with electronic calculators, and a lack of pedagogical skills for the mathematics teachers in high school.

    • @Crumbleofborg
      @Crumbleofborg 2 года назад +1

      @@erik.dahlberg We were taught how to use both a slide rule and an adding machine.
      The two have different uses. Slide rules were wonderfully quick when you only need an answer to two significant figures. As a side effect they teach you to estimate as well, because you have to keep track of the decimal place on your own. I still have my slide rule as a matter of fact, although I haven't actually used it for decades.
      The adding machines were in widespread use when an accurate answer is needed, like in financial calculations, they are just slow and cumbersome.
      Obviously both devices are wildly inferior to any basic electronic calculator, as is mental arithmetic also.
      The ability to calculate manually is pretty useless these days, although I do find it helpful to see immediately when the young person at the checkout has made an error!
      To be honest I think that normal people don't need much more mathematics than an understanding of basic arithmetic operations, as taught to infants by the Numberblocks series on the BBC. Why not rely on a calculator to do hard sums? Those who want to specialise in Mathematics can learn how to do manual calculations and why the methods work, no need for others to do so!

    • @erik.dahlberg
      @erik.dahlberg 2 года назад +1

      @@Crumbleofborg Thank you for you prompt and thorough reply! From your last point, I presume that you perhaps went on to study in some technical field for your higher education. The reason I ask is that I presume that you therefore were not exposed to some of the nerv wrecking stupidity that goes on regarding mathematics in the "social fields" as economics, finance, business management and so on. There are so many examples of basic "formulas" that are taught as MAGIC TRUTHS that you should learn by heart in economics and management courses, where the underlying logic is just a refactoring, or a little algebraic manipulation away from another known fact.
      I wish I had at least had a semester or two with basic linear algebra BEFORE i pursued my Master in Economics. It would have saved me so much frustration, and would have guaranteed me the highest grade in class almost effortlessly as well as almost instantly catching the underlying intuition for a specific problem or linear optimisation, as it did for some of my fellow classmates who had this mathematical skillset beforehand.
      Regarding "normal people", I agree 100%, they only need basic skills and perhaps being able to calculate percentages and so on. The problem in Sweden is that the expectation levels even of the highest grade in Mathematics in high school and then on to university is that it has become tailored to this category of people, not the 1-5 people in every classroom that actually have the inclination to properly master the subject at hand. We can see the result right now, when people spend 3-5 years in University to then go on to becoming a Barrista at Starbucks...

  • @eg1885
    @eg1885 2 года назад +10

    I love these things which are built like tanks, and are made up of such serious mechanical engineering.

  • @jimlondon1
    @jimlondon1 2 года назад +2

    My God, you mentioned Turney Turbines! Thats a blast from the past. I remember their place in Harrow, close to where I grew up.

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +2

      🤣🤣 I spent a happy week there when I was 15 on work experience👍👍👍

  • @jimmythecricket25
    @jimmythecricket25 2 года назад

    I almost turned the video off when you opened that up. You turned a nightmare into a dream result as usual. Great job Vince!!

  • @bayguitarman
    @bayguitarman 2 года назад +2

    A tip for you Vince, I renovate guitars, and for the chrome metal parts I use Cilit Bang, it’s a fantastic degreaser and brings chromed parts up like new….great vids btw👏🏻👏🏻

  • @JohnGotts
    @JohnGotts 2 года назад +9

    Vince, get an impact driver! You hammer them down, which causes them to rotate. They have one on Amazon for $22.

    • @ericfraser7543
      @ericfraser7543 2 года назад

      Better yet get a battery powered impact driver and drill set...

  • @techstuff7414
    @techstuff7414 2 года назад +3

    Beautiful machine. Makes me want to get one for myself to play around with. I'm surprised you didn't replace the missing 6 key with something from an old computer or typewriter.

  • @Hazeyone7977
    @Hazeyone7977 2 года назад +8

    Go to a auto parts store and get some brake clean. That will clean it up really well. Follow that up with some machine oil. I have restored 3 of these that way.

    • @oliverer3
      @oliverer3 2 года назад

      Considering break cleaner is about half acetone it would likely eat all of the buttons and display tumblers.

