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IBM Computing Cheese Cutter [Restoration]

Hand Tool Rescue · 3.6M views · 2021-10-01 · 46:56

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Overview

A 47-minute restoration of a 1920s IBM computing cheese cutter, a machine with parts patented between 1901 and 1907. The video covers the restoration work and explains why it is a computing cheese cutter.

On Hacker News

HN shares it as a fun curiosity about early IBM history, with time stamps for the nameplate and the explanation.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2021–2024

Topics

History of computingWoodworking, metalworking & workshop skillsRepair, teardowns & right to repair
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restorationibm historycheese cutterantique toolspatents

What people said

kens · 2022-02 · Recommendation

I don't believe it. In particular, IBM was formed by amalgamating various subsidiary companies, so there's no "first product". Even if you focus on the Computing Scale Company, I think their first product was a computing scale and the cheese slicer was later. That said, the IBM cheese cutter restoration video is very cool: [VIDEO]

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bayindirh · 2024-05 · Reference

IBM has a track record going back to automatically price calculating cheese cutters [0], but Sam does not. IBM has proven itself in various ways over the years, OpenAI hasn't. While IBM is a behemoth of a money making machine, they put money where their mouth is. OpenAI does not. So I'll trust IBM, but not OpenAI. [0]: [VIDEO]

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MikeTheGreat · 2024-02 · Reference

Just happened to jump to the exact point where he explains why / how it's a "computing" cheese cutter; if you're curious too you can find the explanation at the 42:30 mark: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Hand Tool Rescue, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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