A napkin that someone gave me :D Tori’s Coloring (:
The Tucson Haul – Fixed Typer #3 and another Giveaway Machine
Weapon of Choice: 197x Underwood 378. A Job for Superglue! Ergh, I’ll need to find a replacement for that screw. Hey, those are supposed to be inserted in the machine’s frame.
The Tucson Haul – Fixed Typer #2
Weapon of Choice: “Thunderbird 4” 1968 Montgomery Ward 440T. I took off the return lever and leftside carriage cover, but in the end I didn’t need to (except that it allowed me to see what was wrong in the first place). You can’t put the leftside knob on anyway unless the cover is already on […]
Upcoming Type-In and a Giveaway 1957 Royal Aristocrat!
Weapon of Choice: 1957 Royal Aristocrat. Spring malformed and sliding around. Must trim and form new hook-ends. Re-Install spring, not that it did any good. “Forming” is what we call it, not “bending”. Must be patient and have a light hand on the tool. Okay, so Aristocrats in the late 50’s had an RB prefix, […]
The Adventures of Lef the Elf Murder Hobo
I occasionally play MMO games – usually one at any given time, and usually old games, mainly because the computers that I have tend to be old hand-me-downs that are happier with older games. The past few years I’ve alternated between private customized WoW servers and Trion’s Rift – games that are about 8 or […]
Friends from New Mexico & A Surprise Solution to 8-Bit Printing
Weapon of Choice: 198x Olivetti 900X #85330822 Joe Van Cleave’s Blog Post on his trip. WriteElephant’s “Letters From Nakajima“. “Scannin’, Scannin’, Scannin’” Scanned so far: 194x-Rex-O-Graph 194x-Speed-O-Print_Model_L-Instructions 194x-Woodstock-220k_SVC 195x-1962-Speed-O-Print_Parts-PriceLists 195x-Speed-O-Print_Liberator_200-Userman 197x-Brother_JP3-Parts 197x-Brother_JP4-Parts 1947-Woodstock-830k_SVC 1954-Woodstock_PPLnSVC 1955-RC-Allen_M600-M700-PnSVC 1957-1968-Copy-Rite_Duplicator 1958-Everest_K2-Parts 1959-Speed-O-Print-SVC 1962-Adler_Special-SVC 1964-Adler_Junior-10-20-30_SVC 1964-Adler_Junior-10-20-30-Parts 1964-Speed-O-Print_Copier-SVC 1967-Brother_JP2-Parts 1969-Adler_Gabriele_5000-Parts-SVC 1969-Adler_Universal-200-239-400-SVC 1970-Royal_Jupiter-10-12-12-Award-1300-SVC 1969-Royal_Jetstar-SVC 1973-Royal_690-Update-SVC 1972-Royal-590-595-790-795-Functional_Test 1974-Royal_2000_Centurion_Medallion-SVC 1962-Robotyper_Royaltyper-SVC 1955-1973-Royal_Portable_A-Parts 1959-Royal_Diana_Administrator-Parts 1955-1965-Royal_Royalite-Parts 1976-Royal_Sahara_Caravan-Adler_Tippa-Parts […]
Report On The 4th CSL Type-In 2019
Weapon of Choice: “Cadwallader” 1963 Olympia SM7. On the reading rack: Cold Hard Type “Paradigm Shifts“, by The Typosphere’s diverse type writers.
Upcoming Type-Ins in Arizona
Thanks to Brian Goode who reminded me about these today! (: Phoenix Type-In 2019 is happening Sunday, June 23rd, from 11am – 3pm. Be there or be elsewhere! Also, in the far east valley there’s the Chandler Sunset Library Type-In coming up this Saturday June 1st from 10:30am-12:30pm. I’ll be at both! I’ll almost certainly […]
The Speed-O-Print Model L Automatic Feed Instruction Book
From the recent haul of Parts & Service manuals sent by David B., I found this 1950’s-era The Speed-O-Print Model L Automatic Feed Instruction Manual. Not only is it a quick reference for using an old Spirit Duplicator, it also is wonderfully illustrated in a style that strongly reminds me of Peter Aschwanden‘s work in […]
Upcoming Grist for the Scanner
Weapon of Choice: “Indy” 1959 Tower Chieftain III.
