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Manual Typewriter Users?

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I personally have a love hate relationship with typewriters, love for the vintage nature of them, hatred because I am a fast typist but with errors. Typically I can get away with about 80wpm with 99% accuracy, but usually I touch type up to about 110-115wpm, usually having to jot back a few times over some words, usually when I am thinking about something else mid-sentence and write a completely different word to what I was supposed to be jotting down.

The fastest I've ever been about to type on a typewriter was 45wpm and that was with a fair few errors. Probably lack of experience is a major key.

What I would love though is a computer for typing, steam-punked with a typewriter, similar to that remington typewriter that was featured all over the net recently.
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Would go suitably in a nice study IMHO.

That looks something out of Bioshock. Very cool.
 
That looks something out of Bioshock. Very cool.

I love steampunk items, probably because I am obsessed with the Fallout game series etc, but its always nice to see something retro with modern guts, steampunk pretty much encapsulates it all.

Succinct version; omagawwwd tubes!
 

Legion

Staff member
Almost fifty years ago I bought a Hermes 3000 in Macy's on Herald Square in New York to type my master's thesis. To this day, I'm sad that I lost it.
I have owned so many cool typewriters that I lost over the years. They always seem to be something that is left behind with, or stolen by the ex girlfriend.

Pretty sure Bukowski had to leave a ton of typewriters behind in the middle of the night, when the wolf was at the door.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
Manual typewriters are cool. I bought a little Olivetti years ago in Melbourne when I worked for the Federal Government. On night shift I would type out my cheques to post and type the addresses on the envelopes. Still have it in the shed somewhere. I had to change the ribbon to an all black ribbon because for some reason when you typed a letter that was below the line such as a p, the bottom of the letter was in red and the top in black. I think that they look great in a room as decor.
 

Legion

Staff member
Manual typewriters are cool. I bought a little Olivetti years ago in Melbourne when I worked for the Federal Government. On night shift I would type out my cheques to post and type the addresses on the envelopes. Still have it in the shed somewhere. I had to change the ribbon to an all black ribbon because for some reason when you typed a letter that was below the line such as a p, the bottom of the letter was in red and the top in black. I think that they look great in a room as decor.
They do, and my wife wants one out on display. But dust is the big killer of the old typer. They need to be covered or they are a dust magnet.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I suppose that you could always put one in a glass cabinet if you have one. But I think they look better out on show. Every time I see one in an antique shop I have to have a fiddle with it. Trouble is they want big money for the older ones that are in terrible condition.
 

Legion

Staff member
I suppose that you could always put one in a glass cabinet if you have one. But I think they look better out on show. Every time I see one in an antique shop I have to have a fiddle with it. Trouble is they want big money for the older ones that are in terrible condition.
I know. They have become a hipster thing to own. I’ve been hunting a nice Olivetti for a while, but they are always too pricey and/or broken. I bought one off eBay a number of years ago, but it was packed badly, and arrived squashed.

this one needs a couple of small parts and a new ribbon, but will then be a goer, I hope
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I feel like digging mine out of the shed now. I don’t think that the missus would be too happy about having it sitting around. Especially if I start my two finger touch typing again.
 

Legion

Staff member
I feel like digging mine out of the shed now. I don’t think that the missus would be too happy about having it sitting around. Especially if I start my two finger touch typing again.
Depending on the model and it’s condition, it might well be worth a couple of hundred bucks in your pocket. They have become quite popular. I wish I still had all the ones I used to own.

I still have a vintage Imperial “The good companion” in its case, sitting under my MacBook Pro, to bring it to the right height on my desk. Haha
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I bought mine when I first moved to Melbourne at the end of 1983. I just cannot remember where I bought it but the service centre was somewhere in North Melbourne. It might have come from a store at Parkmore Shopping Centre in Keysborough. I lived at Aspendale at the time. It is a Lettera as well. Off white colour, more light grey I suppose. I think I will dig it out, hopefully it is not covered in possum dung like my sewing machine was.
 

Legion

Staff member
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I found mine in the shed. Olivetti Lettera 82 portable typewriter. It still works, didn’t take much to clean it up. The upper case lettering needs attention but where would you get it fixed these days?
No idea in Australia. There are places in the U.K. and US that can service them, but I’d say the upper case being off might just be a quirk of the machine to live with. You could probably find a service manual online if you wanted to try and adjust it yourself.
 

Legion

Staff member
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I found mine in the shed. Olivetti Lettera 82 portable typewriter. It still works, didn’t take much to clean it up. The upper case lettering needs attention but where would you get it fixed these days?

I just read a review of your model, which the reviewer had typed using the machine. It was doing the same thing with the uppercase, but even worse, so it might be a common issue. Not sure how hard it would be to fix.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
Just did a quick Google search. There is an older dude in Melbourne that services all types of typewriters and there was an older dude in Sydney doing the same. There is still some hope for the typewriter collectors out there.
 
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