This Amazing 70 Year Old Calculating Machine
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- Опубликовано: 18 июн 2024
- Looking inside a Curta Calculator from 1954. This machine is able to do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on numbers up to eleven digits long. Using only mechanical gears, shafts and leavers.
This one however doesn't work, something seems broken. I have no choice but to open it up and have a look at the inside mechanisms of this amazing 70 year old calculating machine.
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It is absolutely incredible how this design still looks absolutely modern.
Yeah was about to say! It looks like a modern understated minimalistic piece of high end equipment.
The 20th century was very modern, i think some of us forget how modern the 1920s-1950s were.
It's a cylinder for Chrissakes...
probably due to the 'digit' counters, like an odometer in a car, that makes it look almost digital, and the metal has a plastic look.
@@fintan9218i mean... yea... i guess you could say the 2nd most recent century in history is modern.
i mean, its more modern than the 20th century B.C.
I'm not at all surprised this mechanical marvel knows the answer to life, the universe and everything.
And in less time than the other one to.
@@anderswahlgren9308 Douglas Adams could've made them use a Curta, but where's the fun in that? Who wants to read a book that's only five pages?
@@DerMarkus1982"A trilogy in five... pages?"
ABSOLUTLY fasinating! Thankyou.
♥
This is from 1954, but the all black aesthetic making it look modern
Ye
The design of it and especially the font of the " C U R T A" logo look very modern.
It is amazing how modern this thing looks well over 70 years later, it looks like it could be released today
a lot of our design sensibilities are still similar - and machining processes lend themselves to certain design elements anyway, like cylinders, knurling, and anodizing. those still look very modern.
wait that's powder coating not anodizing. same idea design wise though.
There are new manufacture projects but I havent seen a release.
Never knew there were mechanical calculating machines that small, it really does look like an engineering marvel. BTW I love than that style of metallic precision-made machinery still looks modern to this day, I have a pair of soviet binoculars that are at least 50 years old yet the only thing that gives away their age is the wear on their leather case, the thing itself doesn't look antiquated or old at all and is still in mostly mint condition because my grandma barely used it.
Your binoculars sound awesome. I bet they will easily outlast modern versions.
The first ‘shirt pocket’ calculator.
But it takes a bit of practice to really fly thru calculation.
When it was introduced using logs was still the norm. Yeah big improvement and designed for field use, not really an office machine.
It really does look modern!
I clicked out of curiosity because it did.. beautiful machining and finish.
Coolest thing I’ve seen in a while 👍 good stuff
Edit- what model of binos are you taking about? They sound nice, would like to check them out too
@@larryscott3982 My uncle used his Curta heavily for astrophysical research in the 50's and early 60's. That was the only way to do a lot of calculations on numbers with a lot of significative digits back then, what was before taking weeks of work to solve equations was now taking hours with a Curta.
Off course Curtas had a short useful lifespan, quickly the very first electronic calculators were there and now it was minutes to solve calculations...
I was able to witness him use his Curta when he was still alive and he was very very very fast to use this complex machine, quite incredible. He knew a lot of tricks and would chain calculations to obtain the result he was looking for. Would do that casually barely looking at the machine, like if he was grinding coffee.
200bce there was one too but bigger maybe the size of a shoebox
Even though the inside is amazing The exterior design was 70 years ahead of it's time
You can really see why people were just as hyped for clockwork and precision-manufacturing in the decades preceding the 20th century, as we were about semiconductors at the turn of the 21st!
As you say this specific device is postwar, but it’s conceptually a miniaturisation of a much older design of adding machine which has indeed been around for all that time. Hence why some compare it to a smartphone, and how they took a desktop computer into a pocket device.
The sci-fi trope of a computer becoming so complex it becomes spontaneously self-aware started with stories about electro-mechanical telephone exchange switches! Which have a lot in common with these adding machines, and more fundamentally with mechanical clocks.
I have the exact same Curta. It worked, but not flawless. I sent it to a Curta expert in Germany and had it serviced. This guy has a huge stack of original parts. It now works effortless and its a blast to calculate with it!
Nice! I'm not an expert, but very pleased I was able to get this working and not cause any harm.
hi man, I'm afraid I need this guy's contact. My Curta is stuck :(
I need to know too. Mines in good going order but could do with an oil change
@@hiteck007 An oil change you could perform on your own. First dunk the Curta in naphta, shake, drain and evaporate. Then mix a little bit of sewing machine oil in nphta, dunk the Curta in it, shake a little bit, drain off and let the naphta evaporate leaving the oil. Works like a breeze. A lot of users use this method.
@@gabberattak Go to rechenfreund in germany run by Bernd. Highly recommended.
When driving a pin with a punch, try to support the other side. It avoids bending the shaft
I may have emailed this to Adam Savages team. I imagine he'd get a huge kick out of seeing the insides in action.
