Curta mechanical calculator

The Curta was a small, hand-cranked mechanical calculator introduced in 1948. It had a brilliantly compact design, a small cylinder that fit in the palm of the hand. It could be used to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and, with more difficulty square roots, and other operations. The Curta's design is a variant of Gottfried Leibniz's Arithmometer, accumulating values on cogs, which are added or complemented by a stepped drum mechanism.

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Howto & Style

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• Curta
• mechanical
• calculator

[chris746568462]

wow this is brilliant i have never seen something like this before. How much is it and where can you but it!

[gyroscopes]

They stop making them decades ago. However they do appear on ebay. They are normally hundreds of pounds.

[master777999]

Wow!!!! Such an amazing device! And such a modern design for it's time!

[lumsdot]

to get 6x6 you added 6+6+6+6+6+6 

[cronusozzy]

Cool! I never Knew this kind of mechanical machine can do Simple math problems haha Cool! the one who invented this is really a genius

[nunogirao]

I believe you must be left handed, because you're using it the wrong way. Use your left hand to support and operate the carriage ring, and use your right hand to do all the rest.

[jonnydark]

@lordauron I wonder if there is a black market for mechanical calculators..?

[BlackFrop]

is this what people used before computers? :O

[MahavishnuChris]

An amazing feat of engineering. Thanks for showing it.

[heyimhobo]

for how much?

[hlblade57]

thats cool

[lordauron]

They are like 900 to 1600 bucks on eBay. I would love to have one, but I could never afford to buy one through such channels.