On your community tab, I said "You're gonna need R for that!". I knew it, I just knew it! Reading a little bit about the history of the Fuller, I'm surprised I was never taught about it in school. I was a junior in high school when the first handheld calculators came out, and we learned about (and how to use) slide rules, but never anything about the Fuller. I'm guessing that was because they were too bulky and expensive to demonstrate in class.
Also, one seldom needs to calculate with 5 or more digit accuracy, so conventional slide rules were sufficient.I see the conventional slide rules were invented in the 1600's but only were in general use in the 1800's.I am also wondering what can be done on an abacus? They were probably the first mechanical computers.
@@ResearchFlatMoon It really should be taught. We rely so heavily on electronics these days to teach math, but the basis of these modern electronics teaches us how they work. Not to mention its use in zombie defense, as you note.
Phil, you are a couple of years older than I am. Did you use the Fuller in school? I recall seeing one in a chem lab in the early 1980's or late 1970's during the second half of High School/first couple of years of college..
@@ResearchFlatMoon Yes, indeed we had one in our lab in 1971. The memories brought tears to my eyes. I need to retire now and I have no idea how I'm going to cope with leaving my cool toys for good.
What an awesome gift! I recently found my old slide rule (Pickett, yellow on one side and white on the other), unfortunately something messed up the coating and it was flaking off. Most people don't even know what one is when you show it to them, much less how useful they were. I was given that slide rule when I entered High School. I got my first calculator (add, subtract, multiply, and divide only) as a senior in high school, and in college my first scientific calculator (both were quite pricey at the time). I'd never heard of the fuller calculator, and it's fascinating. Thanks for showing it!
Bob, a very long time ago I was at college studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering. At that time pocket calculators were stupidity expensive. Out of a class of 30 only two people had one. The rest of us used slide rules. I still have it somewhere but I'm going to have to hunt it down. Keep up the good work, even an old git like me can learn something.
You're almost ready for the next Carrington event. You've got a sextant, that covers GPS. Your Fuller Calculator, that's got your computational needs taken care of. The only thing left is how to continue your channel, should solar catastrophe blast us back to the dark ages - so, what model manual typewriter do you recommend? :-)
@@archivist17 Don't be too proud of this technological terror with which you write. The power to compose a dark and stormy night is insignificant... Oh, right. Imperial is a brand. I get it.
I had to watch this twice. Not because your explanation was hard to follow (quite the opposite, in fact). It was to take in the engineering beauty of this instrument.
Interesting video Bob. When I started work in 1961 I used one of these instruments. My job with the P&OSNCo. was to calculate and order the fuel oil required worldwide by the companies ships. First time I have seen one in over 60 years.
Oh... I want to make one of these. Given the precision of modern printer technology, it's probably doable. I'm in the process right now of making a historically correct Enigma machine, and the ground zero starting point was a print of a 4" diameter circle with marks in all the right places to guide me in drilling holes and so on. I used a center-finding tool to find the center of a "master 4 inch disk," carefully pinned that print out down via a pin in the center, and then used the marks and a thumbtack to poke marks into the disk, to get the 26 connection points around the periphery identified. Then that master disk serves as the standard for transferring that accuracy to all the other disks.
I have an early model Fuller calculator number 177 with it's original users manual in the original wooden box. Can you tell me something about the value.
Nifty ! I couldn't really see in detail how it functions mechanically. Like specifically what parts move relative to other parts but mostly how exactly does it roll/unroll or switch between cylinders all of that paper. I was just on a phone but maybe try to show it working in more detail. 👍
Well let's go over it. The 'a' pointer (the one coming up from the bottom) is fixed to the handle and the base, that doesn't move. You hand rotate the log cylinder to put the number of interest over the 'a' pointer. Then you pull and rotate the top cap to put one of the 4 pointers over the index mark (use the top or bottom pointers on the same side of the 'b' pointer as the 'a' pointer). That sets up your caliper measurement, just like we did with the regular slide rule. Now you are ready to do some math. Note, you do not move the log cylinder as you set the 'b' pointer- the result is the 'a' is pointing to the number in question and the 'b' pointer is on the index. Without moving the pointers, you put the 'b' pointer over the number you are multiplying your original number by. This is done by not moving the pointers, but twisting and moving the log cylinder in or out. You then read the result at the tip of the 'a' pointer. To divide (not covered in the video), you put the 'a' pointer on the number to be divided. You then move the 'b' pointer to the number you are dividing it by. Again, don't move the pointers but twist the log cylinder until the 'b' pointer is over the index. Read the result at the tip of the 'a' pointer. It is the opposite of multiplication. Clear as mud, right???