  • @dodgydruid
    @dodgydruid 2 года назад +6

    In the 70's we used to get "addiator's" which with a little plastic stylus you could do some quite big numbers adding or subtracting and multiplying you broke the numbers down then worked it out adding the number x many times. Shops often had the special pounds shillings and pence addiators in the time time before decimalisation which I remember too lol Quite funny in our penny was bigger than even the 2p or 2 shilling pieces and I was so sad when the half penny the sixpence etc all went to the wall.

  • @chillenchilla4
    @chillenchilla4 2 года назад +5

    brake parts cleaner is the perfect thing for a clean up like this

    • @maka5955
      @maka5955 2 года назад

      Yes. I have brought the same device. The shaft was stuck. A little brake cleaner and sewing machine oil fixed. And even after a year, it works great.

  • @auqustfire
    @auqustfire 2 года назад +4

    I still remember my math teachers telling me that I wouldn't always have a calculator on me and now I have 3 on me at all times, lmaooooo. But I guess that makes sense when calculators were this big.

  • @brutlern
    @brutlern 2 года назад +2

    And Vince strikes again with yet another rare and unusual item. That thumbnail is intriguing.

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +1

      Thanks Nandi, my favourite thumbnail to date 👍👍👍

  • @harrowtiger
    @harrowtiger Год назад

    Used one in several steel division boilershop drafting offices in the ‘60s. Detaling drawing and calculating lengths of structural steel members and steel plates for the boilermakers to cut steel down on the factory floor. Needed 100% accuracy, NO mistakes tolerated!

  • @IanScottJohnston
    @IanScottJohnston 2 года назад

    "Remember the old typewriters that lock up"...........And at this point most of the audience are like "no!"...........LOL!....but YES I remember them very clearly!

  • @esmphotographics
    @esmphotographics 2 года назад

    I have a same machine in good working order. I‘ve also repaired another machine from a friend. But that machine was really stuck. So I had to take oit one of the rolling mechanisms and set it back „on time“. And then it worked again. These are nice machines. Thanks for the video!

  • @marcezs08
    @marcezs08 2 года назад +1

    mechanical calculators have always been fascinating to me, its always been impressive to me what someone could device, purely mechanically.

  • @CamaroSSMan69
    @CamaroSSMan69 2 года назад

    Hey Vince, I’ve heard a lot of people say not to use WD-40 for things like lubricating door hinges as it does temporarily help with lubrication but attracts dust which will make the problem worse. They suggest instead to use a 2 in one or 3 in one oil. I hope the calculator doesn’t get dust in the gears and seize up again!

  • @andersmmvfc.8376
    @andersmmvfc.8376 2 года назад +3

    Omg this is my citys pride and i do work in there old buildings.
    The calculator you holds was mad in to 71-72.
    We have a real good museum in Åtvidaberg sweden, if any of you whant to private guide.
    And if you whant a service manual i can copy one if you want to go deeper in to the rabbit hole ;)
    I think we did the same mistake as you in the uk.
    In the 1970 we did protest instead of working and we did not think a Japanese toys could compete with our quality.
    You had the car industry and we had calculators.

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад

      Thanks Anders, this is the most interesting mechanism I have ever seen, makes watches look simple 🤣 Big thumbs up to Sweden for creating this beauty.

  • @Blade-420
    @Blade-420 Год назад +1

    IMHO, these seemed to work much like a compact / simplified version of Babbage's difference engine. although he himself never had the chance to finish it fully, it and this are truly a fascinating bit of mechanical engineering 😀

  • @quantumleap359
    @quantumleap359 2 года назад

    Back in the early 60's, my dad had a Bohn Contex calculator. Made in West Germany, and manually operated. It would add, subtract, multiply and divide. Instead of a crank, it had a palm operated plunger, all operations were tied to the number of strokes on the palm plunger. It too was a mechanical marvel inside. Very interesting video, thanks for posting!

