THE VIDEO SHELF · mechanical calculators
The 3D-Printed Curta Calculator
Adam Savage shows off his collection of analog calculators, ending with a 3D-printed, scaled reproduction of the Curta mechanical calculator built by Marcus Wu. The video examines the replica and the engineering behind it.
Why HN readers recommended it
Linked whenever the Curta or mechanical calculators come up, as a look at a working 3D-printed version.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- Adam Savage’s Tested
- Topic
- mechanical calculators
- Format
- demo
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 2
- HN mentions in dataset
- 3
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2017–2025
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
I'm sure you've seen this already, but if not: [VIDEO] A 3:1 scale replica of the Curta, 3D printed.
function_seven on Hacker News · 2018-10
In The Slide RuleMaybe have a look at the Curta for inspiration of a mechanical calculator. There's a 3D printable version of it. [VIDEO] [LINK]
beeforpork on Hacker News · 2025-11
In Designing a Mechanical Calculator
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.