Typewriter Story On NBC Tonight...This Feels Familiar

I got an email from Michelle from NBC a few minutes ago. It seems like the typewriter story about some of the Arizona Typosphere is going to air tonight. If you have a TV, tune in. I'll post a link as soon as it is available on their website. 

It Doesn't Feel Like the End

...of the semester. It's the end of the semester. I didn't mean to alarm you. Magic Margin is going to be around for a while.

The typewriters have been silent for the past week. The last official journal was last Friday and since then the machines have been "cooling down."

Most of these typers are rugged little beasts. The constant use is starting to show in some of them and I have already started with the reconditioning of a few. This work will continue the work over the summer. By fall we should have a fully-working arsenal again.

The other great thing is that my annus horriblis is nearly over. Yearbook is done. Prom is done. The final edition of the newspaper is done. It's all done!

I have been going 80 MPH all semester and now it's almost 0 MPH. It feels good to breathe. Now, on to the next round of projects!

Feeling a Little Blue with Scheidegger

As hard as I am on Adler machines from the 1970s, I seem to have an awful lot of them. They pop up everywhere, especially in the form of this stained beast.

 

OK, I know that it's really a Triumph Gabrielle/Adler in Scheidegger's clothes. Certainly, Mr. Scheidegger had interesting taste. The blue is certainly blue. The yellowed and aged keys really set off the stains. What about the Brand Schiedegger?

 Robert Messenger asked the question "Who is Willy Scheidegger?" and was unable to get anything beyond some basic information. All I know is that Willy Scheidegger ran a number of typing schools that had the dubious honor of requiring pupils to purchase their private-label machines to complete the course.

Maybe I'll give Willy the benefit of the doubt. The machines that were comissioned were quality typewriters. A Triumph Gabrielle (of any vintage) or Princess 300 aren't exactly a Rover 5000, but requiring students to buy your machines...well I think it's dodgy.

We can make you a star...typer!

Almost as dodgy, say, as the cleanliness of this typewriter. Those stains look pretty shocking. You know what's more shocking? I don't think it's staining from smoke or sun. I think it's bromine.

Yuck.

Yup, that cancer-causing flame-retardant bromine. I draw your attention to an open-source project called Retr0brite. I heard about Retr0brite a year or so ago and I was waiting for a chance to give it a go.

Retr0brite uses some commonly available chemistry to remove the staining from older ABS plastics. Looking over the entire body I can't find a mark indicating what type of plastic was used for the body, but it has the feel of ABS. You know, that slightly hollow, light feel. My suspicions were raised because of the general irregular pattern of staining. Some parts are ugly yellow and others are nicely blue and my gut says that it's flame retardant making things look crummy.

Contract? Serial?

So, my plan is to mix up a little Retr0brite and see if the sad stains can be lifted away.

Of course, it's not like I don't have a few other projects on the bench. Why not add one more?

Wild Hearts Can Be Tamed

Just take a thoroughbred name, like Mustang, have Litton's contract-man Nakajima slap together something that is almost a typewriter and you have this:

Green. Avocado green. Why would a Mustang be green? If you ever see a green wild horse, run away quickly because the zombie apocalypse is upon us.

While I have my reservations about these mass-produced-same-as-all-the-rest-why-even-call-it-a-Mustang typewriters, my students have a different opinion. It has been so popular that I have had to recondition it a little bit. Nothing major, mind you, but the rubber grommets that hold the ribbon cover on have disintegrated. Every tap of the keys is followed by the clank of the ribbon cover.

Instead of a hinged ribbon cover, this machine uses a compression fit that requires grommets. I turned to a grommet selection sold by Harbor Freight.

$5.99 for a varied selection. I used the 5/16" ones for this machine. The Brother Valiant in my private collection also needed the grommets replaced. The size; 5/16". This same size also fit the Webster in the CTP. 5/16" must be a popular size grommet in Japan. The grommet fits snugly and drastically improves the machine's sound.

As for this typewriter...the touch is insipid, but can be snappy on the return. Bonus points to Litton for making the shell out of metal although I think that has more to do with the time period and less with Litton's desire to create a quality product.

Royal typewriters form this period always make me sad. There was no desire to create a quality product that would last a lifetime. Gross margins and volume were the designers of this typewriter. Litton wanted to leverage brands and make money. That always sits poorly with me. Craftsmen are craftsmen because they create art. This typewriter was made with monotony. It's a shame because I have a very high regard for Brother's machines and they're mass-produced six ways from Sunday. Oh well, I'll have to reconcile my hypocrisy.

I think this pony looks more like a turtle.

Note to page view essayists: I will be sending out your posters this weekend!

Typewriter Story on NBC Tonight...Probably

Michelle Melnick form NBC called me today with some good news. If NBC Nightly News isn't shortened because of a hockey game, then her story about typewriters should air tonight. I know she filmed my class, but she was also at MTE (Mesa Typewriter Exchange) and spent some time with Bill. If you happen to be near a TV check it out.

Tough break. When it's typewriters vs. bomb-sniffing dogs the bomb-sniffing dogs will always get the airtime. 

A Taste of the Typosphere's Future

As I go along I have been sipping from the Future of the Typosphere essays as one would drink a fine cordial. Every new thing I read makes me feel that the Typosphere is one of the most learned and thoughtful groups on the internet.

10 or X or What?

I have a Royal desktop standard machine with single glass sides from 1927. It's a beautiful machine and I am really proud to own it, but I have a problem.

I don't know what to call this model. Is it a Royal 10? Should we designate that it's a single beveled window rather than the dual window? Royal 10 Single Window?

Should I follow the convention and use the letter prefix from the serial number? In this case it is X-1089085, so this would be a Royal X.

Or maybe 1927 Royal Standard? What do you, the Typosphere, think?