  • @arcadecarpet631
    @arcadecarpet631 2 года назад +1

    I deal almost exclusively in Friden machines from the 30s-60s but most of the knowledge should transfer, firstly you dont want to use wd-40 as a permanent oil, it is good at removing stuck things but after that is should be replaced with some sewing machine oil variant. The best i have found is Nye 140B oil, its pricy but it works miracles, it removes old oil and replaces it in one foul swoop. Most of the time machines like this don’t need to be fully disassembled, infact it can be very risky to do so. My friden machine alone has around 1000 pages of adjustments to get it running correctly, if it was disassembled fully then you would have a heck of a time getting it working again. Rather work on small bits at a time, its often the case that one small stuck thing is cascading causing larger problems down the line. Most of all these machines take time to repair especially if you are just learning, take your time and make sure everything goes back where it should.

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад

      Thanks for the tips ArcadeCarpet 👍👍

  • @JoeyDoesTech
    @JoeyDoesTech 2 года назад +1

    Bloomin' hell! Thought it was an engine looking at the thumbnail 😊 Great video pal.

  • @aellipsis
    @aellipsis 2 года назад

    In a way this is so much more impressive than electronics. I’m sure that the complexity of a CPU is orders of magnitude greater, but being smart enough to invent and build something like this is amazing to me.

  • @mewserino
    @mewserino 2 года назад +1

    Vince I'm only halfway through the video but I think you've stumbled on an absolute treasure here. It's similar to the Curta mechanical calculators which have become highly collectible by anyone interested in historical computing. The machine seems complete except for that missing keycap which could easily be 3D printed. If I can offer some advice, WD40 is not a lubricant and isn't really appropriate for restoring the machine. I'll shut up and watch the rest of the video now.

  • @hervegabet
    @hervegabet 2 года назад

    In my opinion one of the best fix ever , so beautyful mechanic

  • @PghGameFix
    @PghGameFix 2 года назад +1

    A very cool save. I did an very old lab balance scale, and most of it's issues were that it was gummed up from old grease. Only thing left is for you to get into 3d printing... then you could have replaced that missing button. !!

  • @jackthelad612
    @jackthelad612 2 года назад +1

    I used one of these in a surveyors office, calculating coordinates, when there were a couple on the go it got a bit noisy. Ours were older and not as quiet as yours.

  • @johanvandevelde73
    @johanvandevelde73 2 года назад +1

    When devices where still built to last. What a beautiful machine!

  • @sihaynes
    @sihaynes 2 года назад +1

    What a incredible machine, that belongs in a museum for sure! Great job vince and very interesting choice of item this week!

  • @TheSkaldenmettrunk
    @TheSkaldenmettrunk 2 года назад

    What a beast of a typewriter😂 but very well manufactured. It was very interesting to see the inside from something like this.

  • @amnril
    @amnril 2 года назад +2

    I think a somewhat more elaborate one of these was restored by ‘the repair shop’ , I think Steve fixed it and it was very complex to strip down and totally repair/restore.

  • @GarthBeagle
    @GarthBeagle 2 года назад +7

    This'd be really cool to have in a clear case too. Or I could see that case painted a nice bright Swingline Stapler red colour

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +4

      Clear case would be a real winner on this item Garth. It looks so bland on the outside but the insides are stunning 👍👍

  • @marklatimer7333
    @marklatimer7333 2 года назад

    I can remember seeing loads of these in junk shops just after Britain went decimal in 1971, those were different to the one in the video because they allowed you to enter pounds schillings and pence, we used to have a really strange monetary system in the UK before 71 .
    Cash tills used to work the same way but had a mechanical printer as well.

  • @paulmaclachlan6960
    @paulmaclachlan6960 2 года назад +1

    its a bit like an enigma machine with various pins turning other pins lol

  • @Brewskii2117
    @Brewskii2117 2 года назад

    Established train of thought... "You must stay in your comfort zone!", My Mate Vince.." What the heck is a comfort zone!?"

  • @YoshMaster
    @YoshMaster 2 года назад

    This is AMAZING!!! Such an awesome instrument! Never saw a mechanical calculator before but this is stunning in its ingenuity!! 😮 Mechanical repairs of older stuff are always such a favourite of mine, I LOVED this video!!

