Programmable Calculators

[lynnl]

I've been perusing G. Lautard's recipe for incremental ball turning, and have convinced myself that I need (read 'want') a programmable calculator.

But.. having never used one I'm in total darkness as to which one or what features I'd like.

I majored in math, but alas, I'm afraid my math skills have atropied to about the 9th grade level now. But with some brief brushing up I can usually solve whatever problem arises.

Does anyone here have any recommendation/warnings about the calculators now available?

[Dawai]

Yeah, a small laptop is nearly as cheap.. and you can hook it to things. I saw one here the other day for $399 with $100 rebate.

A buddy bought a Neato $50 calculator, it can calculate offsets, yards concrete needed, studs per wall distance, etc.. It is called "contractors" version.

I just loaded Mach3 onto my laptop for the plasma cutter project.. gee they changed the screens again.. more simpler..
AND< Adrian's site has the cheapass dro software on it. It will read a chinese scale or a encoder.

[mklotz]

The BALLCUT program (free) on my page will do the calculations for you.
Moreover, unlike most programmable calculators, it will generate a file of the
output data which you can print and carry to the shop for reference.

Note that there are other programs on the page for employing the same
incremental technique to cut other shapes with cylindrical symmetry, e.g.,
ogives. With PROFILE you can specify your own shape and it will generate an
incremental cutting table.

Regards, Marv

Home Shop Freeware - Tools for People Who Build Things
http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz

[m squared]

When I was taking math in college, albeit a few years ago, there were two schools of thought. The engineering students all went with the HP48gx because it could do 3D wireframe graphing. The downside was cost, and you had to learn RPN (reverse polish notation) to program or even do simple calculations with it.
I was a pre med major, and I purchased the TI85, mostly because it was cheaper. I found it was easy to program and it will be able to do the functions needed for ball turning. I havent used mine for that (yet), but it does have a feature that will allow you to trace a graph, where it gives you X and Y coordinates for your curson location.
If I didn't already have one I would probably check the end of the semester sales bulletin board at the local college. Baring that, ebay is probably a good place to look. You could probably also talk to the math department at said local institution and get some good insights as well.
I feel your pain about math atrophy, some days I feel like I can't count over eleven without unlacing my boots.
Whatever you get, make sure you get the instrucion book with it, it will greatly simplify your life when it comes time to program.
If you have a computer with MSExcel a spreadsheet could probably be worked up that would do the math for you. Come to think of it a set of such sheets for common ball sizes might not be a bad thing to have in your references...hmmmm..laminate...put in a binder...Oh, sorry my AADD taking over again.
Anyway, best of luck, and happy new year.
M2

[m squared]

or you could just do what Marv and David said.

[lynnl]

Yeah, the most sensible thing would be to just use Marv's programs and be done with it.(and I will check that out) But partly I just want the calculator to play with and maybe exercise some of the 'ol gray matter.

I was looking at some TI's at a Target store yesterday, and the high end models had cables for connecting to (I assume) a computer. From what I gleaned from the net, only the HP's use the RPN. I think I'd like to have that option. Sounds like once you get accustomed to the RPN it makes life easier.

[gizmo2]

Marv, geez, when do you sleep??? Thanks for the link, bud.

[CompositeEngr]

I have a Ti 85 and an 89. I like the 85 better, probably because I spent hours with it in school. The 89 I got later because it was on sale, and has more memory and a nicer interface. Battery life in the 89 sucks. I have both sitting next to me on the desk, and the 85 is the only one that runs right now.

I bought mine right before the usb interfaces came out on them, but I have the parallel interface.

[mklotz]

gizmo2 wrote:

"Marv, geez, when do you sleep??? Thanks for the link, bud."

I've been writing application programs since back when one did it in Fortran on
punched cards. A number of the programs on my page were written while I was
still working but I got serious about adding to them when I retired.

Most of these are small utilities, written quickly to solve a single shop
problem, rather than being large applications meant to do a wealth of tasks.
I find that this narrow focus helps folks to learn how to use the tools more
quickly.

In addition to being useful for their indicated task, they were also meant to
show homeshop hobbyists how a little time spent learning some mathematics can
make their shop life much easier.

While the latter attempt has been a dismal failure, folks do seem to find the
programs useful.

Regards, Marv

Home Shop Freeware - Tools for People Who Build Things
http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz

[Dawai]

Marv, I got several small programs in visual basic you are welcome to the code and exe's..

My code applets are worth while just to see how the Hillbilly does it.. ha..

[Evan]

Marv has probably written a small program that automatically "screen scrapes" this forum looking for any new posts that use key words that might relate to his software. If it finds something it activates a small widget that tugs on a string tied to his toe.

[mklotz]

Evan,

As I remember, one of the programs (GEARFIND) was written to help you solve a
gearing problem for the orrery you are/were building, not that you couldn't
have solved the problem yourself, I'm sure.

What venue, other than Usenet and the metalworking BBSs, would you suggest for
making newbies aware of the programs?

Oh, and the string is tied to the cat's tail ;-)

Regards, Marv

Home Shop Freeware - Tools for People Who Build Things
http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz

[SGW]

You could probably also set up an Excel spreadsheet to calculate what you need to, if the thought of it doesn't make you want to barf.

[m squared]

Another nice thing about the TI, at least the one I have, mid 1990's vintage, is that it has a hard slip cover that fits over to make it "shop resistant" and it will fit in the handbook drawer in your toolbox.

So marv, does the cat meow when it's tail gets pulled? That would make it an audio interface wouldn't it?

M2

[Evan]

"As I remember, one of the programs (GEARFIND) was written to help you solve a
gearing problem for the orrery you are/were building, not that you couldn't
have solved the problem yourself, I'm sure.

What venue, other than Usenet and the metalworking BBSs, would you suggest for
making newbies aware of the programs?"

Marv,

The orrery isn't dead. I decided I needed a milling machine so I could better make some of these other projects.

As for getting the word out on your freeware you need to start by pushing your page higher in the listings on Google.

Google ranks pages by several criteria. First is the number of other pages on the net that link to the target page, the more the higher the rank. List your page wherever you can.

Next, it searches pages for keywords with the highest score given to keywords that occur early in the text. The word "machining" doesn't appear on your page until well down in the text. The word "freeware" doesn't appear at all. That is one of the most important search terms I use when looking for goodies like yours.

Google doesn't pay attention to meta tag keywords but other search engines do and you don't have any meta tag keywords. You need to add some in the header information.

Some examples of pushing up pages:

If you search Google for "astrophotos" my page is rank 11.

If you search for "Karelian Bear Dog" my customer's page (I designed and host it) is number two.

If you search for "bowron lake provincial park" my page is number one.

edit:

Oops. The word "freeware" does appear near the top of your page. I guess I wasn't searching from the very top. Regardless though, you need to make the first several hundred words contain much more relevant wording that pertain to the subject at hand.

[This message has been edited by Evan (edited 12-31-2005).]