Guy's Calculating Machines
Guy's Calculating Machines Ltd. was the only British manufacturer of the Odhner type pinwheel calculator. The Britannic is a copy of the Brunsviga and was first produced during the first world war[1]. It embodies improvements patented by Frank E. Guy, including a setting-lever clearing device for zeroing the levers by a single movement, interlocking mechanism, and a new barrel
construction giving greater rigidity to the setting levers.
The Muldivo Calculating Machine Co. Ltd. bought Guy's Calculating Machines from the brothers Guy in about 1939 and made a Thales-type machine there after the War. It moved to Witham, Essex, in 1965 and was sold by Muldivo in about 1969, by which time it had become a general precision sub-contracting works.
Shown here are:
- Britannic - Pinwheel calculator.
- Britannic Duo - Dual pinwheel calculator.
Guy's Britannic
Pinwheel calculator with 9-digit setting register, 18-digit accumulator register, 10-digit revolutions register.
Made in England by Guy's Calculating Machines Ltd., Wood Green, London N22.
Distributed by Muldivo Calculating Machine Co. Ltd.,49 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4.
Probably made between the late-1930s and 1960.
255 x 118 x 100 mm (10" x 4.7" x 4").
The calculator with its cover on.
Guy's Britannic Duo
Dual pinwheel calculator.
Made in England by Guy's Calculating Machines Ltd., Wood Green, London N22.
Distributed by Muldivo Calculating Machine Co. Ltd.,49 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4.
This unusual dual pinwheel machine was photographed on display at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Manchester, UK. (Get in touch with MOSI to check that it is still on display if wishing to see it).
Machines such as this had specialised technical uses and were used in surveying, especially military survey work.
See the article "The "Twin Marchant" and its place in history" on this site.
Performing Coordinate transformations with dual machines is explained at http://www.crisvandevel.de/doubletriplecalc.htm.
For information on performing the basic arithmetic operations see Operating a Pinwheel Calculator in the "Collecting Calculators" section of this site.
For details of the pinwheel mechanism click here.
Reference:
British calculators
Vintage Calculators
© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout 2000-2019 except where noted otherwise.