  • @euphoria_7477
    @euphoria_7477 2 года назад

    PLEASE get some screw extractor pliers! Fujiya makes a great little pair for like $15, and they work great. Seeing you pounding on the very thing you're trying to fix is killing my inner fix-it soul lol. Never-the-less, another great fix :)

  • @simpleton8148
    @simpleton8148 2 года назад

    Wow! That’s a small one when I was young I used to play on an old NCR adding machine. Heavy and lots of brass. My dad used to work for NCR and we had a bunch around the house.

  • @SublimeArchi
    @SublimeArchi 2 года назад

    Your two screwdriver method worked pretty good, but there is a manual impact driver that you can hit with a hammer. It applies rotational force as it drives the bit firmly into the screw head lessening the chance of stripping the head out. Very handy tool for situations like that.

  • @lazardanilovic
    @lazardanilovic Год назад

    3d printing a clear case to showcase the insides would look stunning!

  • @robertking7584
    @robertking7584 2 года назад

    I used to work on these and mechanical cash registers as well back in the late 1970's. Most common fault was gummed up works because the grease had gone to paste. We used a high pressure hot water pressure washer. Then after drying, we sprayed them down internally with machine oil. Only got really complicated when we got to the electromechanical ones which sadly used cloth covered wiring and gigantic AC motors. They still used the crank even then for those places where they didn't have electricity and/or needed something that would work with and without power.

    • @YonezH
      @YonezH 2 года назад

      What would you use for cleaning if you don´t have a hot water pressure washer? Would it be OK to soak it in hot water, clean it under the hot water tap or something? I have to older Original Odhners that still work fine, but will need regreasing soon.

  • @AnonymousRepair
    @AnonymousRepair 2 года назад +1

    Very Nice 👍👍👍👍👍👍 Would be fun to take it apart and trying to reassemble it

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад

      Thanks AR, yes it would but I am not sure if everything needs to be aligned with each other. Imagine the rabbit hole of hell if it was all aligned!!!! or the springs of the pins fell out 🤣👍👍👍

  • @jackmajor7865
    @jackmajor7865 2 года назад +1

    Are your Wet Wipes expensive?. You seem to use the same wipe and spread muck from one surface to another. Apart from that I love your videos and determination to repair anything that comes your way. Some of your fixes are ingenious and your dialogue as you go through the process , mouthing your thoughts, puts you above many You Tubers wo use pauses to hide their mistakes.

  • @theoloutlaw
    @theoloutlaw 2 года назад

    You have a lot of patience, I probably would have soaked the whole thing in 'degreaser' and probably would have ruined it. :)

  • @geraldkrause8840
    @geraldkrause8840 2 года назад

    Brilliant video. I remember similar ones from school. I think the red marker is for setting the decimal point.

  • @Plan-C
    @Plan-C 2 года назад

    The skills of a ninja and the patience of a saint. Outstanding video. Looks like a difference engine.

  • @jerryjerry8673
    @jerryjerry8673 2 года назад

    I was born into the business of typewriters, calculators, adding machines, and cash register. It was a family business. We used a large part washer filled with Varsol and light machine oil mixture. The Varsol would break up all the old oil/dirt and flush it out. Then the light machine oil would leave an oily film on all the mechanical part. Usually would fix most issues other than something actually breaking like a spring.

  • @ktaragorn
    @ktaragorn 2 года назад +2

    18:07 Reminds me of that thing you can do in calculators where you type in a number and an operator and keep pressing equals.. wonder if that was kept because of this generation of calculator...

  • @Retroaria
    @Retroaria 2 года назад

    21:48:
    For cleaning I always use a container with very hot water, an absorbent cloth, gloves (to hold the hot water) and sometimes that magic sponge (white) that works miracles. But be careful because the sponge is very abrasive and on painted or shiny surfaces it will be necessary to polish it after it or even repaint.

  • @jocockcroft1928
    @jocockcroft1928 2 года назад

    What a fantastic item and another great repair by you. Why not make a mold of the outside cover and cast a new cover in clear resin, you'll be able to see all the mechanical workings inside then.