Hey that's cool, thank you.
Superb. I have a Model 1 that was purchased new by my Grandfather in the 1950s. I take it out from time to time to give it some exercise. It always puts a smile on my face. I’ve never done a square root with mine, I’ll have to look into how it’s done. It’s good to know that there are still people capable of servicing these fascinating old machines. Carry on.
I have yet to do a square root as well. From what I understand it's an interesting search procedure to zero in on the result.
As an engineer, I am in awe of this wonderful, and frankly beautiful calculator. The fact that it is somewhat long-winded to get your answer, has no bearing of the Curta type 2 calculator. Before calculators I was using a slide rule and mathematical formula reference books. Thank you for a most interesting post, I have a philosophy in life, and that is to never stop being inquisitive and to learn from ideas young and old. So again thank you.
I really enjoy learning new things. Your philosophy is great, thanks for sharing. I'm glad you enjoyed this video.
I saw my first Curta when I was in 6th grade. I've wanted one for years and ended up purchasing a model-1. It kind of amazes me that no one has taken up the call to make a modern replica.
I'm glad you were able to get one. They are amazing to use.
That's the longest Douglas Adams joke I've ever seen. Bravo.
wow a CURTA ... very nice
As a fellow Curta owner, I much appreciate this look inside the mechanism.
Curta's getting dropped was a common thing to happen back in the 60's. The main shaft would get bent and this would stop them from working properly. Back then you could send them back to Curta to be repaired too, but it was always expensive. I've loved these things from the very first time I saw them and now get myself into trouble every time I buy another one.
I have always wanted to play with a math grenade since I heard about them from a William Gibson novel in my younger days.. What a super cool and special object
Lovely video. I have both Type I and Type II Curta calculators. The Type II was given to me by my FIL, his father was an engineer and bought it in the 1970s but then bought one of the first electronic calculators shortly thereafter. So my Type II is in immaculate condition with original case, box, manuals, etc. I use it often. My Type I was bought on eBay and is in very good condition, but I can feel that the lubricants are beginning to dry up. I have inquired multiple people who are said to service these mechanical marvels, but the ones who replied are no longer taking orders as they are swamped already - likely due to increased interest after the YT videos you mention! Nonetheless I am treasuring it and will get it serviced at some point. Thanks for this video which shows some of the mechanisms in action without the case on, quite nice to see. And props for performing such a difficult repair on an item that requires very specific and precise maintenance.
Really nice to hear from a dedicated Curta fan. It's an honour to learn about these first hand and be able to share the experience. Hopefully also providing useful information to others in the process.
The Curta has a very important array of jigs and fixtures for both assembly and disassembly and you really need them -- especially the tiny spring compressor-holders. I hope you can find a Curta repair specialist who either has these or has built his own.
Thanks, I have seen some jigs used in other videos. You can bet I won't be going deeper into the mechanism without learning more and making sure I have everything I need first.
@@JanusCycle all a true engineer needs is a butter knife
I would've loved to have met Curt, the pure genius behind these brilliant machines which have become real collector-items!
May I suggest buying some circlip-pliers (mine are the inexpensive type with the interchangeable & reversible head sections, some of which I've modified the ends), small jewellers' pliers without teeth, and jewellers' parrallel pliers (a pair with & another without teeth) as these have a V-groove down the length of one jaw (good for gripping pins without marking).
For punching out rivets & pins, I have a range of punches & rods (some brass, but mostly hardened steel collected from computer-drives, appliances, audio/video machines, etc., but what can also be handy is a gadget for removing pins from steel watch-strap links (careful tho, as the cheaper ones are too thin & weak)!
Also the best lubricant would be minimal amounts of watchmakers oil!
Some really great info, thank you! I have recently acquired some watchmakers oil. But I've yet to apply any because I've read there are some parts in the Curta that should not be oiled. I'm learning as much as I can before doing anything, to respect the valuable nature of this machine.
@@JanusCycle Great approach to take! My trade before I began having serious health problems was jewellery manufacturer, but during that time I repaired some gold & silver watch-cases, which made me become interested in how watches worked, were made, & repaired. That's how I know that oiling some parts & not others is critical, as well as needing to be applied only sparingly to avoid having exposed oil drying out & gumming up gears, etc.
this channel is such a hidden gem in youtube 🥰
I'm glad you're enjoying the videos :)
It's a Curta Machine of RUclips ;)
it really is
Yes, I fully agree. And I am so happy youtube showed me this channel. It was an instant subscribe and i just bingewatched all of his videos.
