Mechanical Arithmometer Restoration - Felix M a Maze of 400+ Pieces 

Hi folks! It is one of the most complex restorations I have ever done, and I enjoyed working on this old Felix calculator/arithmometer a lot. I still need to learn how to use it correctly, and If you do, please feel free to write me a comment and not only! I respond to every one! I hope you like the video, and please give it a thumbs up for more! Cheers! Johnny

I'm fairly certain I could take this machine apart. I am confident that I could clean it. I am absolutely certain I would never get it together again. Great video.

The mere fact that somebody came up with a concept to design something like this is remarkable let alone what it does. All the intriguet parts...it blows my mind.

I think this is your most difficult restoration so far. Not only for the cleaning, brushing, painting...but just assembling it again must have been awfully hard!!! Incredible job!!

When I was a child, some 50 years ago, my grandfather had one similar to this. When we visited him I always played with it. It worked perfectly but I had no idea what it was used for.

Wow! A mechanical abacus. I'm so glad the printed numbers weren't ruined with time, they're so unique. This like one of the very first precomputers. I'm glad I decided to watch you again. Your work and consideration to detail has definitely improved.

Когда шел процесс разборки -у меня была тихая паника ,казалось всем деталям в обратном порядке не суждено собраться ! И Какой же восторг видеть механизм в идеальной форме!

Hi Johnny. I'm over 70 but havenever seen one of these calculators. You did a magnificent restoration on it. I hope you can learn how to use it!

Przepiękne maszyny przepięknie jest odrestaurowane ta maszyna Pozdrawiam serdecznie. 👍👍👍👍👍👍

У моей бабушки был такой. Огромное восхищение вызывает такой аппарат, его изобрёл очень умный и талантливый человек. Считает не хуже современного простого калькулятора. Что же касается работы, то я очень жалею, что нельзя поставить десять лайков. Только механизм немного заедает, можно было немного смазки добавить.

Стал, как новый! Даже немножечко лучше!!! Класс!!!

That is incredible how you restored that arithmometer to working order. It looks much better too. I have never seen anything like that before. Excellent work.

Благодарю мастера за отличную работу. Все сделано с душой. Спасибо за труд. Удачи вам на канале. 📹🛠️👍🔥

Could I have taken this apart? Yes. Would I have been able to reassemble it? No way in heck… 😑 Awesome job!!! ❤️❤️❤️👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Когда у папы в отделе, в 79ом, заменили Феликсы на калькуляторы Быстрица, десятка полтора их оказалось в моем распоряжении... Ностальгия...))

One thing I have to say that I admire is how you can take all of this apart and remember how to put it back together. I’d have to record everything from the beginning just to see how to put it back the right way

A brilliant piece. I studied accounting but operate equipment. I really love seeing this old computational device brought back to life.

Отличная ресторация 🎉

Watching these cool old machines get cleaned up and brought back to life is one of the most satisfying things to watch on the youtubes. Great job.

В детстве я мечтал о таком, мне он казался очень интересной игрушкой. Но пятнадцать рублей - это было очень дорого для семьи простого советского инженера с тремя детьми.

For addition: 1) zero the machine. 2) write the first number to add using the levers at the top. 3) turn the handle in the add direction until the first number shows in the window to the bottom. 0 + first number = first number. 4) write the second number with the levers at the top. 5) Turn the handle in the add direction. Results show at the bottom window. Substraction is the same, but in reverse. For multiplication: multiplication is repeated addition. For example 10 X 5 is 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10. 1) zero the machine 2) write the number to multiply using the levers (10 for example) 3) turn the add lever 5 times. 4) read the result on the window. The Bottom left window is a counter, it will say 5 when you have turned the handle 5 times. Useful ehwn multiplying, say 124 * 36 so as not to have to manually count 36 turns of the handle. Just check the counter window. Division is the same but in reverse (division is repeated substraction) The sliding tabs are for your reference so you can put decimal points wherever you want them.

I wouldn't ever have the patience to do all of that. Many kudos to you. Watching restoration videos like this has always intrigued me. They don't build anything to withstand the test of time like they used to...

Wow! I'm in awe. That's an incredible restoration. Bravo, sir.

Świetna robota stary👍 Kalkulator wygląda jakby wyszedł dopiero z fabryki.