  • @BowsetteKoopa
    @BowsetteKoopa 2 года назад

    Wooo that is an absolute unit calculator! LOL I was not expecting to see such a big device

  • @dash8brj
    @dash8brj 2 года назад

    A beautiful piece of equipment! you were struggling with that last little spring at the end! Bravo for bringing it back to life.

  • @DrRestoration
    @DrRestoration 2 года назад +1

    That thumbnail! 😍👌🏽 Loved it!

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад +1

      Thanks Dr R, looks great in the thumbnail, my favourite one to date. Thoroughly enjoyed your musket video by the way. That wood looked so fragile I thought it was going to be scrap, I can tell the hours of work that went into it. You'll have to do another one now, and use the Boiled Linseed Oil to keep the comments section happy 🤣👍👍👍

    • @DrRestoration
      @DrRestoration 2 года назад

      @@Mymatevince yes no one sees the hours of trial and error off camera! I’ll impress those experts in the comments next time 😂

  • @countduckula9977
    @countduckula9977 2 года назад

    Hey Vince,
    Brilliant repair video!
    It is great watching you fix this mechanical calculator [no electricity required]; I am sure you'll figure how to do all the mathematical functions.

  • @JonPadfield
    @JonPadfield 2 года назад

    This was one of my favourite videos of all time, Vince. What an amazing machine! Nice one on the fix.

  • @pkguy3
    @pkguy3 2 года назад

    A great product for removing old grease on adders and typewriter mechanisms is WD40 SPECIALIST Industrial Degreaser. It comes in the same can size as the WD40 Lubricant. It doesn't smell, it doesn't damage paint or plastic. You can use it in your house sitting at your kitchen table if you like. Once everything is moving freely you can then lubricate using a very light machine oil. I like to use those small syringes with the blunt metal tips so you can control how much to apply rather than it just coming out in drops. With these machines, less is more when it comes to lubrication.

  • @Lynxzzz1983
    @Lynxzzz1983 2 года назад

    That beautiful sound of the rotating numbers

  • @Retroaria
    @Retroaria 2 года назад

    6:30 is just like ME here LOL

  • @thegreencandle5555
    @thegreencandle5555 2 года назад

    That's so cool. The engineering that's gone into that. Great vid :-)

  • @maka5955
    @maka5955 2 года назад

    I have same. Main shaft was total stack. Little brakecleaner and sewing maghine oil bring it back life.

  • @caretakergaming21A
    @caretakergaming21A 2 года назад

    Just got done watching the new switch video. Never seen this before such an amazing video mate!

  • @tipsy1973
    @tipsy1973 2 года назад +1

    My mother used to use one of these at work in the 60's

  • @erik.dahlberg
    @erik.dahlberg 2 года назад +1

    Could anyone relate this marvel piece of engineering to the prior works of Babbage's "Difference Machine", and the proto programming that Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace pioneered, approx a century before this FACIT was manufactured? Did the Difference Machine have the same capabilities?
    And by the way Vince, if you ever have an opportunity to look under the hood of the US Marine Tech related to analog "Super Computers" that were used to calculate ballistics on the fly, that would be an epic video for the ages!

  • @LucaBlightOfHighland
    @LucaBlightOfHighland 2 года назад

    Probably the coolest thing you've gotten your hands on in this channel.

  • @Retroaria
    @Retroaria 2 года назад

    24:30 once again, to remove the old and dry grease, the best way is to use very hot water and an absorbent cloth.

  • @pocksm
    @pocksm 2 года назад +1

    This is some Alan Turing technology

  • @JamesPotts
    @JamesPotts 2 года назад

    The song during cleaning was great.

  • @ingog.8424
    @ingog.8424 2 года назад +2

    He is washing off all the authenthic dirt! 😱️

  • @jonathannocon
    @jonathannocon 2 года назад

    2+2=5 bit made me giggle 😅 epic 👌🏼
    That’s a noice vintage mechanical calcy tho. Very noice indeed...
    I recall seeing similar gizmos when I was little at my aunts work place and she was a manager to one of the well accredited/established CPA accounting firms here in my neck of the woods.
    Only difference is that they had a bunch of em but they were essentially the same thing, a couple may have been bigger and more complex. Needless to say, they were for hardcore calculating tools during that era no doubt.
    You got that for dirt cheap considering the materials/weight of it imo. Something like that would be sold by it’s raw metal value here rather than it’s usability.
    Also looks like good degreaser and some controlled heating would be beneficial in the servicing of this unit.