Yes JanusCycle has -always- been an absolute goldmine of esoteric data rapped within an enigma of a riddle of a ruse amongst the bauxite *wrap glad gladwrap =special
I’ve just sold my Curta Type 2. The calculations I could use it for were, Adding, Subtract, multiply, divide, accumulate quotients, gear ratios,Sides of a triangle, heat insulation calculations, square roots, cube roots, fractional powers of numbers, quadratic equations and cubic equations, summation of squares, fractional powers of numbers, accumulation of products, evaluation of a polynomial or of a power series, evaluation of series, construction of a Nth order polynomial from Nth differences, and a few other things related to wages, percentages and amortisation of debts by annuities. I’m a retired Computer Scientist and these devices were (in my opinion) more accurate than some slide rules. At school in the late 1960’s early 70’s you could use a slide rule in mathematics exams, but you had to declare it was used at the end of your answer. Slide rules had a “cursor” and sometimes this landed between two value indicators, you had to estimate how much between each of the indicators the cursor was - so half way would be 0.5 extra on your answer, so an estimated final answer. The curta was far more accurate than that. My unit was serial number 515557, so there are websites for working out the manufacture date from the serial number. Mine was circa September 1960, so 62 years old and worked as smooth as butter. My unit sold for £930 on Mar 24 2023 on eBay. The first one I ever saw and used was as an amateur rally navigator for doing speed, time and distance between the rally checkpoints. Cars had to arrive at a fixed time. So the curta was used to tell the driver what speed he needed. Rally guys called curta units “pepper grinders” or “peppermill.”
Great info, thanks.
Of course the anwer is 42. But from a very small computer this time... Well done Janus!!
My father was a Civil Engineer and had the smaller unit. We used it for field surveying calculations. It was a mechanical work of art.
The sound the main shaft makes when turning is excellent
yes, the sound is one of the best parts of the experience.
I blame William Gibson for my obsession with the Curta, and anytime I see a Curta show up on my RUclips home page? I *will* watch that video.
That sound is so unique and such a salve to my ears, I absolutely love the sound of it and would love to have one in hand. Thank you for bringing this one back to life.
I put extra effort into capturing the sound as best I could. It's a very important part of the Curta experience.
Would love to see people make these again just for the novelty of it. Amazing job both with repairing it and showing us how it works!
There are files to 3d print one, though it'll be 3x the original size soince you can't print such small parts reliably.
I have never seen this machine, it's both beautiful and mind boggling but also a bit scary in how it actually works
...In the early 1970's, I went to school with someone who had one of these...
Yep, kind of confused how this little feller works, let alone imagine its mechanism.
Thank you. Came to the internet lost and unsure of what I was looking for. You and your Curta provided the answer!
Cool, glad you found this interesting.
I have a Curta from the early 1970s that served me well-a wonderful device!
I'm glad someone finally figured out what the question was
That thing looks so modern. It's crazy.
I marvel at the mind of the person who devised this machine!
Im suprised this hasn't yet been rereleased as a novelty, the mechanism is just so interesting!
Thank-you, your video has given me a very good view of a Curta.
I’ve been dreaming of having one for years, and I’ve only seen one in my life, in a museum display case…
42, the answer to life, the universe, and everything 🥰. The video is amazing, but the pun got me a smile. Thanks!
The Curta is so wonderful, it’s fun to just sit there and turn the crank. It is a testament to the finest of craftsmanship. My dad was an engineer in the late 50s, and he bought it when he went to Switzerland, it cost him a week’s pay. It is a thing of beauty.
Im impressed of how modern it looks. You could tell me it was manifactured a month ago and I would belive you. Unlike the Abam's one witch looks vintage
Except this level of craftmanship would be near impossible to come by nowadays
Adam's is actually the newer type 2. I have one of both and when you see them for real they both look surprisingly modern.
The design looks so stunning and modern
This is so beautifully made. It must have felt good to be involved with making something that is both beautiful and useful.
Thanks for showing the internal mechanism with such detail, this is a great video! This little machine fascinates me and it's awesome to see this one being brought back to working order.
Thank you. My aim was to show the internals and sound of the mechanism as best I could.
wow, this thing is a marvelous device for it's age
absolutely beautiful machine
I can imagine that the people who bought this were are happy to have it as I was when I got my HP35.
The engineering in this calculator is actually insane. And it looks amazing...
An absolutely gorgeous device!
This was so cool to see, thank you for making it!
That is absolutely remarkable. Thank you for showing this as I've never seen anything quite like it before, great video.
I’m really pleased to hear how much you enjoyed this. Thank you!
My dad had one of these while. Saving this to share with him.
I can't believe it's a 40s product! The design of everything among the construction of it make it like a recent one product, very beautiful.
I dont understand how you have 55k subs yet so few views. I hope you get the good numbers you deserve. Awesome and insightful content as well. In the future, i hope you delve into content about symbian and how app installs worked on there
You are very kind, thank you. It's more important to me that the right people find and appreciate these videos, than just big numbers of viewers. But I won't be upset if things grow a bit more :)
Looks like it was manufactured yesterday. No dings or stretches and the font looks modern. I want one now.
