Jaap Scherphuis

Jaap Scherphuis

Mechanical calculators, magic tricks, and any other cool geeky things that I want to show.

The Kohner Easy Adder

The Kohner Easy Adder

The O.J. Adder

The O.J. Adder

Consul, The Educated Monkey

Consul, The Educated Monkey

The Benton Tally Register

The Benton Tally Register

De Kleine Rekenmeester

De Kleine Rekenmeester

The Barrett Adding Machine

The Barrett Adding Machine

The Beckson ticket machine

The Beckson ticket machine

The Kuhrt calculator

The Kuhrt calculator

The Contex 30 calculator

The Contex 30 calculator

26-sided antique stone die

26-sided antique stone die

Пікірлер

  • @diksmolders3658
    @diksmolders365810 күн бұрын

    De draaiknop wit/rood werd op rood gezet bij het printen van rittenkaarten. De nieuwe rittenkaart werd er bovenin ingeschoven (waar het klepje opengaat) en de riitenkaart werd geprint met de zones en de prijs. En er kwam dan geen biljet uit.

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch210 күн бұрын

    Ok, dat verklaart het. Bedankt!

  • @MattDavey68
    @MattDavey6812 күн бұрын

    I like these machines. I just picked one up in a vintage shop with the dark brown keys, a decimal version. It has serial number 44907 so quite a lot earlier. I wonder if they changed colour in a specific year?

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch212 күн бұрын

    I have a brown one too, decimal, serial number 44689. It does seem that they changed from brown to green at some point, but I don't know exactly when.

  • @tylerg8305
    @tylerg830513 күн бұрын

    Your videos are always interesting, informative, and relaxing. A true hidden gem in the world of KZread

  • @WonderMasterReo
    @WonderMasterReo13 күн бұрын

    I love the unapologetic clunk when it prints!

  • @ChrisStaecker
    @ChrisStaecker13 күн бұрын

    I wasn't expecting a full typewriter-ribbon mechanism in there! I thought it would just emboss, maybe with a little inkpad. Fancy!

  • @DaveInBridport
    @DaveInBridport14 күн бұрын

    I find these things fascinating.... but why?

  • @dauntae24
    @dauntae2414 күн бұрын

    I love the engineering and the feeling of heft and permanence that the materials of older tech have.

  • @davidjack990
    @davidjack99014 күн бұрын

    My old maths teacher advised 'always keep your fingers off the numbers'.

  • @emdxemdx
    @emdxemdx14 күн бұрын

    :) I remember playing with an addiator-like calculator (Magic Brain?) more than 50 years ago, and around the same time, I had a teacher who had a miniaturized plastic version of the Pascaline. I recall understanding instantly how it worked.

  • @emdxemdx
    @emdxemdx15 күн бұрын

    Cute. A slide rule with a constant... :)

  • @nmmm2000
    @nmmm200015 күн бұрын

    If standard mechanical calculator is a CPU (a computer processor), then this Brunswiga machine shoul be a GPU (a graphic card) 😂😂😂

  • @nmmm2000
    @nmmm200015 күн бұрын

    Looks similar to Walther, but is definitely different because pins here rotates

  • @BokBarber
    @BokBarber20 күн бұрын

    I'm confused about why the higher order digits in the counter go all askew like that. I don't think I've seen that behavior on Monroe type machines. What's different about the Marchant's operation that makes that happen?