@@ResearchFlatMoon Actually that was helpful. & I'll catch it on my regular PC monitor later. Plus I'm sure there will be more vids to come. Thanks. Not a collector or anything but am a big fan of old useful gadgets. I'd love to get a hold of one of them Curta calculators for instance. There are some people reproducing them now with 3D printing, not as small of course. 👍
One thing you may have missed is the cylinder's numbers form a 50-turn spiral, not 50 separate circles. So as you twist/slide the cylinder to get a number under the first pointer, you're effectively moving along a 500 inch long line that is just wrapped around the drum.
The skill and engineering that went into inventing that is amazing.
The inside of the cylinders is covered with velvet to hold them in place.
@@ResearchFlatMoon clever
No wonder Grandma could make a perfect pi (pie).
She must have had a Fuller Rolling Pin.
You can leave now /s
@@ResearchFlatMoon A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fuller Brush Company?
Lol
On your community tab, I said "You're gonna need R for that!". I knew it, I just knew it!
Reading a little bit about the history of the Fuller, I'm surprised I was never taught about it in school. I was a junior in high school when the first handheld calculators came out, and we learned about (and how to use) slide rules, but never anything about the Fuller. I'm guessing that was because they were too bulky and expensive to demonstrate in class.
I think I saw one once in a chemistry lab in the early 1980's or late 1970's. Not sure if anyone knew how to use it.
Also, one seldom needs to calculate with 5 or more digit accuracy, so conventional slide rules were sufficient.I see the conventional slide rules were invented in the 1600's but only were in general use in the 1800's.I am also wondering what can be done on an abacus? They were probably the first mechanical computers.
@@ResearchFlatMoon It really should be taught. We rely so heavily on electronics these days to teach math, but the basis of these modern electronics teaches us how they work.
Not to mention its use in zombie defense, as you note.
funny you should mention that. I have an abacus coming (you can get a nice one for about $20 on eBay). I'll demonstrate it in a week or two.
@@clivedavis6859 Will I be showing my age when I say that in grade school, we actually learned how to use an abacus?
Great video Dr. Bob, and what a nice bit of rare kit. Thank you.
Phil, you are a couple of years older than I am. Did you use the Fuller in school? I recall seeing one in a chem lab in the early 1980's or late 1970's during the second half of High School/first couple of years of college..
@@ResearchFlatMoon Yes, indeed we had one in our lab in 1971. The memories brought tears to my eyes. I need to retire now and I have no idea how I'm going to cope with leaving my cool toys for good.
send them to me so I can make videos with them.
What an awesome gift! I recently found my old slide rule (Pickett, yellow on one side and white on the other), unfortunately something messed up the coating and it was flaking off. Most people don't even know what one is when you show it to them, much less how useful they were. I was given that slide rule when I entered High School. I got my first calculator (add, subtract, multiply, and divide only) as a senior in high school, and in college my first scientific calculator (both were quite pricey at the time).
I'd never heard of the fuller calculator, and it's fascinating. Thanks for showing it!
Good lord. That's a slide rule and a half!
It is the Mother of all Slide Rules.
This looks like it came right out of an H.G. Wells novel.
it was of that era, 1879
Bob, a very long time ago I was at college studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering. At that time pocket calculators were stupidity expensive. Out of a class of 30 only two people had one. The rest of us used slide rules. I still have it somewhere but I'm going to have to hunt it down.
Keep up the good work, even an old git like me can learn something.
I really think this is a lost art, a true familiarity with numbers.
You're almost ready for the next Carrington event. You've got a sextant, that covers GPS. Your Fuller Calculator, that's got your computational needs taken care of.
The only thing left is how to continue your channel, should solar catastrophe blast us back to the dark ages - so, what model manual typewriter do you recommend? :-)
I hated manual typewriters, but there are a couple of good ones. Tom Hanks is the guy for typewriters (he collects them).
