So you have a typewriter with a dry ribbon and don’t know what to do? Well, you can buy a new one on Ebay or at most office supply stores, but are you impatient or penny-pinching and want immediate satisfaction? Well, if you have a can of WD-40, a cardboard box and an old rag, […]
A Ribbon Breaks Bad
Some new balls to play with…
The Blue Bomber Gandalf The Grey Ryan Adney’s CTP Poster contest The gathering in Chestnut Ridge
On-The-Go Blog Entry Production Pack
No Rest For The Wicked: 1966 Olympia SM-9 ($7.99)
No more Neo, how about the Alphasmart Dana?
The major attractions to the hobby of admiring and using retrotech is the low cost of entry and the ease of seeing what technologies of the past have stood the test of time to survive and prove their worth and durability for particular tasks. Recent blog posts in the ‘sphere have lamented the obsolescence (or […]
A Failure of Willpower: 1971 IBM Selectric 721
NanoWriMaybe…
One more try for compatible embedded video format for Timelapses
The Replacement Killer, Hummingbirds, Fall Porch Typewriting Season and Rotting Potato Timelapse
Video not playing? Download file instead.
The Family Typewriters
Royal Sprite 1971 Typewriter Ephemera
Timelapse studies: Strawberry and Grapefruit
Shot with a 1984 TRS-80 Model 100 and a 1996 Canon Powershot 600: Video not playing? Download file instead. And for those who like seeing sunbeams spin by, here’s a grapefruit study I did many years back. Includes free bugs and an occasional bird darting in to grab a tasty bug to eat :D Video […]
Revisiting the Dayton Typewriter – what we know so far…
I’ve updated the Dayton page at the Typewriter Database now that Typospherian Mark Adams has found the *seventh* known surviving Dayton and uploaded a gallery for it to the database. I’ve added links to all of the current information we have: Richard Polt’s ETCetera article on the Dayton and his acquisition of Dayton # AX93 […]
Retro-Tech Thursday: Timelapse Photography with Canon Powershot 600 and TRS-80 Model 100
Video not playing? Download file instead. This is a timelapse study of the habits of a turtle, a cat and a bunch of small fish over the course of a day and night that I did some years back. I just found out I can render these videos to MP4 and embed them via HTML5, […]
Sony DSC-F707, the $35 Infrared Project Camera
UPDATE: My memory stick came in this morning, and I was able to take some pics using my jury-rigged filter stack. Results are interesting! There’s some visible light frequencies getting through the stack, and having 5 very dark bits of glass in front of the lens doesn’t result in great sharpness, but it works! You […]
Bazooka Joe Vs The U.F.O.
Stop me before I thrift again, the teaser edition…
Flashback: Infrared photography @ Make Magazine Oh, here’s some teaser photos I’ve taken with the accessory lenses:
Thriftin’ trip to Tucson, Kon Tiki again and wedding ring tattoos! (:
Kon Tiki was our lunch stop again – they were having some sort of Luau event, and we got our “United States of Aloha” Passports. If we drink every cocktail they serve, we get a swag bag. Vampire barbeques a wonderful dinner of marinated chicken, sweet potatoes, grilled banannas, pineapple and other fruits. Deee-lish! :D […]
Lens mount mystery: Tele-Lentar 1:5.5 f=300mm
Of all the lenses I have picked up at thrift stores, I have been able to identify every mount save one: This Tele-Lentar 300mm prime telephoto lens. So, I am appealing to the Intartubes for help. The lens has some sort of swappable intermediate mount, so I really have 2 chances of figuring out an […]
Olive Oil on Cotton Balls, great title for a Popeye fanfic, but is also fantastic on Bakelite.
Art Deco Bakelite Cigarette boxes
Finally got my letter from the Register…
“Lettering in futility: the art of being ignored” by Keith Sharon. Keith Sharon’s “Mail Bonding” (behind a paywall, caveat emptor.) Project 88 @ The Typosphere
The Best Traveling Typewriters, IMHO…
Laptop Typewriters: What’s the best travel mate? @ I dream lo-tech
You can’t always get what you want.. oh, wait, you actually can…
The only problem with collecting thrift store camera lenses is that you can only keep so many of them in your kit. That’s fine – you really only need a couple of lenses most of the time, but what do you do with the rest? I was lucky enough to score the big gold metal […]
Thriftin’ for more lenses: The Wide-Angle edition
Camerapedia on the Mamiya/Sekor TL series Pentax Forums on the Vivitar 135mm F2.8 Auto Telephoto Club Snap on the Vivitar 28mm 1:2.5 Auto Wide-Angle
Thrift Store Camera Gear: attaching the Hi-Matic AF lenses to my Canon, and the tiniest SLR I’ve ever seen
I got the adapter ring that allows me to attach these filter-thread-mount Hi-Matic AF lenses I picked up last week to my Canon lenses (well, actually, every lens I have with a 52mm filter thread, which is maybe 5 or 6 of them), and gave them a try. The results were unexpectedly tame, as these […]
Typewriter Repair 101: Adjusting Vertical Typeface Alignment (Carriage-Shift Typewriters)
In part One of this Typewriter Repair 101 series, we discussed adjusting the typeface alignment on Basket/Segment-shifted typewriters. One question that came up pretty quickly was the basket-shifted Royal QDL, which has a more complex 4-point adjustment system that is similar to Carriage-shifted machines. Today, we’ll examine some examples of these carriage-shifted machines, and adjust […]
Typewriter Repair 101: Adjusting Vertical Typeface Alignment (Segment/Basket-Shift Typewriters)
UPDATE: Teeritz asked about his Basket-shifted Royal QDL, which does not have the simple single adjustment point. I took a look at one of my QDL’s and he’s right. Instead of the simpler adjustment that the basket shift allows, Royal went with a 4-point adjustment system near the carriage rails that is similar to the […]
Mini Type-In in AZ, while the Typerati party in London…
Will the circle be unbroken?
Deja Vu All Over Again – The Twin Brother
My other 1968 Monkey Ward 440T The 1968 Monkey Wards catalog that shows these 440Ts A Review of the Minolta Hi-Matic AF Adorama Step-down adapter, 52mm-46mm Interesting Note: If you compare this machine’s serial number to the other 440T, you’ll see that “Thunderbird I” (A8823345) rolled off the line in January 1968, and 37,088 machines […]
Postcards From The Typosphere!
Rob Bowker’s “Postcards From The Typosphere” can be yours now!