Weird crossover daisywheel machine: Brother Correctronic 8300
Weapon of Choice: 1982 Brother Correctronic 8300 Dealer plaque for Tempe Typewriters, another one lost to time – though not really that long ago.
1928 BMED to be joining the OOPRAP Archive!
Absolutely cannot believe my luck on this one. One Gary Seven queries the Archivist for information on Smith Premiers and this prompts a late night search for a link to the 1928 BMED PDFs online. This turns up a copy for sale at a very budget-friendly price. Considering the rarity of this item, and the […]
AntiX 17.4.1 i386 on Sweet 16 Toshiba Portege M200
Weapon of Choice: “Toshi Station” 2003 Toshiba Portege M200-S838 – 32-bit 1.8 GHz Intel Pentium M 745 Centrino, 2gb DDR 333MHz SDRAM, 30gb IDE SSD, 1400×1050 SXGA+ screen – nVidia GeForce Go 5200 32mb DDR 4X AGP, AntiX 17.4.1 i386. I last wrote about this machine in 2014 when I was trying out different Linuxes, […]
New stuff comin’
Weapon of Choice: 1962 Triumph Perfekt – a perfect flow machine. Good lord, current Typecast ideas folder is full of reviews of electronic mini-wedges and stories about my current “install new Linuxes on all my laptops” frenzy. This gets more meaningful as the EOL for Windows 7 approaches, because I’m not going to do Windows […]
Holsters, holsters everywhere – but where do all the guns go?
Weapon of Choice: 1940 Royal Aristocrat that was a $25 thrifting find back in 2013. In 2015 I had a little professional tuning done to it, so now it runs like a top. If I had whiskey, I suspect I’d start writing hard boiled detective fiction right about now. Automated dusting of the Aristocrat’s case […]
Sears The Electric 1/with correction – Snakajima!
Weapon of Choice: 1982-ish Sears “The Electric 1/with correction” (Nakajima M7500). Easy-open shell, just 4 screws at the bottom. The old oily and flaccid drive belt and the remains of the shift pads. I have no idea how that little spring got loose and ended up rattling around in the machine. Pretty sure you’d have […]
New TWDB “Mechanic’s Club” Patreon Tier!
Ooh, look! Patreon and Sellfy have set up an API that allows us to offer discounts at the TWDB Sellfy Store (https://sellfy.com/twdb) to TWDB Tier-level Patrons through some arcane technomagic. We’ve set up our first Patreon Tier and we waved the magic wand over it that theoretically should have set up the method by which […]
Mustang Saturday
Weapon of Choice: 1972 Royal Mercury. Tan older-model Aceliner for $2, a pair of Fujitsu M2551A08 floppy drives @$3 each. Also $3 for an empty older-style woodside Portable Pub case. Without the barware inside, I feel it’s a good candidate for new carrying case for my Underwood 3-Bank. Installing a new silk ribbon with metal […]
Brothers Under The Skin: A Defense of 21st Century Chinese Typewriters
Weapon of Choice: 2006 Generation 3000 with Transplant 1981 JP-7 Engine. Oddly, the ribbon cover latches are reversed between the two shell designs. You lift up the back on the JP-7, but lift the front on the G3k. Both shells have 4 screws at the bottom that are removed to take the shell off. the […]
The Brothers 3
Weapon of Choice: 1971 Remington Automatic 612 (Brother JP-4) I’m also working on a package for Joe, and according to the audio letter he sent, I have about 3 months to fill up the opposite side of the tape. Well now, 3 months is enough time to fill up a whole box, I’d think. Since […]
Typewriter Podcasts!
Weapon of Choice: “Easy”, 1964 Hermes 3000. Also walking around typing on a Canon Typestar 4, making notes for a Tapecast package back to JoeVC… ScottK’s”Type O +VE” Podcast Qwerty Rotten Scoundrels Podcast Is a podcast anything like a Tapecast? Digital to analog to digital… Trying to track down squeakiness in my tape deck, only […]
Brother IF-50 Computer to Typewriter Interface User manual
I’m guessing a lot of these IF-50 Computer Interface boxes that allow certain port-equipped Brother Typewriters to act as printers for many 8-Bit 1980’s computers exist, but have long ago been separated from their absolutely essential user manuals. If you’re in that situation, you’re in luck because I’ve scanned mine. Enjoy! (:
Dynasty Typewriter Type-In Feb 9 2018 in Los Angeles!