By the time you got the answer, I had already forgotten the question!
It's even more beautiful inside than I would have guessed.
Amazing you were able to fix it and very fortunate that someone less capable didn't try to fix it before you. I have only seen one Kurta calculator. A co-worker had just bought one on eBay and brought it in to work to show me. Definitely a look but don't touch moment.
Looks like something you'd find in a modern day camera shop! Love the bang-up-to-date lettering on the side.
Wonderful photography presentation, wonderful restraint in exploring the mechanism. Thank you.
What an amazing piece piece of engineering. Lovely video, thanks for creating.
I first heard about Curtas from the Gibson novel Pattern Recognition, where one of the secondary characters is a collector. This was early 2000s when just looking up an image quickly on the Internet wasn't a thing (we still had dial up at our home until 2005-ish.) I only had a mental image of a Curta from Gibson's description in the book until about 10 years ago, when I actually saw one in person.
I really like that Gibson put one in his story.
Brave soul to open the device. 👏Stumbled upon my own Curta at a household auction, in a box mixed with a couple old Vivitar flashes and a plastic Dick Tracy camera. The box of miscellaneous stuff brought only one bidder, so I went home with a $1.00 Curta calculator.
I used one of these daily outdoors while working as a cadastral surveyor in the Pacific islands of Micronesia in the late 1960's.
I will always regret not buying one in the 70s when I had the chance.
Beautiful machine expertly presented. Thank you.
@Janus Cycle - I found one of these weird devices in an accountants office clearance back in the early nineties, it was boxed and in pristine condition. I wasn't sure what it was or what it did, and eventually resold it on a boot sale, for a fraction of the value people put on these amazing mechanical calculators nowadays. Thanks for sharing.
Magnificent, thank you for showing it to us.
ah yes the meaning of life, 42, very clever mechanism knowing that
I've enjoyed every second of this video!
My school in Switzerland, about 50km from the factory, had some of these machines. We had to learn how to operate it in 1969 in the 11th grade. At that time, they were used by many Swiss institutions and companies. Of course, electronic calculators came along in the early 1970s, making the curtas obsolete.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing that.
I have three Curtas in my adding machine collection. Thankfully all in good shape. If I took one apart I'd surely never get it back together again. Amazing to see how damaged it was. That's pretty rare.
Good to hear from a real collector. You must have an interesting collection there :)
I reach for a Curta if I need to multiply/divide, but an abacus is far better for adding/subtraction.
I check RUclips every day to see if someone like you, who has a channel that is a hidden gem, has uploaded video. Thank you very much for bringing this varied but technological content :))
It’s from hearing things like this that makes me always want to do my best. Thank you!
love that the awnser on the question was 42
Fascinating device, thanks for the video!
Looks insanely complicated, but insanely cool. 😎
Always grateful for the quality work from you. Keep it up and always remember not to sell out to nebula. Good job Mr Janus
What's wrong with nebula?
Fantastic video!
Very cool, this is the first ive seen of one of these
YEEES From the supercomputer the Ultimate answer to all things ..THAT WAS AWESOME..keep truckin .. Now I wan't one.
A work mate of mine had one of these on his desk. He would show it to anyone who asked. Amazing device.
It looks so modern!
I've always loved this machine, I'm so happy you managed to bring another Curta back to life.
That's on another level, 42.
are yes the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, that is some amazing tech
I inherited my granddad's one of these. I used it to do my taxes for many years. Wonderful thing.
I've wanted one forever.
You calculated the meaning of life.
The answer to the question of life...
This looks so futuristic to me, despite being 70 years my Sr.
Janus Cycle is now my favorite channel on RUclips - absolutely love you videos
That's awesome, thank you.
@@JanusCycle I have a request/idear for a video on 2g cell phone exploits
I just love old complex mecanisems
When i first seen this I thought it was a modern calculator because of how modern it looks
Interesting to look at it looks modern
42, I've been looking for that too!
DUDE
I would love one of these
I want one! It doesn’t have to be an original, just this well made.
wow. amazing device. nice work
Amazing!
That's immense patience on your side for fixing it, I would have just soaked it in WD-40 and called it a day.
Very interesting video that brought back some memories of my days on holiday in Canada in 1967 when I worked for a few weeks for a contractor. This was before the age of computers and electronic calculators. I was taking off quantities off drawings of building and one of the guys there was responsible for pricing up the measured work. He used one of these small drum mechanical calculators and was incredibly quick. I just used an electro mechanical adding machine. The contractors were all East Europeans so I guess were well used to these machines.
At college we either used log tables or slide rules. John
nice story, thanks for sharing.
For the stuck parts, it probably mainly needs to be cleaned and oiled. (I see you did mention that at the very end of the video) For that tiny bent piece, you could probably get a new one machined.