geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: 1391406 on Fri, 27 June 2014, 22:55:04
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I was looking on Bookoo.com last night and just for the heck of it I did a search for typewriters, since keyboards didn't turn up anything worthwhile. There were a few that came up, but the one that caught my eye was a lady who described the two she listed as old typewriters she was trying to get rid of from her mothers storage for $5 bucks each. From the ad, I couldn't tell exactly what they were, but I could see the IBM logo and originally thought they were probably Wheelwriter 1000's:
[attach=1]
I drove out to pick them up today and this is what one of them turned out to be:
(http://i.imgur.com/eYX3TDq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/raeBCqw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/NASfJa9.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nbFnhab.jpg)
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And the other one? This:
(http://i.imgur.com/v4Ts96t.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Ypkqbqr.jpg[/img[
[img width=640 height=1139]http://i.imgur.com/HIEdOUs.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/RXTBPjO.jpg)
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Of the two, the Wheelwriter 30 Series II is fully functional and works well. The Wheelwriter 15 also works but isn't fully functional. Some of the keys don't actuate the hammer. But at $5 bucks each, I'm not crying over it. I have at least one fully functional Wheelwriter out of the deal.
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Nice :)
What are your plans for them?
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Nice :)
What are your plans for them?
I'm not really sure what to do with the semi-functional model(harvest the key caps?), but I may end up auctioning off the one that works. They're great vintage pieces and apparently some people still use them.
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They're great vintage pieces and apparently some people still use them.
You still have novelists that swear this IS still the only way to write a story :thumb: .
Plus they're built like tanks to out last you in every way. I wouldn't mind buying those oldies off you (despite being electric) but the shipping would be murder to my place here in Convict Town.
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Convert one to USB, keep the other as is.
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Very nice find! I'm also a typewriter collector. Made a video about these:
Your wheelwriter looks very clean and just new. Mostly, they are quiet beaten up through excessive use.
You can check if there are little plastic o-rings underneath the key-caps. I've put some on my Model M. It fits perfectly. Silences the keyboard a bit and softer landing! I'll open a topic. Share the knowledge.
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Could you take some phothos without the keys?
Whats the switches like? Buckling Springs?
Im bidding for some of those IBM typewritters models to harvest their keycaps to start dye experiments and feed my 2 Model M´s KB´s.
Feel a bit bad to just harvest the Typewritters if their working properly but their too big and i cant seem to be able to do much more with them.
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Whats the switches like? Buckling Springs?
the wheelwriters and some of the other keyboards at the time (most notably the actionwriter, I believe) are all buckling spring. Here's some pictures of my WW 10 series II that I shot when I was bolt-modding it
http://imgur.com/a/FOu89
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Im bidding for some of those IBM typewritters models to harvest their keycaps to start dye experiments and feed my 2 Model M´s KB´s.
Would you mind selling me a couple of "code" spacebar-ish keys for a few bucks, if you’re harvesting the rest of the parts (flippies, other keycaps) to use on Model Ms?
At some point in the future I want to see if I can make a custom layout buckling spring keyboard, and 2.5-unit spacebar-shaped keys would be sweet for it.
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If you remove the right alt, the code key and spacebar will fit on a normal M. (fun fact!)
That said, the IBM "code" key is one of my favourite keycaps. it's convex (as a thumb key should be) and very thick.
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Could you take some phothos without the keys?
Whats the switches like? Buckling Springs?
Im bidding for some of those IBM typewritters models to harvest their keycaps to start dye experiments and feed my 2 Model M´s KB´s.
Feel a bit bad to just harvest the Typewritters if their working properly but their too big and i cant seem to be able to do much more with them.
You could always get individual keys from ebay, clickykeyboards, or unicomp.
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You could always get individual keys from ebay, clickykeyboards, or unicomp.
Does someone have these 2.5u spacebar-shape keys on offer? Can Unicomp still produce them?
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You can always ask. They won't bite you.
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[attach=1]
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I will sell all the keycaps from the IBM 6747 typewriter in the classifieds.
Mod Edit: Please refrain from selling outside the classifieds. ;)