Smith-Corona adding machine model 8MA Review / HowTo

[@kevinf5354]

Gotta love Dolores.

[@mwichary]

Laughed out loud at the Monroe joke.

[@JoannaFalkowska]

Literally the best joke I heard this month.

[@mkpleco]

Dolores Sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

Love the green on the keys.

[@davidbabin1842]

Great video. Very good subtle humor. I just bought on of these on eBay, based on your vid's. I just got it and it's in great shape. I need to replace the ribbon but thanks to your other vid it looks like it's straight forward. Back in the mid 70's this machine was part of my daily work life when I worked in an automotive parts store, that was very old also. Any way it brings back memories. I was hoping you know what the bottom row of brown buttons does, I can't remember. Thanks again, Dave

[@ChrisStaecker]

Thanks for watching! The buttons on the bottom clear out the column. They act like zeros, which aren't necessary strictly speaking, but it's useful if you wanted 0 in a column but you accidentally hit a number. Without those buttons you'd be stuck with your accidental number- you could hit a different number in the column but you wouldn't be able to get rid of the digit entirely.

[@Falcrist]

Lol "subtle" 😂

[@haramanggapuja]

Nice, as always. Makes me want to go out and play with the Victor.

[@thisnicklldo]

They were going to call him John but changed their mind after 3 months of nappy changing. 'Hurlbut', the sleepless fathers revenge on the unwanted 3rd son.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

This was fun!

[@goodbeans]

Dolores is a queen

[@derekkuhl]

This is a pretty sweet machine! Kinda made me think look at these beautiful and functional machines, what is your favorite? If you were to just have one in mint condition, which one would it be?

[@ChrisStaecker]

Maybe one of the old brass Comptometers? I have two and they’re really classy.

[@fredjacob8728]

I just inherited my grandfather's machine! It's been in the attic for a while. Any suggestions on cleaning products to clean it off? Thanks!

[@ragnarhairybreeks]

Excellent

[@diesel4192]

Side note, Lyman Smith at least was also in the Shotgun industry (LC Smith Shotguns).

[@ChrisStaecker]

Yes! But not to be confused with Smith & Wesson (different guy).

[@diesel4192]

@@ChrisStaecker correct that was Horace Smith. ( Completely unrelated)

[@Ebolson1019]

I know on some adding machines you can subtract by adding a giant number and getting it to cycle all the way back and past 0 but with no direct input for the 8th spot how would this work here?

[@ChrisStaecker]

Yes that's called subtraction by complements. I think how it works in this case is "it just don't do that". I agree the extra digit on the end makes it very impractical. (Comptometers typically had an "extra" digit on the end with no way to enter numbers into it directly. But they had carry suppression buttons to prevent the carrys from going all the way into the extra digit- so in that case you can use complements no problem)

[@Ebolson1019]

@@ChrisStaecker messing with mine it does work. If both numbers are 5 digits (ie 12345.00) then it doesn’t add the 8th digit. For lower numbers like 180-30 you just put 9s in front and in the total ignore the 1 way out in front, in this case it’s 100150.00

[@ChrisStaecker]

@Ebolson1019 yes if you’re willing to “ignore the 1 way out in front” then it should go fine

[@Ebolson1019]

@@ChrisStaecker I imagine it would’ve been something a lot of people did when these were in use as you’d likely be able to keep track of which side of 100k you’re on and if needed just total it and enter the amount minus the extra digits. Having only tried tens, hundreds, and ten-thousands, I’m not sure how it would behave to numbers in the thousands which is the only spot I can see this method having trouble

[@Benpg93]

Got one of these but sadly the case was shattered during delivery, all those years intact just to break while being shipped

[@ChrisStaecker]

Tragic! I dropped a machine that I was shipping once and totally shattered it. What can you do?

[@Benpg93]

@@ChrisStaecker seems that after so many years the material of case became brittle or something. At least the machine itself mostly works

[@angrybusdriver5656]

Just bought one of these off Ebay could you please tell me where I can get a new ribbon and paper that fits

[@ChrisStaecker]

For the paper, you can probably just walk into a big office supply store and get some- modern printing calculators still use the same size paper reels. For the ribbon, there are two standard widths- try to measure the one you have, and you can easily order a replacement online. Try this video for replacing the ribbon on this machine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKG5YYSpatmAh7s

[@angrybusdriver5656]

@@ChrisStaecker Thank you very much I appreciate it

[@ivajdavis]

hello, i happen to come across a similar model, only it has some buttons to the left that Say NS, CR, CHG, PR, NS, REC, would anybody know what are their function?

[@ChrisStaecker]

never seen those- maybe they just print little notations on the tape? Marking different types of accounting transactions? Seems like too many buttons to have them all actually do different things computationally.

[@kaylegarcia6831]

@@ChrisStaecker I have the same model. How much do these go for? I’m trying to sell mine

[@ChrisStaecker]

@@kaylegarcia6831 Not much! I'd say $20-$50, depending on condition. It's really all about finding someone who wants it locally, since shipping it will easily double the cost for a buyer.

[@stumbling]

I am purely guessing but possibly: NS = Number of Sales or New Section (maybe it prints a line across the paper or something) CR = Credit or Customer Reference CHG = Change or Charge PR = Payroll REC = Receipt or Received

[@OldManBOMBIN]

I'm crying now. You hug Dolores for me, if possible. Or at least tell her I wish her well. (My name is Tim, if you wanna use that instead of my username).

[@ChrisStaecker]

Sadly Dolores died about a year ago. I'm glad to have known her.

[@farpointgamingdirect]

Compared to some of the more colorful items from the 1950s, this item seems very "noir"

[@chriswalford4161]

So few likes?

[@chrisbell1878]

Hurlbut😆