I remember those...
still have my 1st one...
Construction Master Pro or the likes...?
A contractor friend of mine is all excited about getting his Construction Master Pro calculator. His usual work is decks/stairs, sheds, framing, pool decks, etc...don't really understand his excitement as he's been doing this work his whole life...
All I've ever used is my tape, rule, squares, etc, and my trig function calculator.
My typical response is "if I haven't needed it by now, I don't need it"...but it got me thinking...
Do any of you use anything like the CM Pro for your outside work...?
All I've ever used is my tape, rule, squares, etc, and my trig function calculator.
My typical response is "if I haven't needed it by now, I don't need it"...but it got me thinking...
Do any of you use anything like the CM Pro for your outside work...?
21 - 38 of 38 Posts
still have my 1st one...
I remember those...
still have my 1st one...
...still got my Cooke's Radio Slide Rule w/scabbard...LOL
You guys are good, wish I still had mine.
On Google Play, try 'Handyman Calculator' and 'Handyman Calculator Pro'. The latter is only $4.99. Not sure if it's available for iOS.
I have used multiple versions of Construction master calculators for years, from the pro to the desk model, the layout tool, etc. A year or so ago I bought their app and now pretty much just use that. It is really handy for all sorts of uses from the construction specific stuff to just doing dimension conversions, etc. or just as a regular calculator.
I've been using Construction Master IV for over 20 yrs as a contractor. One on my desk, one in the truck and a spare in the drawer (got it on sale)
Great for ft,inches and fractions.
I use the triangle function to calculate what the diagonal is to square a building up.
sq yds is one I also use frequently.
Rafter lengths, etc.
I did it fine before I got it, but it's a whole lot easier and time saver having it and would hate to be without it!
I haven't seen a free phone app yet that I like as well as it, but I also havnt looked in a couple yrs.
Great for ft,inches and fractions.
I use the triangle function to calculate what the diagonal is to square a building up.
sq yds is one I also use frequently.
Rafter lengths, etc.
I did it fine before I got it, but it's a whole lot easier and time saver having it and would hate to be without it!
I haven't seen a free phone app yet that I like as well as it, but I also havnt looked in a couple yrs.
You left out Erasers! LOL Can you move that wall a few inches over, well actually I think it was better where it was, or make the door swing the other way, etc. Not to mention your own trials and mistakes. I used to love to draw by hand, until I got CAD.but I still use a graph paper, pencil and geometry set for my designs. I guess I'm old school and that is why I still haven't
Bryon, wish we had calculators when I was in school instead of slide rules.When I went to electronics school in 1974 we used slide rules.
Herb
for sure...Bryon, wish we had calculators when I was in school instead of slide rules.
Herb
@Herb Stoops
The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.
Jon
The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.
Jon
JFPNCM @Herb Stoops
The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.
Jon
You know, I have never thought about it like that ,but you are right.
Herb
The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.
Jon
You know, I have never thought about it like that ,but you are right.
Herb
@Herb Stoops
The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.
Jon
WAIT..think...? I remember when I thunk...not anymore...:grin:
I was taught the proper conjugation was, think, thank, thumpk. 😁WAIT..think...? I remember when I thunk...not anymore...:grin:
I was taught the proper conjugation was, think, thank, thumpk. 😁
So glad I'm not alone...:grin::grin::grin:
I used the CMs extensively in the latter half of my 42 year carpentry career. From the first CM 1 to the present models, I probably went through a dozen of them through the years. (I would wear the numbers off of the buttons and write them back on with a pen.) When foremen first saw me using them on a job in the 80's, they looked at me like I was doing voodoo. It took me quite a while to gain their trust when cutting roofs, stairs, cathedral walls etc. Once they saw I could calculate and cut an irregular pitch hip rafter, lay it out, and cut all the corresponding jack rafters from my sawhorses. I finally had them convinced that perhaps this "new" way of doing things could help them save some climbing, sky measuring, & man hours. I heard "It's all on the square!" a lot in those days. My polite response was usually " Years ago we used a brace & bits to drill plates for foundation bolts. And now we use a cordless drill. I wonder why? " And now in my retirement sixties when younger people see me make a sketch of something with a rolling ruler, they try to explain how much easier it would be with a CAD program. To which I resist their suggestions. In methods used, it's all in where you comfort level lies I'm afraid.
Bryan I also gradated electronic school in Summer of 1974. The begin of our modern electronic industry also remember the slide rule and quick move to calculators. Then the move to computers. Now the computers the size of our phones. New frontier of robotics and artificial intelligent.
Thirty six years of fun. Starting out as technician trouble shooting military hardware. From mark 48 torpedo's, B52 aircraft systems and Cruise missal. Then worked in forensic lab testing and failure analysis of components. Finally desktop support and computer network support. My hobby building computers. Do you remember the computer shows where go buy hardware build your own computers. This kept me gainfully employed for the reminder of my career.
Thirty six years of fun. Starting out as technician trouble shooting military hardware. From mark 48 torpedo's, B52 aircraft systems and Cruise missal. Then worked in forensic lab testing and failure analysis of components. Finally desktop support and computer network support. My hobby building computers. Do you remember the computer shows where go buy hardware build your own computers. This kept me gainfully employed for the reminder of my career.
Roofner, great to here from a fellow electronic technician
I never went to those shows, I was too busy playing sports back then. My coworker friends love those kind of things.
I worked for a year at Dictaphone right out of school then went to work for Bendix Kansas City in the Defense Department's Aerospace Industry's Nuclear Weapons division.
I started out building Test Equipment then repair and calibration of test equipment for my whole 41 year career. The last 16 years I mostly worked on oscilloscopes and
multimeters. I retired in 2018.
You are right on with the calculators coming in and just as I was in school (graduating Sept, 1975). My first calculator was a TI30. All test taken in school we had to use the slide rule and I though
it was really fun, and a race indeed with my classmates. But the calculator, wow!
I never went to those shows, I was too busy playing sports back then. My coworker friends love those kind of things.
I worked for a year at Dictaphone right out of school then went to work for Bendix Kansas City in the Defense Department's Aerospace Industry's Nuclear Weapons division.
I started out building Test Equipment then repair and calibration of test equipment for my whole 41 year career. The last 16 years I mostly worked on oscilloscopes and
multimeters. I retired in 2018.
You are right on with the calculators coming in and just as I was in school (graduating Sept, 1975). My first calculator was a TI30. All test taken in school we had to use the slide rule and I though
it was really fun, and a race indeed with my classmates. But the calculator, wow!
21 - 38 of 38 Posts
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