Wow! I would have ended up with a pile of parts! As always I always read the description to find out what information you have about the project and I like seeing how long it took you. Thank you for sharing

Tremendo trabajo. Felicitaciones 👏 Saludos desde Valdivia al sur de Chile 🇨🇱

This machine should be used in a mechanical and computer engineering university. Students should know how to disassemble and assemble it and learn the names of the parts. I remember my time as a student, and later as a young electronic engineer, when we learned to thread and manufacture magnetic core memories, we could touch the bits!

Great restoration, Johnny! I always look forward to seeing you put out a new video. I'm amazed!👍

Bravoooo maestro odlično uradjen posao.Veliki pozdrav od vjernog pratioca Mileta.

State of the art, Soviet made calculator circa 1989, 17 years after I bought my first Texas Instrument digital calculator.😝 Super nice resto. Love it.

So eine rechen Maschine habe ich auch noch zuhause 👍

really wild somebody engineered this. so many little parts. I couldn't imagine building one of these from scratch on how difficult that task would be

A great video, wonderful skills. Also in awe of whoever designed it.

My grandparents had one of these on a shelf in their basement. I tried to use it a few times for fun but it was completely seized up

Smontare è facile, ce la farei anch'io, ma come fai poi a rimontare il tutto ? Come fai a ricordare ogni passaggio ? Chapeau !!! 🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩

The restoration was beautiful and perfect. Congratulations!😀💜💜💜

Hats off to a magnificent piece of work. I've never seen anything like this before

Hello mister beautiful restoration beautifully restored good job well done

This video was fantastic. 😊

Looks amazing! Im sure i would lose at least 50 pieces before i even finish cleaning let alone put it together!

As I was watching you take this machine apart, I was wondering if you were brave or crazy. I've come to the conclusion that you are neither. You, sir, are a master of your craft with the confidence that comes with it. Great job and great video.

"Hey, great work with the number wheels! But maybe you could make the plastic frame white so that the numbers are easier to see. A simple trick: put the wheels in a solution of water and UV agent, then shine a UV lamp on them for a few hours. This will make the yellowing disappear and the numbers will really stand out. Just a tip that I would recommend!"

Awwww HELL no!!! Do you hunt grizzly bears with a salad fork, too? Does anything intimidate you? That was amazing man! I've never seen one of these and CAN'T imagine tackling that project without a well-written manual, a 1-800 number support line to call, and a PTSD group meeting as an outlet! 🤣🤣🤣

The amount of detail you went into with this is insane!…Great video!

You're a braver soul than I am.

Pěkná, čistá práce. 👍

Reading the description of this thing makes my brain hurt, but your restoration of it is beautiful! But, then, I'm not a maths person. Maths and I don't get along, really.

♥️♥️♥️ so many parts! Just wow! Beautiful restoration, but I don’t know how you kept track of all those parts! ♥️♥️♥️

I just took a picture of my cat watching this video with us. He enjoys it as much as we do

Самое сложное это было всё обратно собрать ))

O maior respeito por quem tem essa paciência e dedicação. Eu de minha parte fiquei cansada só de ver...e olha que aumentei a velocidade. Parabéns!!!!😊

Un travail fantastique !!! Bravo 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

This is how restoration should be...top drawer stuff...keep the good work up.

After doing that I think you can do anything

So many little tiny parts to keep track of.

Watching this makes me think of the World War II enigma machine, I would love to see a refurbishing of one of those.

Brilliance just Brilliance

Are the videos also used to help you remember how to put things back together?

I have done exactly the same restoration (without repainting) on the very similar Original Odhner 107. From what I can see, the Odhner is of a much higher quality. Nice job!

🤩AMAZING👏👏👏✨✨

EXTRAORDINARIO!!!!

Very good job 👍👍👍

What's a brilliant restoration! How many pieces did you clean! Incredible

It was that kind of a calculocountomaton that inspired the Finnish mechanical wizard Emil Henriksson (1886 - 1959) to design the first Abloy locks and keys in about 1907. He was working at a mechanical workshop in Helsinki at the time under Vilhelm Falck-Rasmussen. He was 21 years old and kept his innovation under a lid for a while. The first locks were introduced to the market in December of 1918. The country was recuperating after a bloody and dividing civil war and jobs and economic activities were sorely needed. The name Abloy = AktieBolaget låsfabriken - Lukkotehdas OsakeYhtiö (in Swedish and Finnish) was formed. The brand and the new technique had to compete with Yale, Chupp and others, so it was touch and go for a while, which was frustrating for Emil, who finally decided to sell his patent to a J.H Nordquist for 100 marks. Equivalent to roughly 50 dollars today, the price was ridiculously low, and as it turned out Mr. Nordquist was a middle man and soon sold the lot back to the company. Emil remained in the companny as a member of the board, a worker and a minority stockholder. Later the economic crisis in the 30's nearly collapsed the entire brand, but after some rather vexing events the company and the brand were saved. By that time Emil had left the company and started a new career in fine mechanics. He was not bitter, only noted that Abloy's problems were not caused by lacking craftmanship but by poor business management.

