Hot Sport Blog

Serves My Purposes (2009-06-14)
Easily enter feet and inches in fractional or decimal form and add, subtract, mutiply, divide, calculate square feet and volumes, etc. Makes developing an accurate bill of materials for furniture and home improvement projects much simpler. Also has a number of functions that I'll probably never need.

construction master pro trig (2009-04-07)
I recently purchased the master pro trig, and im very happy with it. Im a carpenter by trade and do alot of framing, this this does away with the need for all the math or tables for irregular roofs ect. brilliant!!

Construction Master Pro Purchase (2009-02-18)
I was completely satisfied with the recent purchase of the Construction Master Pro from Amazon. It arrived early, and in the original packaging, and works great. I would definitely recommend this company from anyone looking for the same device. Well done!

Working horse (2009-02-08)
This is the second buy. My original was snached by appreciating co-worker.
Makes two of us liking it :)

Good Feature Set, Easy to Use (2009-01-12)
I bought this calculator for basic imperial (foot/inch) measurement system entry and math, including fractions, but have found that it excels in the feature set it offers - including circle, arc, area, volume, and right angle calculations. It also has a good conversion capability from imperial measurements to metric.

The calculations used by the built-in keys (e.g., for stairs, rafters, blocks, compound miter cuts, etc.) use common-sense default values - like 16" OC stud spacing, 6'8" stairway headroom, 16" blocks, 7 1/2" stair risers, etc. - but can be easily changed with a couple of simple keystrokes.

I found the built-in calcs very easy to learn and use. A lot of the dedicated function keys give you the results you want by just pushing the button more than once. Enter run and rise, for example, then push "DIAG" and it shows you the diagonal. Another push of "DIAG" gives you the plumb cut, and a third press gives you the level cut. Enter a circle diameter into "CIRC" and a press gives you area and a second press circumference. The rafter and jack calculations are particularly impressive, as successive presses give you the lengths of the entire series for the run, plus hip and valley lengths and bevels, all without entering any additional information.

The calculator is very flexible - you can enter values in any unit. Pitch, for example, can be entered in feet, inches per foot, degrees in two different formats, and so on. You can solve for missing values. Using pitch as an example again, if you enter pitch in degrees, along with the run, a press of "RISE" will solve for the rise.

The calculator itself is feather-weight, but appears to be made of a tough plastic. A slide-on cover is included, by the way - I didn't see the need to buy the flip-open optional cover. Whoever designed this calculator thought it out. There is actually storage for the printed pocket guide in the form of a built-in pocket on the back of the calculator. The slide-on cover also has basic instructions and a list of the default calculation values printed on it.

My only real complaint is that the printing above the keys for alternate functions accessed by the "CONV" and "STOR" key are light and hard to read. No problem in daylight, but indoor lighting makes it hard to read them. The keys themselves are good-sized, have a slightly rubbery texture, and have a good feel to them. The display is easy to read.

This is an excellent calculator, and it should satisfy anyone for virtually all routine carpentry, woodworking, and cabinetmaking needs. I went back and forth a few time trying to decide between this model and the trig model, but this one has some built in calcs the trig model does not have, and I've found that this model's right triangle, circle/arc, and degree entry capabilities meet my geometric needs.

Amazon had the best price on this calculator that I'd seen to-date at the time I bought it.