Rogues Gallery

Here are some pictures of typewriters that have gained notoriety in my classroom. This comes, mostly, from their erratic behavior and unique dispositions.

Paper-Eater McGill

Known to really curl and rip your paper. Only attacks on even-number days.

Terence "One-Knob" Oaks

Even with the set-screws nice and snug, the knob falls off. Usually on a carriage return.

Kaiser Drag

Once a fortnight you must tighten the carriage return arm.

The $10 Man

$10 for a tub of Instamorph made loading paper much easier.

Typewriter Crafting: Making Hermes 3000 Knobs

Count yourself lucky if you own a Hermes 3000 and your knobs are in good shape  I have two of these typewriters that are in fantastic shape and all knobs, levers, and buttons are extant and operable. However, I do have one Hermes that is missing both knobs.

It's a lovely mid-body Hermes. You know the ones; pale green and white key tops. They have all the feel of the original Hermes with the extra brittle knobs. Bonus! I haven't put it out into the rotation because of the knobs. As a typer it's completely useable, but the knoblesness makes loading paper too dependent on the line spacing mechanism. So, I set out to make a new knob.

Rob made some out of wood. Very nice. I support hand-crafted lovliness. Wood would be good, but plastic...well the future is in plastics. I, however, do not have a plastics factory. Or do I?

Enter Instamorph. You may have seen it as Shapelock or (as the boffins in labs know it) Polycaprolactone; PCL. This plastic is amazing. It melts in 60 degree (140F) water and becomes a pliable putty that you can mold into a variety of shapes. Apart form the hobbyist applications, there are medical uses (drug delivery systems) that make this a very unusual material. I like it because you can make into typewriter knobs.

I took the original mandrel from the Hermes knob and cleaned it off. I then melted some PCL according to the directions on the tub and started forming the small lump into something that resembled a typewriter knob. I worked the material over for a while trying to make a close fit to the mandrel. The material is pliable, but it can be stiff and I was having a hard time making a tight fit around the part. I then thought to form the piece slightly smaller and compression fit it into place. That worked marvelously. In the end I got this.

It is a good size, but looks a little homemade. If you have a little more time and a little more ambition you could make it look a lot better. I gave the plastic some time to cool and then attach the newly-crafted knob to the typewriter. The best thing about this plastic is that if you are unhappy with the outcome, just cut it up into little pieces and reheat it. This process can be done over and over. It's really a great/fun material to work with.

Time will yield results on the long-term durability, but I have high hopes. Instamorph (and Shapelock) are paintable. There might even be possibilities in making (or remaking) feet, keytops, and bushings; anything you might imagine. Now, there is one caveat; Instamorph is biodegradable. So that knob or foot or keytop might not last for decades, but it's perfect for fairly fast repairs.

Instamorph: http://www.instamorph.com (Distributed by a local company out of Scottsdale, AZ)

Shapelock: http://shapelock.com/

Hermes Ambassador in the Wild

Today was the first day that a student wanted to use the copper-painted Hermes Ambassador. I fitted it out with a nice green ribbon from Baco and let a young lady in my first hour have a go at this freshly customized typewriter.

The response?

"I love this typewriter."

I couldn't agree more.

Copper-Clad Ambassador: It's Mostly Done

So, here is the result of some hard work. I did not have the strength to disassemble the carriage to paint it, so that might be another project entirely. In case you are curious about the paint, I used a copper-colored Hammerite. I think it was Krylon. I could check if you were very interested.

Hermes Ambassador Pictorial

I have been working on the Hermes Ambassador renovation. I had originally intended to make it a Silver Surfer, but due to the variety of metals (both steel and aluminum) and the difficulty in making steel shine with mirror-perfection I decided to take a different tack.

Using the verdigris color of Hermes' typewriters as inspiration the Ambassador will look very different.

However, that is for another post. What I have here are a smattering of pictures of the base of this incredibly complicated typewriter. The carriage and all the shrouds have been removed for the important work, but this offers a rare glimpse inside the mechanism of this dual-ribbon monster.

Please enjoy.

Magic Kismet

A Tad O' the Green

This afternoon I spent a little time preparing a typewriter for a special young lady. Diana is Alhambra's valedictorian and I found out that she wanted a typewriter of her own. From what I gather, she had worked hard all year in a part-time job and her tax return was going to be used to buy the typewriter of her dreams. Well, I've seen what's out there and I was positive I had the perfect machine for her…and gratis too. She can keep the tax return. It's this Hermes 2000:

Wow, the iPad camera is pretty grainy in medium-light situations.

I really must get some better pictures tomorrow.

As it was in a fine condition when it came to me I only had to clean it up a little and throw a ribbon in it. 

This looks more green, but still sickly.

I had offered a few other machines, but it was the Hermes 2000 that she really wanted. Until I had the joy of getting this one ready for a new user, I was unaware of how lovely they are. This diminutive gem has a touch regulator and you can tune it quite nicely to your typing peccadilloes. I feel the touch is less "pillowy" than the Hermes 3000. It's not snappy, it's soft in the first half of the key press and then it thickens in the last half. It's quietly muffled like all Hermes are and is not distracting in the least. As one is inured to the rhythm and cadence required from the 2000– the commonest problem being skipped letters originating from the type bar segment antipodes– the experience becomes smooth and enjoyable. I have heard that the letter 'a' is a particular nuisance to our more ham-fisted Typospherians, but I have never had that sort of problem. 

While this post comes at the nadir of St. Patricks Day it is appropriate that this Typegrant is green. The greenness bends more to the mint and less to the kelly, but the sentiment is the same. And to honor those of Irish blood here is a link to a very interesting report by Michael Everton on Irish Typewriter Keyboards. This link comes by way of Richard Polt's very stimulating website. It's very interesting and there are samples of the typefaces too. Absolutely beautiful!

Royal Doire from
http://www.evertype.com/celtscript/type-keys.htm