IBM Typewriter

[johndavis33]

Got it from the salvation army. Pretty sure I got a lucky break. You'll have to forgive me if I don't know much about typewriters, I'm too young to have used anything other than a word processor on windows 95. Saw the IBM logo, popped a cap and saw a spring, and I figured it's gotta be worth something to someone. Probably me.

The badge upfront says "Wheelwriter 5". Plug it in, everything works. You can type on it, the little plungers with the charecters on them move, but it appears to be out of ink. It also came with a little reference card book with keyboard shortcuts on it.

So what's the deal with it? I doubt there's some controller out there that'll let me plug this into a modern computer, and googling the name of it tells me it's probably worth money. I can sell it and buy a model m or even a model f, which is far from an unpleasant idea. Still, I something makes me not wanna part with something like this that's so fun to type on and is such a cool peice of technology history.

Is there anyway I can get some use out of this thing, other than selling it?

[Parak]

Well, it's basically a Model M type tech on the inside. One could remove the barrel assembly and wire the membrane ribbons to a teensy, and it will work just like any other keyboard. There are some wheelwriters with discrete keyboards in fact, but this is not one of them.

[johndavis33]

Well, it's basically a Model M type tech on the inside. One could remove the barrel assembly and wire the membrane ribbons to a teensy, and it will work just like any other keyboard. There are some wheelwriters with discrete keyboards in fact, but this is not one of them.

Do you know if there is anyway to remove the barrel assembly without damaging anything? Or at least where I could look to try?

[maatmouse]

Good luck with that. Finding the ribbons for those old typewriters is a real art.

Not sure if you can interface it with a modern computer. They're so old, probably not worth it.

No. Great for just putting paper into and using as it is.

[dorkvader]

Well, it's basically a Model M type tech on the inside. One could remove the barrel assembly and wire the membrane ribbons to a teensy, and it will work just like any other keyboard. There are some wheelwriters with discrete keyboards in fact, but this is not one of them.

Do you know if there is anyway to remove the barrel assembly without damaging anything? Or at least where I could look to try?

As with any model M, you can remove the barrel assembly by cutting off tho rivets holding it together. To reassemble, you will have to perform a "bolt mod".

I actually did with with my wheelwriter 10 keyboard. Some pictures of it are here: http://imgur.com/a/FOu89

It wounds like the ribbon is out. You can get a new one on eBay. Fortunately, IBM typewriters were very popular, so finding ribbons and correction tape for them in usually pretty easy.

lots: http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=IBM+wheelwriter+ribbon

Good luck with that. Finding the ribbons for those old typewriters is a real art.

Not sure if you can interface it with a modern computer. They're so old, probably not worth it.

No. Great for just putting paper into and using as it is.

I disagree! The layout is great, and the "code" key makes a great thumb modifier (ctrl) or backspace. I have a small collection of wheelwriter keyboards that I will convert to USB sometime.

[johndavis33]

Well, it's basically a Model M type tech on the inside. One could remove the barrel assembly and wire the membrane ribbons to a teensy, and it will work just like any other keyboard. There are some wheelwriters with discrete keyboards in fact, but this is not one of them.

Do you know if there is anyway to remove the barrel assembly without damaging anything? Or at least where I could look to try?

As with any model M, you can remove the barrel assembly by cutting off tho rivets holding it together. To reassemble, you will have to perform a "bolt mod".

I actually did with with my wheelwriter 10 keyboard. Some pictures of it are here: http://imgur.com/a/FOu89

It wounds like the ribbon is out. You can get a new one on eBay. Fortunately, IBM typewriters were very popular, so finding ribbons and correction tape for them in usually pretty easy.

lots: http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=IBM+wheelwriter+ribbon

Good luck with that. Finding the ribbons for those old typewriters is a real art.

Not sure if you can interface it with a modern computer. They're so old, probably not worth it.

No. Great for just putting paper into and using as it is.

I disagree! The layout is great, and the "code" key makes a great thumb modifier (ctrl) or backspace. I have a small collection of wheelwriter keyboards that I will convert to USB sometime.

I'm having trouble getting the keyboard out of the rest of the typewriter. I'll figure out, but in the mean time, do you know how I'd go about hooking this up to a teensy? I've never done anything like this before. Do you know if there's a guide somewhere?

[dorkvader]

yeah, its a little hard to figure out how it comes out of there. It's got a few settings for height. Try to raise it up to the higher height and get a look. Mine has two blue things that it rests on.

as far as a guide: not really. nothing more than parak said anyway. You just get some connectors, plug the membrane into them. Solder the connectors to the teensy pins. Then you get some controller firmware (I prefer soarer's) lay out the matrix (what you want the keys to do) and call it good.