Typewriters

[glaman5266]

Anyone into typewriters? Specifically mechanical ones. I'm not too deep into them and I do not own one, but I have used one on a few occasions in the past. In doing some searching I know it can be quite the rabbit hole. I'm thinking of picking one up for simple typing, to not use any power just to type a simple document, and for the sheer enjoyment of using something more mechanical. I like mechanical keyboards and I write a lot of notes & other handwritten stuff, so I'm thinking this might be a fun thing to do.

I know it's dated technology, impractical, yada yada. But does anyone still use one for fun (or even for work)? Discuss away.

Fun fact: I did a search on here in case something had been posted about them, but the term "typewriter" yielded absolutely no results. Not even as a keyword.

[Shaftski]

I miss them. Been thinking about picking one up for sending thank you notes, stuff like that. People really appreciate the extra effort of mech typing something and dropping it in the mail. Classy. Each document is like a hand crafted work of art.

[Cunha]

There was a person who would write poems for people on the street / at farmers market using a mechanical type writer, for donations or a small fee or something. I think its cool. I am glad that there is little pockets of people that appreciate certain old things.

[Chaos]

I miss them. Been thinking about picking one up for sending thank you notes, stuff like that. People really appreciate the extra effort of mech typing something and dropping it in the mail. Classy. Each document is like a hand crafted work of art.

Want one? I have an electric one in storage at work you can have

Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk

[Shaftski]

We're prepping to move, wife is tossing stuff left and right so not right now. Gonna go antique mech at some point. Restored an antique sewing machine already and they would look great together. I'm a sucker for dead technology, have thousands invested in tube amps.

[Chaos]

Moving far? If not it'll be in Lunenburg at my work when you're ready

[Cdn_Cuda]

Some of the real old ones are quite neat looking. I'm not sure how much work it is to keep them up and running properly though. Now if you want a model, Lego does make a pretty sweet typewriter set.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/typewriter-21327

[glaman5266]

Holy crap, that’s freaking cool!

[Seajay]

The old metal ones with the swinging arms are quite neat. I don't know if the one my family has is still around.
A co-worker of mine uses a more modern one. I can hear her clacking wildly from 200ft away, quite impressive. When you need to type out a letter in the most formal manner possible.

[Cyberpyr8]

I worked for a typewriter company in the early 90's in FL and we serviced them. I was really there to work on PC's at the time but I did get to dig into some. They are pretty straight forward and normally just need cleaning.

I noticed flea markets and antique shops around me have had some lately. My wife and I even commented how cool one of them was the other day. I would say find out which ones you can still get ribbons for. That's going to be the key to using it. I don't know what ribbons are still produced or available but if you can find that, then searching for the right typewriter is going to be worth your while. Otherwise they will just sit around for looks.

[bored383]

I had to take a typing class in jr high . . . but being that was in Baltimore, the school and the typewriters were in a sad state overall. I got pretty good at repairing my typewriter by stealing parts from other ones when the teacher was pre-occupied. which was pretty much all the time cuz the teacher didn't give a rip. I did learn to type, and I also learned to appreciate the mechanical operation of them.

[Cunha]

A lot of the ribbons are still available. In the end there was not a huge variety and they are pretty simple tech which is very nice.

The mechanical units are really really robust with basic mechanical linkages. Cleaning and lubricating probably being the main things to do. Solid internal mechanisms hold up well. Units that are beat up phyiscally from being dropped and jammed in dumpsters and stuff will give you problems. My grandma had one. I hope someone kept it. She's gone now.

[acrewofone]

[Spider!]

The keys are a longer and much stiffer travel than anything else. You have to adapt to the keyboard.

That's probably not a big deal. The hard part for me would be slowing down so that I don't make mistakes. I'm really good at hitting the back space key now, which is not something you're supposed to use much on a typewriter.

[Tarsun2]

my parents have a few but ive never seen them use any of them.
i think they were Willwards(?)
i love the sound though and the slight indentation from each letter colliding with the paper and the slightly miss-spaced lettering.

beautiful

[Grendel]

Took typing in HS for 2 semesters, made a crap load of $$ typing up other kids reports, abandoned typewriters with my first home computer Amiga 1000 and Amiga Writer and later WordPerfect software and a dot matrix computer. I have never once pined for a typewriter since my adoption of personal computers and printers.

[punkncat]

I had a Royal at one point but am not really sure what happened to it. There were several others that came home as a result of my mom's work. The last one that I had was a Brother electric model. I never did more than fool around on any of those. I didn't even know how to type until I taught myself for PC.
Particularly the Royal, was not a typewriter that you needed to know how to type. It was all henpeck because you had to hit the keys so hard.

[bellicose]

I've got one that I got a garage sale a while back for $10. It mostly works...sometimes. The reason I got it was for demonstrations when I used to teach keyboarding to my high school students. The school abandoned the curriculum a few years back, and it just takes up space in my classroom at the moment. It's too heavy to ship, but I'd give it to you if you were close.