# Construction Master Pro or the likes...?



## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

A contractor friend of mine is all excited about getting his Construction Master Pro calculator. His usual work is decks/stairs, sheds, framing, pool decks, etc...don't really understand his excitement as he's been doing this work his whole life...

All I've ever used is my tape, rule, squares, etc, and my trig function calculator.

My typical response is "if I haven't needed it by now, I don't need it"...but it got me thinking...

Do any of you use anything like the CM Pro for your outside work...?


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

and inside work too..
sure cuts down on errors...

the CMP has trig and analytic geometry functions


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

No. But then my outside work mostly consists of taking out the trash.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Same as you Nick with the exception I used an old CAD program I had to calculate a few dimensions once in a while. Of course it doesn't work on any operating system past win 98 so back to same as you.


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## gdonham1 (Oct 31, 2011)

I have had one of those calculators and found it to be useless. There is a place for it but not for me. It all depends on your willingness to use it and give up your old way of doing things.


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

I have the Construction Master Plus EZ and it comes in handy for adding and subtracting fractions. I’ve use some of the other functions but so rarely I have to figure out how to use them.
When I need to do trig functions I use a scientific calculator for that.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I used one like that for several years BC ,(Before Computers) in the field. Laying out building sites and setting benchmarks and grid lines, and grades, and slopes to catch basins. Calculating quantities of fill and cubic yards of concrete etc. Also handy for calculating amount of forms and footing formed and poured per day while standing in a plan shack in the middle of the site,figuring lumber ordering and materials plus figuring manpower requirements to meet schedules.
Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> I used one like that for several years BC ,(Before Computers) in the field. Laying out building sites and setting benchmarks and grid lines, and grades, and slopes to catch basins. Calculating quantities of fill and cubic yards of concrete etc. Also handy for calculating amount of forms and footing formed and poured per day while standing in a plan shack in the middle of the site,figuring lumber ordering and materials plus figuring manpower requirements to meet schedules.
> Herb


seems like you never used it to it's full potential..


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> seems like you never used it to it's full potential..


That is just some of the things I used it for besides the basic rafter ,stair, slopes, And when the Architect calls out on the plans for the rise on steps to be 7 11/13".
Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> That is just some of the things I used it for besides the basic rafter ,stair, slopes, And when the Architect calls out on the plans for the rise on steps to be 7 11/13".
> Herb


and laying out compound compounds and polygons and and and...


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> and laying out compound compounds and polygons and and and...


Your right, Stick, remember how we used to have to loft,or layout on the floor these things to actual size, like trusses and arches, etc.? Before calculators we used books with tables for rafters,trusses,spans,loads, trig functions,angles, numerical conversions etc.
Herb


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

One time I remember we had to layout a curved wall that the center point of the curve was 25' outside the exterior wall of the building. the problem was we were on the 50th floor.

Another was laying out a concrete footing for the bleachers at the University Stadium that was centered between the goal posts with a 120' radius that was 45' elevation above the field.
Herb


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

Herb Stoops said:


> Your right, Stick, remember how we used to have to loft,or layout on the floor these things to actual size, like trusses and arches, etc.? Before calculators we used books with tables for rafters,trusses,spans,loads, trig functions,angles, numerical conversions etc.
> Herb


To say nothing of a really good framing square.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> One time I remember we had to layout a curved wall that the center point of the curve was 25' outside the exterior wall of the building. the problem was we were on the 50th floor.
> 
> Another was laying out a concrete footing for the bleachers at the University Stadium that was centered between the goal posts with a 120' radius that was 45' elevation above the field.
> Herb


forgot your CM did'ja???


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

Attachment-1.gif


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

bryansong said:


> Attachment-1.gif


Didn't come in ,Bryon
HErb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

bryansong said:


> Attachment-1.gif


say what???


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> forgot your CM did'ja???


I used the CM Pro to figure out both of those,plus a transit at the Stadium.
Herb


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## Danman1957 (Mar 14, 2009)

WOW !
I have built many structures over the years and never needed anything other than a calculator only to speed up the process. Herb, I like your BC = before computers ! I use my computer mainly for searching the net, this Forum, e-mails and some social media, and of course storing all the great data on woodworking and photos. I can read a CAD drawing but I still use a graph paper, pencil and geometry set for my designs. I guess I'm old school and that is why I still haven't ventured into a CNC unit, but maybe one day !


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

When I went to electronics school in 1974 we used slide rules.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

bryansong said:


> When I went to electronics school in 1974 we used slide rules.


I remember those...
still have my 1st one...


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> I remember those...
> still have my 1st one...



...still got my Cooke's Radio Slide Rule w/scabbard...LOL


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

You guys are good, wish I still had mine.


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## MikeDilligaf (Sep 19, 2010)

On Google Play, try 'Handyman Calculator' and 'Handyman Calculator Pro'. The latter is only $4.99. Not sure if it's available for iOS.


