Gerber Variable Scale Review / HowTo
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2020
- The Gerber Variable Scale, made in the 1950s by Gerber Scientific Instruments. It's a stretchy ruler!
This is episode 44 of my series about antique calculating devices.
Chris Staecker webarea: cstaecker.fairfield.edu/~cstae...
End song inspired by "Hotter Than a Molotov" by The Coup.
#math #gerber
Here because the "Gerber Variable Scale" is on the reverse side of the American Innovation 2020 $1 coin for Connecticut. Appreciate the info, and the demonstration.
Wow- I didn't know that! Gotta get one now. How much does a $1 coin go for these days?
@@ChrisStaecker Likewise, thanks for the video. I ran across your YoutTube channel since I saw the Gerber Variable Scale on a coin in the US Mint catalog and the description mentioned that H. Joseph Gerber '47 invented it while a student at RPI, my alma mater. If you haven't found one already you can try finding one in the wild for $1 at a bank or from a vending machine that gives dollar coins as change. Otherwise, the US Mint will be happy to send you a proof coin for $11.50 plus shipping at catalog.usmint.gov/american-innovation-2020-1-reverse-proof-coin-connecticut-20GE.html?cgid=american-innovation-1-coins
The MOMENT i found this video i went to ebay to find one, i got super lucky and i am now the proud owner of a Gerb (w/ box)!
Im an industrial design student, and i think this will be super useful for making scale models and scale sketches
welcome to the good life!
*O r I g I n A l* box
I did the same thing, and occasionally have found a use for it too.
I'm 54, and I have one that I actually used early in my professional career, back before we had computers. It's a novelty now, and when I show it to the young engineers, they think it's pretty cool, but it's kind of like explaining an ice box. The idea of a time before computers and having to do everything by hand is just so foreign to them, even though it wasn't really that long ago. Still, it's a cool little instrument to have lying around.
I’m a left handed industrial designer and engineer, I could definitely use one of these! It’s funny because I’ve set up scaling relations in CAD software to programmatically proportionally position features with a driving overall dimension. I’d love to get my hands on a Gerber Scale.
as a Hartford native i feel oddly proud of this thing i hadn't heard of ten minutes ago
gerb!
That is cool. I’m an Engineer and never even heard of it. Simply Glorious and Gloriously Simple
Hi,
What an ingenious thing. I’d have one of those on my desk in a heartbeat :-)
Thanks for the vid.
Alistair
I wish I had one of these when I was in school. We did something similar with rubber bands but it was always a PITA to keep the band stretched correctly. Thanks Chris!
Wow- I’ve never even heard of someone doing something similar in schools. Thanks for all your kind comments-
Amazing! Now I want one of those.
A simple idea driven (nearly) to the max in terms of engineering. Cool device and a very intelligent video about the product! Great! There's just one on eBay right at this moment. Unfortunately a bit too expensive for my purposes 😆.
honestly, still AWESOME and USEFUL tool, alongside good calipers, this would be a great for hobbyists etc etc etc (i want it too)
Now you're Gerbin with style!
Just bought a Ve-Po-Ad off of ebay. I am officially your 1000th subscriber!
Thanks! Welcome to the good life! (but I'm still at 999!)
This would be very helpful in a workshop
I found one of these in my local university surplus store today and instantly remembered this video. Only cost 16 bones! and came with the ORIGINAL leather case and allen wrench. Mine is about double the length and goes to 20 instead of 10. That's twice the Gerb! In real life I was surprised that the markings on the spring section were so tiny - this was clearly made with some precision. Turns out, Joe Gerber's company is also responsible for the Gerber file format used in circuit board making, with which I work regularly. Never would have known if I didn't see this video; truly one of the best channels out there. Merry Curtsmas!
Nice find! I didn’t know there was a longer model- how long is it?
@@ChrisStaecker Measures in at about 566 mm, which is a bit under 2 feet. Model TP007200B for those playing along at home. I guess this is supposed to be the 20 inch model. I had no idea I had the big gerb version either until I came back here for another watch, but it makes a lot of sense if you're working off big drafting sheets or something. I think it would be difficult to make a much longer one since the long spring has more friction and tends to bunch up at the one end, and I have to give it a couple light shakes to even it out.
@@alnwlsn Wow- congrats on finding a rarity! Now I want one. I see one on ebay for a truly insane price. One sold a few weeks ago for $100, which sounds reasonable. $16 is a steal!
I’m a left handed engineer and this may be the first tool designed for leftys… need to get myself one of these.
My gerber just arrived in the post and I’m pretty psyched!
That said, it’s still not clear how many gerber pals I’ll need before we can join forces to become a voltron...
I want one of these! As an artist I can immediately see the utility of using this to space out hand drawn lettering. Edit: only one currently on market and way out of my reach so I'll have to use knicker elastic (Insert 70's Brit comedy double entendre here).
I would have use for this quite frequently; send it over ;-)
I’ve heard rumors of this thing’s existence but never saw one before. It is useful for interpolating and plotting contour location between elevation spots. Like everything else the computer does it automatically now.
Sounds like it'd be a nightmare counting milliswags by hand on a standard metric swagsheet
I could actually make occasional use of this, or the principle behind it, in my work to this day.
I'm really excited that I snagged a Gerber Variable Scale.... with the ORIGINAL (insert reverb here) case... should arrive in a week or two. I'll use this very frequently since I use a lab notebook every day. It's amazing this device is no longer made. I would have never known about these until I saw this video... UA-cam can be life-changing! And, finally, something for us lefties! Thanks Chris!!
Nice!
@@ChrisStaecker Yea... but I don't believe it has the ORIGINAL adjustment tool. Not all of us can be so lucky... but I'm fortunate to be getting one.
@@PySimpleGUI (it's just a standard size allen wrench. though i'm not sure what size- pretty small)
@@ChrisStaecker Thank you! It appeared in your video like an allen wrench so I wasn't too concerned... but it's still not the same as having an original 😂
I'll keep my eyes out for a "new old stock" Gerber Variable Scale so I can truly measure in style. I really am excited about getting mine.
nice blotter bro
But what do the log scales do? Is it just a bonus slide rule?
The manual describes how you can use them to "interpolate between graphical logarithms". My interpretation (maybe I'm wrong): I showed in the video how you can subdivide scale markings on the paper into equal subdivisions. But if your paper graph is plotted on a log scale, and you want "equal" logarithmic subdivisions you need to do it differently and the log scale helps to do that.
Check out the Gerber GraphAnalogue.
I'd love to do a video on that, but it's a bit too expensive for my budget... you got one?
@@ChrisStaecker yes
6:03 The ORIGINAL box appears to be ostrich skin!
Ha! Now you know a little bit of what it's like for us lefties to live in this right-handed world!
This weird varieble scale is definitely oorriiggiinnall,haha.
Oh to live in a universe where "gerb!" took off as a recognizable meme. Alack alas.
Why white, blue, and red?
They probably just stand out best against the black of the rest of the instrument
Cörves? Convörsions? Görböh!
Believe it or not, the Gerber Variable Scale was featured on the 2020 one-dollar coin.
I guess everybody already knows this, because the dollar is the fundamental unit of American money, so we all handle dollar coins every day, right?
Yes I have one! Saving it for that special purchase…
Joe just gerbs it better than those other dweebs.
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