Does Anyone Use One Of These?

[cabinetman]

These calculators once called "Pocket Handyman" have been out for some time. I was thinkin' about getting one and wondered if anyone here uses one and if you like it? I could easily slip it in on my wish list.
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[Brian in Dawson Creek]

I use the one Lee Valley sells and find it extremely useful … adding and dividing multiple fractions is now a snap.

Brian

[siliconbauhaus]

I have the cheap DIY one as it saves adding up imperial dims. I've never used it for all the "features" its supposed to have though.

[cabinetman]

I use the one Lee Valley sells and find it extremely useful … adding and dividing multiple fractions is now a snap.

Brian

Fractions can be a hassle. I would fear making some error in loading data. My usual practice is not a marvel of technology. For example, when I'm figuring overall dimensions, I start at one end and write down all the pieces and spaces that make up the entire piece. Of course there will be fractions along the way. Since I do this on paper, I convert all the fractions to a common denominator, and then get my totals.

Then I add up those dimensions from the other direction and see if I get the same total. Since I can look at all the figures at once and write down next to them what they represent, I'll know what is what if they don't total right.

I guess it's just from the way I was taught in school. You know, back then there weren't any electronic calculators, so we had to learn the basics. I can appreciate the technology that has developed, and I'll probably get one just to try it out.
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[Uncle Cracker]

I've learned not to depend on that type of tool, because I find myself needing it at times when I don't have it, and it dulls the internal calculator I seem to have in my head. It's kind of like getting your typical cashier these days to make change without the register telling him/her how much to give (fahgettabahdit). I keep my cypherin' skills sharp, and there's always paper and pencil if I really need it.

[cabinetman]

I've learned not to depend on that type of tool, because I find myself needing it at times when I don't have it, and it dulls the internal calculator I seem to have in my head. It's kind of like getting your typical cashier these days to make change without the register telling him/her how much to give (fahgettabahdit). I keep my cypherin' skills sharp, and there's always paper and pencil if I really need it.

Sounds like a ray of hope from someone who claims to be senile. Well, I don't want to brag, but I can keep a few numbers in my head also. But something happens to the data base when a great urge overwhelms me to go to the bathroom.
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[Slik Geek]

I have a Sears-branded version calculator that allows calculation with fractions. I find it handy - but I usually double-check calculations intuitively to insure that I haven't mis-keyed something. I wouldn't call it a "must-have" tool, but certainly I've found it "nice to have". It particularly shines when I have measurements in inches that I want to quickly convert to feet+inches, or the opposite direction.

[cabinetman]

It particularly shines when I have measurements in inches that I want to quickly convert to feet+inches, or the opposite direction.

That is a handy conversion. In reading architectural plans that are in feet and inches, such as 9' - 5", it would be easier to convert by pushing buttons than figuring 108" + 5" = 113" in your head. For me it's more math to go backwards by starting with 113" and going to feet and inches, in my head. A common mistake in reading a plan is not doing the conversion correctly, as in reading the measurement as all inches like 2'-5" = 25", instead of saying "Two foot five inches". I learned to be very careful in reading plans and deciphering numbers to know what I'm looking at. The other one is reading less than a foot, like 0'-11".
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[LinuxRandal]

Where are you going to use the calculator? I found it useful outside, or on "jobsites" (aka friends/relatives projects). In the shop, I tend to use my pc.

[jackellis]

It's kind of like getting your typical cashier these days to make change without the register telling him/her how much to give (fahgettabahdit).

Thread creep perhaps but very often when paying cash, I'll give the cashier a certain amount of change to convert a lot of small coins to fewer large ones. I hardly have to think about it. Most of the cashiers have to stare at the register for a bit.

[Uncle Cracker]

Well, I don't want to brag, but I can keep a few numbers in my head also. But something happens to the data base when a great urge overwhelms me to go to the bathroom.
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Are you sure that you're keeping those numbers in your head??

[Duff]

Paper & pencil. . . .

Calculate three times, measure twice, cut once.

(don't subscribe to the measure once, cut once theory)

[JimD]

I keep a little scientific calculator in a drawer of the BT3100 where I keep the drafting triangles and steel rules. It gets used when I have to do a little trig and also to convert between fractions and decimal inches. At times I will convert the fractions to decimals and back. Before I got a fractional dial caliper I used it to convert the dial caliper dimensions to fractions.

The more woodworking I do the less I measure. At times it is unavoidable but whenever the dimension of one part has to have a certain relationship to another part, I measure one and then use the first part to set a stop to make the second part. I mess up less doing it this way.

Jim