  • @BokBarber
    @BokBarber22 күн бұрын

    I've been training on a 12 column Model H Comptometer for fun, just to see how fast these are at basic arithmetic using the methods in the freely available Felt and Tarrant user manuals. Essentially just punching in the odd equation here and there, tallying up a few receipts a week, and using it instead of a computer calculator for quick math. The answer is that it's reasonably fast. Usably so. Not as fast as a digital calculator except in some niche cases, but still impressively fast for what it is. For addition, specifically addition of small dollar amounts, these things are lightning fast. In that specific context it's faster than running the same total on a 10 key calculator, but even with other types of numbers it's competitive; a well trained operator would probably beat the more modern machine at all addition. The best method I found is to use the touch method you showed, and work the columns lower order to higher order, 2 or 3 at a time so you don't get your fingering messed up. Multiplication is less fast since you have to look at the keys and chord your hands to effectively type the same number over and over. It's not as fast as using an electronic calculator, but significantly faster than doing the math on paper or in your head. It's only a second or two per multiplication for more simple numbers. It gets significantly slower the bigger the number gets, since the more fingers you're using the more careful you have to be with your presses, and eventually you reach a point where you have to enter the number in 2 parts... but even then it's reasonably fast. Subtraction is somewhere between multiplication and addition in speed once you know the rule. It's just the one press but you do have to think about it for a moment. Division is really not bad if you get used to the rules, and takes maybe 20 seconds to run the decimal places all the way to the right on a 12 column machine. You could calculate more precision by writing down the answer then clearing the register and continuing the division on the last remainder, which is a power that electronic calculators don't usually have but also makes everything take longer. Overall these are fun machines that are still usable if you're nerdy enough to practice on them. They're obviously not the most efficient means to an end for four function math anymore, but they do make running boring, tedious calculations slightly more interesting.

  • @BokBarber
    @BokBarber28 күн бұрын

    Aside from the Comptometer, a nice hand cranked model L Monroe machine is the one adding machine that really tempts me. I've been on the lookout for the right one for a little while now. There's just something about them: how they took the idea of the already wonderful pinwheel machines and functionally improved on them in every way.

  • @CaribouDataScience
    @CaribouDataScienceАй бұрын

    I can't imagine doing that 8 hours a day!

  • @fernandofranco740
    @fernandofranco740Ай бұрын

    Hola. Me encantaría ver el video en español y no se como hacer.

  • @BokBarber
    @BokBarberАй бұрын

    In your opinion, which machines feel better to use? The early Sumlock or the Model H/J Comptometer?

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch2Ай бұрын

    I think the Sumlock mechanism is better. Its error correction is better (the other keys in the same column also lock), and the number wheels turn in a smoother, more controlled way (see my other sumlock video).

  • @shteevuk
    @shteevukАй бұрын

    Honestly I thought I was going mad trying to find something like this to buy on the internet. I remember my family using them in the 70s. Can you really not buy anything like this any more??! It all seems to be digital now, can't I have something that doesn't run of of battery power?!

  • @christinepotts2397
    @christinepotts2397Ай бұрын

    I trained as a Comptometer Operator when leaving school in the early 1970's. North East England. U.K. We were taught accuracy first, speed later. I loved that job. Happy days.

  • @Xpian
    @XpianАй бұрын

    When I first found your website, then later your KZread channel, my initial interest lie in (Felt & Tarrant) Comptometers and (Burroughs) Calculators, both basically the same from the operator's point of view, and both machines in which I had had experience working with in my late-teens. Seeing more of your videos, however, I find I'm further intrigued by some machines in which I have no background and not a clue how to operate, such as these pinwheel calculators. (I had seen slightly similar Monroe machines in my youth, not that I could operate them, but I had never seen a Marchant). Your videos are wonderfully clear in both explaining the nature of the machines, i.e. how they work, as well as explaining how to operate them. Thank you for this!

  • @Xpian
    @XpianАй бұрын

    Now I'm curious; would you know if any of the companies which produced pinwheel-type machines also made any specific to (old) Sterling currency? Or for other non-base-10 specialised machines used for work in Imperial measures, for instance: Shipping weight in quarters, cwt's, and tons? Or for fractions (like some of the later Sumlock Comptometers; some even set for 'Time' to reckon the No. of hours worked & overtime for purposes of calculating payroll)? Thanking you in advance, Cheers!

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch2Ай бұрын

    The only non-decimal pinwheel I know of is the Odhner Lusid for Sterling currency (and its predecessor models). See my video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/m6Kc2ZNxZdnIpNY.html

  • @stephenfreeborn
    @stephenfreebornАй бұрын

    I bet they hoped their patents were enough to keep them out of trouble.

  • @ChrisStaecker
    @ChrisStaeckerАй бұрын

    Nice- any idea what the weird dimpling is on the vertical posts at 3:50?

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch2Ай бұрын

    I have no idea what caused that pitting. The other machine's carriage does not have it. I think it must have been some kind of manufacturing defect, possibly poor casting.

  • @pierrechardaire8525
    @pierrechardaire8525Ай бұрын

    I have one of those with the bill from the Chicago shop.