  • @retrorestored
    @retrorestored 2 года назад

    Awesome video! Very cool to see the inner workings of the calculator, never even seen one of these things before.

  • @I_Don_t_want_a_handle
    @I_Don_t_want_a_handle Год назад

    My dad gave me his old mechanical calculator. It's an ugly machine with a fascinating mechanism, just like yours. There are no levers, though, just numbers. To subtract, you have to do some weird operation I never understood. You end up with a 9 at the end of the display when the calculation is complete. It's very odd. Thank God for Mr Sinclair and his affordable pocket calculators.

  • @antoinroberts
    @antoinroberts 2 года назад +1

    In the U.S this machine is selling for $200 dollars . You got a great deal

  • @reddoggames3011
    @reddoggames3011 2 года назад

    If your into vintage mechanical project. Try to fix a record player. That way you can use the multimeter ; )

  • @gallowayeuan
    @gallowayeuan 2 года назад

    Vince, we need to see a full strip down and rebuild👍

  • @rockubtzer
    @rockubtzer Год назад

    Be careful You can see the blood smudges on the bottom from the last guy that serviced it! Most screwdrivers have bolt-like shafts & hand grips to slip a box (spanner) wrench(in America) over to aid with torque. you have an obviously insulated set that covers those helpers. As a kid in the 60s my parents had a 3.57 stone 50Lb monstrosity that only added and subtracted that had a crank you pulled down once to add or subtract pulled 3 times in a row it totaled I t printed on a spool of paper black for adding red for subtracting. I drove them nuts playing with it it made such a racket! PS. for upkeep you doused everything that moved inside with sewing machine oil, hence the large drip tray and pads to catch what oil it flung off while in use to stop it from sloshing about.

  • @stephantrommsdorf5176
    @stephantrommsdorf5176 2 года назад

    Great video! Was really thrilling. Happy Weekend!

  • @kiphakes
    @kiphakes 2 года назад +1

    Probably a little late now.. but Plus Gas is REALLY good for penetrating rusty screws and bolts. It's good for car tinkering too! :)

    • @Mymatevince
      @Mymatevince  2 года назад

      Cheers Kip. Loving the new 8 bit artwork on your channel 👍

  • @ArreglandoCosas
    @ArreglandoCosas 2 года назад

    What a beautiful machine! Vince could you pls tell me which videocamera are you using now? Thanks!

  • @coolelectronics1759
    @coolelectronics1759 2 года назад

    white lythium grease works wonders for a lot of those parts that rely on sliding linkages and levers.
    I bet this thing had that old mechanical typewriter smell to it from all the old dried up grease and oils.
    Makes me sad I tossed out that old underwood typewriter years ago that I found at a yard sale for free. I bet even it would of still been working perfectly today had I kept it and restored it instead of throwing it out. It still worked, too, its just the keys would stick

  • @BikerBloke600
    @BikerBloke600 2 года назад +4

    Hi Vince what a wonderful piece of engineering, reminds me of the German Enigma Machine and as complicated lol. A good dunk in a large Ultra Sonic Cleaner would do that the world of good or failing that a few cans of Carb/Brake Cleaner would bring it back k to life. Keep up the good work. Mick 👍🍻👏

  • @GarthBeagle
    @GarthBeagle 2 года назад +1

    27:34 Reminds me of how the grease in old Macintosh floppy drives (800KB/1.44MB) dries up causing them to seize - have to scrape it out in some instances (as well as giving it a through cleaning)

  • @absinthe4breakfast299
    @absinthe4breakfast299 2 года назад

    what a wondeful example of engineering, fantastic vid.

  • @cristianlobb3831
    @cristianlobb3831 2 года назад

    Nice to see how technology was nice bit of history right there nice little fix thanks for the entertainment mmv

  • @1967c10Guy
    @1967c10Guy 2 года назад

    You could use a impact driver in your tool bag for stuck screws