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## jpndave (Jan 8, 2020)

I have used multiple versions of Construction master calculators for years, from the pro to the desk model, the layout tool, etc. A year or so ago I bought their app and now pretty much just use that. It is really handy for all sorts of uses from the construction specific stuff to just doing dimension conversions, etc. or just as a regular calculator.


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## st8yd (May 10, 2011)

I've been using Construction Master IV for over 20 yrs as a contractor. One on my desk, one in the truck and a spare in the drawer (got it on sale)
Great for ft,inches and fractions.
I use the triangle function to calculate what the diagonal is to square a building up.
sq yds is one I also use frequently.
Rafter lengths, etc.
I did it fine before I got it, but it's a whole lot easier and time saver having it and would hate to be without it!
I haven't seen a free phone app yet that I like as well as it, but I also havnt looked in a couple yrs.


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## st8yd (May 10, 2011)

Danman1957 said:


> but I still use a graph paper, pencil and geometry set for my designs. I guess I'm old school and that is why I still haven't


You left out Erasers! LOL Can you move that wall a few inches over, well actually I think it was better where it was, or make the door swing the other way, etc. Not to mention your own trials and mistakes. I used to love to draw by hand, until I got CAD.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

bryansong said:


> When I went to electronics school in 1974 we used slide rules.


Bryon, wish we had calculators when I was in school instead of slide rules.
Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> Bryon, wish we had calculators when I was in school instead of slide rules.
> Herb


for sure...


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

@Herb Stoops

The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.

Jon


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

JFPNCM @Herb Stoops

The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.

Jon 

You know, I have never thought about it like that ,but you are right.
Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Stick486 said:


> I remember those...
> still have my 1st one...





Nickp said:


> ...still got my Cooke's Radio Slide Rule w/scabbard...LOL





bryansong said:


> You guys are good, wish I still had mine.


here...

.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

JFPNCM said:


> @Herb Stoops
> 
> The advantage to slide rules, you have to understand the problem to be solved and think. Calculators, not so much.
> 
> Jon



WAIT..think...? I remember when I thunk...not anymore...:grin:


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

Nickp said:


> WAIT..think...? I remember when I thunk...not anymore...:grin:


I was taught the proper conjugation was, think, thank, thumpk. 😁


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

JFPNCM said:


> I was taught the proper conjugation was, think, thank, thumpk. 😁



So glad I'm not alone...:grin::grin::grin:


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## woodfella (Dec 15, 2009)

I used the CMs extensively in the latter half of my 42 year carpentry career. From the first CM 1 to the present models, I probably went through a dozen of them through the years. (I would wear the numbers off of the buttons and write them back on with a pen.) When foremen first saw me using them on a job in the 80's, they looked at me like I was doing voodoo. It took me quite a while to gain their trust when cutting roofs, stairs, cathedral walls etc. Once they saw I could calculate and cut an irregular pitch hip rafter, lay it out, and cut all the corresponding jack rafters from my sawhorses. I finally had them convinced that perhaps this "new" way of doing things could help them save some climbing, sky measuring, & man hours. I heard "It's all on the square!" a lot in those days. My polite response was usually " Years ago we used a brace & bits to drill plates for foundation bolts. And now we use a cordless drill. I wonder why? " And now in my retirement sixties when younger people see me make a sketch of something with a rolling ruler, they try to explain how much easier it would be with a CAD program. To which I resist their suggestions. In methods used, it's all in where you comfort level lies I'm afraid.


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## roofner (Aug 1, 2010)

Bryan I also gradated electronic school in Summer of 1974. The begin of our modern electronic industry also remember the slide rule and quick move to calculators. Then the move to computers. Now the computers the size of our phones. New frontier of robotics and artificial intelligent.
Thirty six years of fun. Starting out as technician trouble shooting military hardware. From mark 48 torpedo's, B52 aircraft systems and Cruise missal. Then worked in forensic lab testing and failure analysis of components. Finally desktop support and computer network support. My hobby building computers. Do you remember the computer shows where go buy hardware build your own computers. This kept me gainfully employed for the reminder of my career.


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

*Roofner, great to here from a fellow electronic technician*

I never went to those shows, I was too busy playing sports back then. My coworker friends love those kind of things.

I worked for a year at Dictaphone right out of school then went to work for Bendix Kansas City in the Defense Department's Aerospace Industry's Nuclear Weapons division.
I started out building Test Equipment then repair and calibration of test equipment for my whole 41 year career. The last 16 years I mostly worked on oscilloscopes and
multimeters. I retired in 2018.

You are right on with the calculators coming in and just as I was in school (graduating Sept, 1975). My first calculator was a TI30. All test taken in school we had to use the slide rule and I though 
it was really fun, and a race indeed with my classmates. But the calculator, wow!


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