The Typestar 4/5 (Internally the 4, branded the 5) It has been a significant amount of time since I last updated a post on my blog.  Well, today I decided to dive into Thermal typewriting, a sub-category of electric machines that use thermal print heads, officially called "electronic typewriters."  I created a YouTube video at the end of last summer detailing my first thermal machine ever, a TTY or Teletype machine designed as an aid for the hearing impaired.  That machine featured a large VFD display and printed with a very low resolution thermal printhead. Typing la ..read more

  I decided to make this header photo extra large as it is itself, the subject of this article.  Before we delve into this thing I created, I figured it would do some good to explain the origin of the idea, which is twofold.  The very first motion picture was released in 1878 by Eadweard Muybridge, and featured a running horse.  The film was created on glass plate negatives with specialty cameras with gravity-fed shutters designed by Muybridge himself.  The goal was, in short, to examine things in detail that the eye could not naturally capture.  Muybridge was t ..read more

  "The Greatest Achievement in Typewriter History," or so they claimed with the launch of the Emerson in 1909.  If I think about mechanically superiors machines available at the time, several come to mind.  Regardless, this machine did come with the perk of a backspace, something Hammond was selling in a box.  At $50, complete with with a shady decimal tab, and dubious amounts of praise, the Emerson threatened to revolutionize front strike typing.  However, greed and poor decision making ran the company into the ground before it could even get off it.  It was as i ..read more

Hermes: The Patron God of Typewriters A brief examination of the impact of the Greek Pantheon on the typewriter.     As the old adage goes, “a picture says a thousand words,” and when we have a long standing picture, we call it symbolism.  Symbolism has long played an important role in human culture.  Throughout the ages symbols have said what words could not, transmitting abstract thoughts and ideas that serve to guide our thoughts and behaviors (Udechukwu 1).  Symbolism by its very nature is vital to human communication; it serves as the pathway for us to share ..read more

Nobody asked for this, yet I shall deliver nonetheless.  Lego announced their new set, the Lego Typewriter, last month.  It first became available for sale July 1st, and as a typewriter service technician by profession, it was not a set I could pass up.  I placed an order on their website early on July 1st, and patiently waited a mere 5 days until it arrived.  Honestly, I didn't have the time to be playing with Legos, but it was a procrastination temptation I couldn't resist. The set itself was much larger then I anticipated, and it included a very large instruction manua ..read more

Excuse my poor eyesight and camera focusing, but do admire the golden hour shot Well, I must confess I have been very excited to talk about this one.  I am somewhat a fan of typing, if you haven't been able to tell from all the typewriters I work with.  But this article marks the first I've been actually able to use a typing apparatus for a blog!  I am of course referring to the 1988 IBM Model M keyboard, made only a couple short years after my IBM Correcting Selectric II. This particular version of the Model M is perhaps the most popular, as it was the second iteration that sh ..read more

Yeah, that title is a MOUTHFULL.  It has been forever since I have updated this blog.  I know, I know, consistency is key.  Key for what?  Becoming a somewhat successful blogger, not that that's my goal, but this outlet does help support my business.  Anyway, for those of you who are unaware of the existence of this magnificent typewriter, allow me to illuminate you. The animal key Corona was introduced in the 1930s by the LC Smith and Corona company.  It was offered across three base model portable typewriters for an added premium price of around $2.49.  Th ..read more

Left: 1901 Right: 1905 I guess I would consider this an extended version of the Williams article, focused on two repair jobs for the Model 4.  My lack of organizational skills have decreed "continuity begone."  Try not to hold it against me despite it being entirely my fault.  A few things may repeat, but largely this should focus on the 4, rather than the company history which I shall link here. An original advertisement scan The Model 4 was introduced in 1900, and advertised with the most beautiful of sales manuals.  Red leatherette, lettered in gold leaf, and it outli ..read more

Mostly complete.  Time to install the body  It is not an uncommon occurrence in the world of typewriter repair to be given a selection of parts and be asked to create a whole machine.  This month it has happened twice.  Since I love royals, I though I'd give a short overview in the work that is involved in such a project. Dirty Dirty One of the parts machines The two subjects in question were two Royal Os in gloss black, the first of which was missing all feet, the spacebar, the entire constitution of the carriage besides the frame, and had (as I discovered) a bent r ..read more

My 1982 IBM taken on my 1982 Nikon F3/T using Kodak Tmax The renown IBM Selectric II was released in 1971, ten years after the wildly successful Selectric I, which exceeded sales projections by the hundreds in a mere six months.  The IBM was the precursor of personal computer interface, the gold standard of late 20th century productivity, and an icon of the written word.  The first IBM typewriter paved the groundwork for an empire.  It employed a single type element of 64 characters commonly called a "golfball".  An element strikingly similar to the rotating drum of the Bi ..read more