  • @AtelierDBurgoyne
    @AtelierDBurgoyneАй бұрын

    I like the Portelance label on the Champion model. :) Could a substraction be made on these, by using co-digits and disregarding the carried digit on the left of the number?

  • @BokBarber
    @BokBarberАй бұрын

    Wow. Hardly subtle with the design ripoff.

  • @brentusfirmus
    @brentusfirmusАй бұрын

    Hoi Jaap, niet relevant voor deze video maar ik probeer al een tijd contact met jou op te nemen over de Sudoku-generator op je website, die het niet meer doet. Heb meerdere keren naar het mailadres aldaar gemaild maar krijg steeds geen antwoord.

  • @subwaymallorca
    @subwaymallorca2 ай бұрын

    Heyyy Jaap, ik heb zo een zelfde staan en wil die te koop aanbieden.. Heb jij enig idee wat ik ervoor kan vragen??

  • @ptmusicalboxes
    @ptmusicalboxes2 ай бұрын

    Very common but interesting machine

  • @ptmusicalboxes
    @ptmusicalboxes2 ай бұрын

    Ya oh should do a video on the golden gem. It’s quite a basic yet interesting portable machine.

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    kzread.info/dash/bejne/hZ932q6NmrWueNY.html

  • @janebaker4912
    @janebaker49122 ай бұрын

    In the Hugh Jackman movie "the greatest show" ...is this the machine the charecter uses?

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    No, those were Burroughs adding machines, though they are operated in a very similar way. On the Burroughs page of my site I have a screenshot of that scene and write "In the trailer for the film The Greatest Showman you can see a scene in which Hugh Jackman is playing P.T. Barnum before he was famous. He is in a large office sitting behind a desk, and working on a class 1 Burroughs adding machine. The office has about 30 desks, half of which have a Burroughs machine, all without printing mechanisms. This is highly anachronistic since the scene is supposedly set in the early 1830s, seventy years before these machines were used in such quantity." www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/burroughs.htm#burroughs

  • @janebaker4912
    @janebaker49122 ай бұрын

    @@jaapsch2 oh wow. You've blown me away. I tried to think about a life of using this machine all day everyday.

  • @Xpian
    @Xpian2 ай бұрын

    I noticed the 'Complements' on the keys, so I'm assuming if one knew the subtraction algorithm that one could, in fact, even subtract on this machine. Although without Comptometer Cut-off keys for subtraction, I suppose the Burroughs' method of loading all the noughts or zeros with nines to the left of the number being taken away would work. There was, however, no printout on a Burroughs Calculator nor on a Felt & Tarrant Comptometer, so the subtraction printout on this would look bizarre to those unfamiliar with it! I can't tell you how much I enjoy your videos and your website! Cheers!

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    You're right, I hadn't even thought about that. I suppose subtraction would mostly have been used to fix mistakes, and then it does not really matter how it looks.

  • @Xpian
    @Xpian2 ай бұрын

    ​@@jaapsch2 I'm sure you're right... I can remember doing something similar once, in the case of having added an Invoice No. (or an Account No.) taking it out of the total by doing the complements in my head because I didn't have them on the keys. Then placing the number in question below (using the Non-Add button this time) and then circling all three lines, i.e. the mistake, the correction, and the subsequent correct Non-Add so I could account for it to my boss. I was just a teen and this was on an old Burroughs Listing machine in a Building Society (Co-op.) back in the day when the doors were shut early to the public, circa 3.30 pm, and we had to balance the day's work before we could leave.

  • @stephenfreeborn
    @stephenfreeborn2 ай бұрын

    Nice Victor. I couldn’t get mine working. I’ll try again some day.

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    The only problem that mine had was the printing mechanism. It was completely seized, and I broke it a little when trying to work it loose. It turns out that the platen's axle is not a single rod all the way through, and now the right hand side knob no longer works to move the paper as it just turns almost freely. I should have taken the printing mechanism apart before trying to wrench the axle loose. Anyway, while mine has a lot of surface rust, the internal mechanism was fine.

  • @gregreynolds5686
    @gregreynolds56862 ай бұрын

    How do you get the ink/paper for these demonstrations? I've been watching for a while and you often seem to manage it.

