Calculated Industries Construction Master III User manual

Calculated Industries
®
Construction
MasterIII ®
User’s Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction...................................................... 3
Key Definitions.................................................. 4
Entering Dimensions........................................13
Entering Square and Cubic Dimensions........... 14
Linear Conversions.......................................... 14
Square and Cubic Conversions........................ 15
Mathematical Operations................................16
Adding Dimensions.......................................... 16
Subtracting Dimensions................................... 17
Multiplying Dimensions...................................17
Dividing Dimensions........................................17
Percentage Calculations...................................18
Memory Functions........................................... 19
Fraction Setting............................................... 20
Linear Dimension Calculations........................ 21
Area Calculations.............................................23
Volume Calculations........................................ 27
Board Feet/Lumber Calculations......................32
Right-Angle Solutions...................................... 34
Hip/Valley Rafters............................................42
Hip/Valley Rafters (Irregular)..........................43
Jack Rafters...................................................... 44
Stair Problems..................................................46
Overflow Indication.........................................49
Accuracy........................................................... 49
Battery and Auto-Shut-Off.............................. 50
Full Reset, All-Clear.........................................50
Appendix A (Area Formulas)............................ 51
Appendix B (Area & Volume Formulas)............ 52
Limited Warranty............................................. 53

INTRODUCING:
The Construction Master III ®
Designed for today’s construction professional,
the all-new Construction Master III adds even
more power and ease of use to the already
powerful Construction Masterline-up. As with
earlier models, the format of this calculator is so
simple, even the novice user will find it easy to
solve hundreds of dimension-related problems
right in feet, inches and fractions!
■Add Strings of Dimensions
■Do Instant Dimensional Conversions
■Calculate Square & Rectangular Areas
■Determine Cubic Volumes
■Complete Metric Conversions
■Find Circumference and Area of Circles
■Solve Right-Triangles
■Find Regular & Irregular Hip/Valley Rafters
■Solve Jack Rafters Automatically
■Calculate Stair Risers and Treads
■Estimate Board Feet & Other Materials
■And much, much more!
It also works as a standard math calculator
with Memory, Percent, and battery-saving Auto
Shut-Off.
Calculated Industries, Inc.
4840 Hytech Drive • Carson City, NV 89706
1-800-854-8075 • 775-885-4900 • Fax: [phone]
User’s Guide — 3

KEY DEFINITIONS
[+] [–] [x]
[÷] [=] Arithmetic operation keys.
[%] Four-function percent key.
0 – 9 Digits used for keying-in numbers.
[ . ] Decimal point.
[Off] Turns all power off. Clears the
display and all values previously
stored in Memory.
[On/C] Turns on power. Pressing once
clears the last entry and the display.
Pressing twice in succession clears
all non-permanent registers.
[M+] Stores any displayed number
(dimensioned or non-dimensioned)
in semi-permanent Memory. Also,
adds any displayed number to any
previously-stored number. Redis-
plays stored total in format of first-
entered dimension. For example,
you can add feet to yards to inches,
and when you press the [Rcl] [M+]
keys, the answer will be displayed
as total feet.
[Rcl] Recalls and displays the contents of
the semi-permanent Memory or
registers. Pressing [Rcl] twice in a
row displays and clears the Memory.
4— Construction Master III ®

[√] This key is used to find the square
root of a number. You must be
careful when entering dimensioned
values because by definition the
square root of a linear dimension
does not exist; therefore the calcu-
lator will correctly give you an er-
ror if you try to do this.
[Conv] This key, used in conjunction with a
dimension key, converts one dimen-
sioned number to another dimen-
sioned number. The one logistical
limitation is that you must maintain
convention. You cannot convert
from a linear dimension like feet,
for example, to a square or cubic di-
mension. This violates convention.
Additional [Conv] Key Functions:
When used in conjunction with the following
keys, the [Conv] keygives access to these
additional functions.
[Conv] [√] Finds the square (X2 or X-
Squared) of a number or
dimension. Again, you must
be careful when working with
dimensions because, for ex-
ample, if you try to square an
already square dimension,
you would bring it to the
fourth power, which does not
work on this calculator.
[Conv] [ ÷ ] Reciprocal, or 1/x function.
User’s Guide — 5

[Conv] [ x ] All-Clear, full-reset function
clears Memory and resets all
registers (Jack, Stair, & Frac-
tions) to their default values.
[Conv] [ + ] Pi (π) constant = 3.141593.
[Conv] [ – ] Change sign. Can also be
used to subtract a number
from the semi-permanent
Memory (replaces M-).
[Conv] [ M+ ] Replaces the value stored in
Memory with the value on
the display.
[Conv] [ * ] Fraction Set — This key is
used to semi-permanently set
up the default fractional for-
mat of all your answers.**
This preference setting is
cleared by (1) Performing an
All-Clear [Conv][x], or (2)
Replacing it with another
preferred fractional setting,
or (3) By entering a fraction
with a smaller denominator
than your preferred setting.***
*
Pressing [Conv], followed by any of the numbers 2, 4, 8, 1,
3, 6 will set the fraction. Entries other than these will not
change the fraction display.
** This will be the smallest denominator displayed. If,
however, the lowest common denominator is larger than
your preferred setting, the calculator will display this
instead.
*** Upon turning the unit "On," the "fs" symbol will appear
once to indicate a setting other than 1/64ths. If you are
unsure what base was last used, do an All-Clear.
6— Construction Master III ®