This was crazy, there were so many parts! It's really fun to watch you restore everything! Your videos are so great! Just wondering, I'm not knowledgeable about these things, but why did you not need to do a hardening/tempering step after casting the new piece? It almost looked a bit bendy as you were breaking it off the supports.

Interesting piece,never seen one or heard of one,but it’s on the internet,so must be true.LOL.very nice work on something that is obviously quite intricate in the day.great video as always.just continue on doing what you do best and carry on.😎😎😎👍👍👍

Great work man 👌🏻

This is such a cool machine

You are a genius mechanic ! and whoever conceived and designed that machine is an ET.

Machined surfaces should be masked for painting to maintain seamless operation. During the assembly process a small amount of oil is needed to some places.

Советский механический вычислитель "Феликс-М", завод "Счётмаш", город Курск. Судя по заводскому номеру, год выпуска 1974-1978й. Вероятно, 1976й, но это не точно.....

What is the metal you melted?

Restaurado Aritmômetro felix m 😉

Bro did not just what i assume was aluminium cast a simple wing nut...You know, a standard part.

Amazing!😮😮😮❤❤❤

Моя бабушка работала с таким. Но я так и не научился им пользоваться. Есть идеи что и куда на нем нужно крутить?

Арифмометр совсем не старинный. Это поздний экземпляр, скорее всего, 1970-е годы. Ручка- барашек была стальная, алюминиевая копия- это плохо, она недостаточно прочная. К сломанной ручке можно было приварить пластинку. Но в целом- хорошая работа. The adding machine is not at all antique. This is a late example, most likely from the 1970s. The knob handle was steel, the aluminum copy is bad, it is not strong enough. A plate could be welded to the broken handle. But overall, good job.

О, Железный Феликс! Я помню те времена, когда они продавались в канцелярских товарах. Стоил, по моему, 15 рублей СССР. Кстати, не так уж дёшево! Хорошая работа по восстановлению исторического прибора! Для аутентичности надо было для покраски использовать "молотковую эмаль" (hammer enamel) - она до сих пор есть в продаже.

Amazing job

Great job ! But how does that work ?

Damn what is that noise

Great video. I think it could've benefitted with annotations on what and why you were doing things at certain times.

Very complex machine and restoration too.Genius who invented this machine.Where the machine was made?

Nice to see! 👍👍 Great 👍!

Сколько же таких ставших не нужными феликсов валялось на площадке для сбора металлолома ! Знать бы тогда...

Em 1960, no Brazil, essa era a calculadora que tinhamos, até surgir a primeira calculadora eletrônica da Texas Instrument. Conhecia uma moça que usava essa calculadora manual e era mais ráida que um raio, tamanha a agilidade dela na operação dessa máquina. Tempos que passaram e não voltam mais.

SOOOOO MANY DAMN SCREWS LOL

👍💯

great job!

Так вот, что за железный Феликс, интересная штуковина)

Can we all agree that zinc is the worst metal to make things out of? I saw that a few of the internal components looked a lot like zinc.

oh my gosh its a genuine thingamajig!

If I put that thing back together it'd probably still be better at maths than I am 😂

Is that thing of Soviet provenance? I see it's stamped in what appears to be Cyrillic. Edit: A quick Google turned up a Wikipedia page for Odhner Arithmometer, originally manufactured in Russia beginning in the late 19th century and continuing until the 1960s. Yours appears to be based on that, if not in fact an actual Odhner device.

У меня был такой. Я на нём рассчитывал свой диплом на защиту квалификации инженера- механика по СДМ.

I can tell you this much. It has Russian writing all over it. I did a little googling. This is the Felix Mechanical Arithmometer, 1920-1970

How the heck did you get that thing back together? Amazing work.

👍 muito bom 👏👏👏👏👏👏

Назван в честь Феликса Дзержинского, в народе эту машинку называли "железный Феликс"

Some company should put real bells on their motherboards.