There’s a free type-in/paper arts event in Los Angeles, and you’re invited. The event is Saturday, February 9, noon-4pm at Dynasty Typewriter at the Hayworth, a restored 1927 theater near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. A traditional type-in is basically an excuse for typewriter enthusiasts to get together and nerd out over writing machines. This is intended […]
UJTU: Slings & Arrows & things that Got Done
Oh good Lord, they really changed the post editor in WordPress a bunch with version 5. Hopefully, I can figure it all out and not make this post look as wonky as this new editor is making me feel. :P
A thing that might happen, a thing that happened and what’s happening now
Weapon of Choice: “Moneypenny” 1948 Royal Quiet De Luxe Yeehaw! I gots a Trackin’ Number! This thing begins to coalesce. :D
Sears Typewriter Serial Number Page Created!
Weapon of Choice: “Einstein” 1956 Tower Silent Atomic New Sears Serial Number Page at the Typewriter Database! But before we worry about how it all ended, let’s look at where it began. Fall of 1963 – the last “Tower” Electric is offered along with the very first “Sears” electric. The new version is a 12-incher! […]
Tower Typewriter Serial Number Page Updated!
Weapon of Choice: 1957 Tower Commander The New Tower Typewriter Serial Number Page on TWDB Canadian Tower Typewriters: Tantalizing Tidbits Smith-Corona Tabulators in the TWDB Tower Challengers in the TWDB Tower Commanders in the TWDB
Feeling Blessed for The Holidays
Weapon of Choice: 1983 Brother EP-20 “New” Dell Studio XPS from Key Snap. 6-Core AMD Phenom II X6 1045T @2.70GHz, 8gb RAM, Video: EVGA GeForce GTX 750ti w/2gb RAM. All set up and workspace cloned.. The Old machine that the XPS replaces – a 4-Core i5 Intel, 6gb RAM, no video card. I’ll be rebuilding […]
Sourcing and Replacing FEG R-61 Firing Pin
Ahh, the Ninties. The Wall had just fallen (no, not *that* Wall, the Berlin Wall) and the Iron Curtain had crashed down under the weight of insanely paranoid defense spending during the Reagan years. Newly ex-Soviet Bloc governments privatized their weapons factories and scrambled to raise hard currency by selling off surplus police and military […]
Why You Should Own a Typewriter in 2018
Ahh, The Revolution continues apace, with the Great Propaganda of California Typewriter infecting The Message into the minds of people far and wide. It is always exciting to Hear The Great Story told again by a new convert. This popped up in my Youtube feed tonight, which undoubtedly proves yet again how well Google knows […]
Ancillary Report concerning the events surrounding the 3rd CSL Type-In, AKA I’ll Tumble For Ya
The Zen of cleaning purple fingerprints from your typewriters… If this tumbler’s rockin’, don’t come knockin’… Circa 1976 SkilCraft Gem Stone Tumbler, complete and un-used Goodwill find.
Thermal Wedgies and a box for feeding very skinny thermal paper rolls into same.
Weapons of Choice: 1983 Brother EP-20, 1984 Brother EP-44, 1986 Canon Typestar 4
Adjusting Escapement Trip on Smith-Corona Skyriter – Solve Skipping Letters!
Weapon of Choice: “Indy”, 1959 Tower Chieftain III Swapping the return arm from a 6Y to a 3Y Skyriter. I should note here that correctly adjusting the trip point also does significantly “snappy up” the typing action. Having it too low results in a sort of mushy end of stroke. That’s all gone now. :D […]
A Day With Joe (and fellow Typospherians)
Group photo of the happenstance Typospherian meetup at Bill’s, from left to right: Random photobomber fellow, Joe, Bill, Erik and Cameron. Not sure who the random fellow was, he was walking by and stopped to be in the photo. :D Fuzzier photo of us taken by the random guy, from left to right: Erik, Joe, […]
The Return of the Axes
The Machine… The Man, Mr. Butane… Hey, there’s sort of a database for Fender tube amp serial numbers now! What’s this Circuit-Bent stuff anyway? Apparently, these are still popular enough that people rhapsodize on them on the web, and charge $300+ for them on Ebay. Who’d’a thunk? I guess I did pretty good finding this […]