[Conv] [ 2 ] Fraction set to 1/2’s.
[Conv] [ 4 ] Fraction set to 1/4’s.
[Conv] [ 8 ] Fraction set to 1/8’s.
[Conv] [ 1 ] Fraction set to 1/16’s.
[Conv] [ 3 ] Fraction set to 1/32’s.
[Conv] [ 6 ] Fraction set to 1/64’s.
[Feet] This is an entry and conversion
key. The entry can be in whole or
decimal numbers. This key can also
be used in conjunction with the
[Inch] and [/] keys. Example: To
enter 6 feet 9-1/2 inches, the key se-
quence is: 6 [Feet] 9 [Inch] 1 [/] 2
This key can also be used with the
[Conv] key to convert any displayed
dimension to feet.*
[Inch] This key is an entry and conversion
key that works the same way as the
[Feet] key described above.** This
key can also be used with the [Conv]
key to convert any dimension value
to inches.
[Yds] Yards — This key is an entry and
conversion key. The entry can be a
whole number or a decimal number.
It will also convert any other dis-
playeddimensionednumber to yards
when used with the [Conv] key.
* Successive presses of the Feet key toggles the display
between feet-inch-fraction (if any) and decimal feet
(10ths, 100ths) formats.
** Successive presses of the Inch key toggles the display
between inch-fraction and decimal (10ths, 100ths) inch
formats.
User’s Guide — 7

[M] Meters — This is an entry and
conversion key that works in the
same way as the [Yds]key described
above.
[CM] Centimeters — This is an entry
and conversion key used to enter
decimal centimeters or to convert
decimal centimeters from some
other dimensional format when
used in conjunction with the [Conv]
key.
[MM] Millimeters — This is an entry
and conversion key that works in
the same way as the [CM] key de-
scribed above.
[Cu] Cubic— This definition key is used
in conjunction with a dimension key
(feet, yards, meters, etc.) to enter a
volume measurement. Example: 5
[Cu] [Yds]. Three linear dimensions
multiplied together also equal a
cubic dimension.
[Sq] Square — Similar to the [Cu] key,
this definition key is used in con-
junction with a dimension key (feet,
inches, yards, meters, etc.) to enter
an area measurement. Example: 10
[Sq] [Feet]. Also, two linear dimen-
sions multiplied together equal a
square dimension.
8— Construction Master III ®

[/] Fraction Bar— This definition key is
used to define and enter fractions.
Fractions can be both proper (1 or less
— 1/2, 1/8, 1/16) or improper (greater
than 1 — 3/2, 65/64). You enter a
fraction by first entering the
numerator (the part of the fraction
that is above the line) then the [/]
and the denominator (the part below
the line).
For example: To enter 1/2, the key se-
quence would be 1 [/] 2.
[Bd Ft] Board Feet— This key is an entry
and conversion key for board feet
units of measure. A board foot is a
cubic measurement equal to 144
cubic inches. The entry can be a
whole number or a decimal number.
It will also convert any other dis-
played cubic dimensioned number
to board feet when used in conjunc-
tion with the [Conv] key.*
[Per] Per-Unit — This key is used to
enter the per-unit dollar cost of a
dimensioned value. For example, if
you calculated 35 cubic yards of
concrete, and each yard cost $47,
you would use this key with the
times [x] key as follows:
35 [Cu] [Yds] [x] 47 [Per] [=] $1645
* In order to get a proper conversion, you must convert
from a cubic dimension.
User’s Guide — 9

One exception to this key is when
working with board feet: If your
dimension is board feet, the unit
price is entered in the standard
Mbm. (per thousand board foot
measure) format.
[Stair] Using the values entered into Rise
and Run, and the dimension entry
for “Desired Riser Height” (auto-
matically assumed in inches and
permanently stored in Memory),
calculates the following:
1st Press [Stair]: Number of Risers
2nd Press [Stair]: Actual Riser Height
3rd Press [Stair]: Riser Overage/Underage
4th Press [Stair]: Number of Treads
5th Press [Stair]: Actual Tread Width
6th Press [Stair]: Tread Overage/Underage
NOTE: After an All-Clear [Conv][x], the calcu-
lator will default to a “Desired Riser Height” of
7-1/2 Inches. Youmay enter any “Desired Riser
Height” over this default. For example, enter 8
[Stair] and the calculator will assume an 8 inch
“Desired Riser Height.” Youmay also recall
what is stored at any time by pressing [Rcl][Stair]
[Circ] Circle — After the entry of the
diameter of a circle (in either
dimensional or non-dimensional
format) pressing [Circ], solves for
the circumference(1st press) and
circle area(2nd press) of a circle.
10 — Construction Master III ®