@@ResearchFlatMoon From a friend's experience, the problem isn't finding a typewriter but finding ribbons.
An Imperial typewriter would survive a direct impact by a meteorite.
@@archivist17 Don't be too proud of this technological terror with which you write. The power to compose a dark and stormy night is insignificant...
Oh, right. Imperial is a brand. I get it.
I had to watch this twice. Not because your explanation was hard to follow (quite the opposite, in fact). It was to take in the engineering beauty of this instrument.
The internal working are amazing. The inside of the log cylinder is coated with velvet for friction to make it stay in place
Interesting video Bob. When I started work in 1961 I used one of these instruments. My job with the P&OSNCo. was to calculate and order the fuel oil required worldwide by the companies ships. First time I have seen one in over 60 years.
There aren’t that many. I remember using one as late as 1980 as a curiosity
Oh... I want to make one of these. Given the precision of modern printer technology, it's probably doable. I'm in the process right now of making a historically correct Enigma machine, and the ground zero starting point was a print of a 4" diameter circle with marks in all the right places to guide me in drilling holes and so on. I used a center-finding tool to find the center of a "master 4 inch disk," carefully pinned that print out down via a pin in the center, and then used the marks and a thumbtack to poke marks into the disk, to get the 26 connection points around the periphery identified. Then that master disk serves as the standard for transferring that accuracy to all the other disks.
good deal, if you can print one let me know.
What a charming toy! Thanks for sharing your adventure with it.
A WHOLE day and no thumbs down yet!
Maybe you've confused the numpties too much that they don't know which to click.
Thanks for these videos.
Thanks for that!
According to Ranty, flerfs rarely watch debunking videos. So what’s the chance they’d watch something that’s straight-out educational?
One rule to rule them all …
exactly. With the Fuller and the Aristo Studio 20" I can conquer the world....
I have an early model Fuller calculator number 177 with it's original users manual in the original wooden box. Can you tell me something about the value.
Around 400 USD
Nifty ! I couldn't really see in detail how it functions mechanically. Like specifically what parts move relative to other parts but mostly how exactly does it roll/unroll or switch between cylinders all of that paper. I was just on a phone but maybe try to show it working in more detail. 👍
Well let's go over it. The 'a' pointer (the one coming up from the bottom) is fixed to the handle and the base, that doesn't move. You hand rotate the log cylinder to put the number of interest over the 'a' pointer. Then you pull and rotate the top cap to put one of the 4 pointers over the index mark (use the top or bottom pointers on the same side of the 'b' pointer as the 'a' pointer). That sets up your caliper measurement, just like we did with the regular slide rule. Now you are ready to do some math. Note, you do not move the log cylinder as you set the 'b' pointer- the result is the 'a' is pointing to the number in question and the 'b' pointer is on the index.
Without moving the pointers, you put the 'b' pointer over the number you are multiplying your original number by. This is done by not moving the pointers, but twisting and moving the log cylinder in or out. You then read the result at the tip of the 'a' pointer.
To divide (not covered in the video), you put the 'a' pointer on the number to be divided. You then move the 'b' pointer to the number you are dividing it by. Again, don't move the pointers but twist the log cylinder until the 'b' pointer is over the index. Read the result at the tip of the 'a' pointer. It is the opposite of multiplication.
Clear as mud, right???
@@ResearchFlatMoon Actually that was helpful. & I'll catch it on my regular PC monitor later. Plus I'm sure there will be more vids to come. Thanks. Not a collector or anything but am a big fan of old useful gadgets. I'd love to get a hold of one of them Curta calculators for instance. There are some people reproducing them now with 3D printing, not as small of course. 👍
One thing you may have missed is the cylinder's numbers form a 50-turn spiral, not 50 separate circles. So as you twist/slide the cylinder to get a number under the first pointer, you're effectively moving along a 500 inch long line that is just wrapped around the drum.
@@mikefochtman7164 I mentioned that but thanks for the emphasis
@@mikefochtman7164 Right, that makes sense. 👍
Oh, so you got it. Cool 👍
absolutely!
I notice on the flat earth model the sun rises in the west!