Shop Math = Trigonometry or Bust

[dirty tools]

I had a brain tumor operation in 1990 and ever sense I have Extream problems wi math (very difficult to just add and subtract)

 

[HarryJM]

I stumbled across the carpenter's 3-4-5 rule to make square corners when I was building a big 3 tiered raised bed out of 6x6 lumber and although not metal related it is another example of a practical example of math for everyday use.

 

[Janderso]

I discovered the app, Trig Solver. Simple and easy.

 

[Janderso]

I’ve had a whole lot of years of math, so trig and algebra are natural and I use them in the shop all the time. I observe that the basic problem is that teaching math is done in a way that makes most people hate it. The problems they give you are uninteresting, meaningless and irrelevant. I wish I could get up the energy to teach a first year calculus class and make it extremely understandable and useful. We might have to review some basic stuff, but I believe anybody interested in machine tools has all the brainpower needed to actually enjoy this stuff. Yes? No?

I don’t even know what kalkulus is .
I think anyone who has had a teacher that made the subject interesting and fun is very fortunate.
In my experience, good teachers were far and few.

 

[Bob Korves]

Back in 1963 at technology school we were shown how to use a slide rule and math tables. To this day I look up the values of trig functions in the same book of math tables. No one dreamed about using a small portable wireless phone to replace all the books and professors we had at the time.

I had similar experiences to Tozguy, but in 1966. I caught on to trig easily, had the formulas in my head, and could get answers in short order, using the charts in the back of the textbook, same as Tozguy. Now I use online sites for the tables, and I still remember the basic geometries. I also still have my high school textbook for the basic tables and formulas should they be needed. I find trig to be a useful tool for life ,not an obscure thing to forget about after high school...

 

[Suzuki4evr]

I stumbled across the carpenter's 3-4-5 rule to make square corners when I was building a big 3 tiered raised bed out of 6x6 lumber and although not metal related it is another example of a practical example of math for everyday use.

I have also used this quite a bit since I was taught how to use it by my last boss in 09'. I just showed someone a while back how to use it and felt good about it. NEVER in my life I thought I could teach someone about a math matter.

 

[DavidR8]

My dad left was in an orphanage aka ‘boys home’ in England till 1936 when he was 16 at which point he was shipped to Canada as a “home child”. As a result he didn’t get any formal schooling past grade 6.

After the war taught himself math, sometimes by candlelight while living in a tent so he could be a surveyor to help build roads in Alberta. He eventually retired with the title of “Resident Engineer”.

These are the cover pages of one of his trig books. They saved me in high school. He also didn’t allow me to have a calculator. Physics 12 was brutal.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Aukai]

This is my math....

 

[westerner]

I find trig to be a useful tool for life ,not an obscure thing to forget about after high school...

I suppose it all depends on the life one leads after high school.....

 

[Janderso]

I suppose it all depends on the life one leads after high school.....

True,
I haven't needed to figure out a trig. problem in 40 years.