Abacus Soroban

thingiverse

This is an abacus called soroban, a derivative of the Chinese suanpan that originated in Japan. The parts can be printed without any support and are designed for easy assembly and a smooth finish with no visible seams or fasteners. Instructions Print 65 beads along with the inner and outer frame. I used bamboo skewers for the rods, but you could also use 3mm filament if you prefer. Either way, make sure the rods are 3mm, so that the holes in the beads and frame can accommodate them easily. You can clean out these holes using a drill with an eighth-inch diameter. The rods should be cut flush to the outside edge of the inner frame. To assemble this soroban, insert the rods into the inner frame. For each rod place four beads in the large space and one bead in the small space. Next, slide the outer frame onto the rods with some glue applied. There are five dots in the front used to mark every third row. The holes can be filled with 1.75mm filament, wax, or paint. Once you have a nice-looking and functional soroban, you can learn how to use it. To get started, here are a few resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soroban http://webhome.idirect.com/~totton/soroban/Manual.pdf http://abacus.etherwork.net/soroban/ http://www.sorobanexam.org/