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    Luckily, these early machines set the standards for many machines that followed. The Victor uses a paper roll that is 57mm wide (or 2 1/4 inch) and that is still used in many cash registers today. Ink ribbons can be trickier, but the victor uses a standard 1/2 inch wide two-colour ribbon that was also used in typewriters for over a century, so those are also not too hard to find. It helps that I don't have to use a full ribbon. I can cut up a single typewriter ribbon into shorter pieces and spool up 5 calculators with that. To get other ribbon sizes can be harder, and may need a specialist supplier.

  • @abcstardust
    @abcstardust2 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this informative Video!

  • @oscarneenan
    @oscarneenan2 ай бұрын

    I like your tricks!

  • @greg1813
    @greg18132 ай бұрын

    I just got one of these at a garage sale. It doesn't have the reset instructions, thanks for helping me out!

  • @Hay-ez7uq
    @Hay-ez7uq2 ай бұрын

    'PromoSM' 😘

  • @robbiedart7422
    @robbiedart74222 ай бұрын

    Thanks so much! I have my Grandma's old electronic comptometer and finally got chance to use it. Sadly a lot of the keys seem to be stuck in/be unresponsive... I would love to know to fix it. But the keys that do work are so satisfying! And it makes a fantastic whirring sound when plugged in If only I could do some maths on it!

  • @19ghost73
    @19ghost732 ай бұрын

    Yet another mechanical solution to calculate - fascinating. Thanks for sharing in detail, really interesting.

  • @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823
    @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr28232 ай бұрын

    I was reading a paper my father kept from 1955! to see why he kept it to start with...they mention this machine and here i am.

  • @robertlozyniak3661
    @robertlozyniak36612 ай бұрын

    Are subtotals in any way marked as being subtotals? (other than having leading zeros)

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    No. There is a little dash after totals, just like the non-add numbers, but nothing after subtotals or addends. The mechanism is trivial, as the non-add button just raises the dash symbol type in place for it to be printed regardless of whether you do a total or a non-add.

  • @bss1250
    @bss12502 ай бұрын

    Cool to see an original "Portable" branded one of these. I had to go back and check my early Corona branded one to see if it had the same behavior of needing to press the 0 keys, and it does (despite the 0 keys on that one just being red ovals and not actually labeled 0). Interesting too that the rebrand to Corona seemed to coincide with the addition of a actual total key

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    I had assumed that the mechanism was updated with the red keys. I'm sure they updated it at some point, but I don't know when. The National Museum of American History has a Portable with the extra Total button, so that update was not quite simultaneous with the rebranding, but it was close enough that it wasn't reflected in the ads. Thanks for your repair video - there were some springs missing in the spool mechanism and your video helped me figure out where they were supposed to go.

  • @Paddington60
    @Paddington602 ай бұрын

    I saw a similar Walther Calculator made when I believe they were prevented from making fire arms. The body of the machine appeared to be cast in gunmetal and was quite intricately patterned. I did not dare try to work it as there was no way I wanted to break it. We used a Facit version on tanker ships before electronic calculators were more reasonably priced. Chief Officer when working out the cargo would have is office door shut but we could hear the whir whir ting whir of the machine going.

  • @ChrisSmith-wh6bq
    @ChrisSmith-wh6bq2 ай бұрын

    This sounds like one for Karl Pilkington.

  • @stephenfreeborn
    @stephenfreeborn2 ай бұрын

    “Portable” sure has changed over the years.

  • @jaapsch2
    @jaapsch22 ай бұрын

    Sure has, but it must be said that it is a lot lighter than the Burroughs Portable

  • @brianasbury8315
    @brianasbury83153 ай бұрын

    That's old technology, but that's a really cool machine.

  • @19ghost73
    @19ghost733 ай бұрын

    Could it be that you are supposed to cut/rip off a small strip of that pre-lined paper, and insert that paper strip into the slot where you initially slid the roller into? That would give the user a place to write down results...similar to the other (Belgian?) business adding machine from that era? BTW: You could use Google Translator to translate that extensive French instructions...maybe it talks about those rollers etc. in more detail? Just an idea...

  • @pepn
    @pepn3 ай бұрын

    i too am just in love with the ADDO-X now

  • @stephenfreeborn
    @stephenfreeborn3 ай бұрын

    That is a particularly clacky device.

  • @kinderferrer591
    @kinderferrer5913 ай бұрын

    Fascinating video! I really like the clings and clangs of the calculators. These videos are invaluable and super interesting, please please never stop making them and keep them coming!