12 ms·
How to make your own Selectric Typeballs
- idbehold 3y agoBefore opening the link I thought it was going to be something to generate statically typed code based on a DB schema or something. Fun name either way.
- TradingPlaces 3y agoThe Selectric remains the world’s best feeling keyboard.
- meepmorp 3y agoIt's what I've internally compared every keyboard to ever since; I also miss the hum.
- ignite 3y agoYou are correct, but bear in mind how much those keyboards cost. This is why you don't see their equivalent today.
- bombcar 3y agoThe selectric ii at $900 in 1980 is about 3,300 today. Probably can get a pretty nice keyboard for that.
- TradingPlaces 3y agoThe more accurate way of looking at it is using the "Office and accounting equipment” deflator, which puts it at $1291 in 2022 dollars, about the price of a decent laptop, which makes sense to me. https://apps.bea.gov/iTable/?isuri=1&reqid=19&step=4&categories=flatfiles&nipa_table_list=1#eyJhcHBpZCI6MTksInN0ZXBzIjpbMSwyLDMsM10sImRhdGEiOltbImNhdGVnb3JpZXMiLCJVbmRlcmx5aW5nIl0sWyJOSVBBX1RhYmxlX0xpc3QiLCIyMDMyIl0sWyJGaXJzdF9ZZWFyIiwiMTk4MCJdLFsiTGFzdF9ZZWFyIiwiMjAyMyJdLFsiU2NhbGUiLCIwIl0sWyJTZXJpZXMiLCJBIl1dfQ== https://apps.bea.gov/iTable/?isuri=1&reqid=19&step=4&categor...
- aidenn0 3y agoWere Daisy-wheels ever used in typewriters, or was that just a printer thing?
- ckz 3y agoI believe there were many daisy wheel typewriters, but I (correctly or incorrectly) tend to associate them with true electronic typewriters as opposed to electric ones. IBM Wheelwriters and such.
- hackermatic 3y agoThere were a lot of early typewriters that experimented with interchangeable type wheels, shuttles, and sleeves. Hammond and Blickensderfer are two of the better-known brands among collectors, but here's a whole list: https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_single_element.htm https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_single_element.htm
- ckz 3y agoAmazing! Isn't there also a single element one that uses an inverted cylinder with the type on the inside? In general, I'm discovering what a deep rabbit hole I've dug myself into. Last weekend I was trying to decide between a Corona Silent, a similar-vintage Remington I haven't yet identified, and an SCM Corsair. Looking for a nice portable contrast to a Selectric that isn't fatiguing to use. Edit: Re. that first point, believe I was thinking (somewhat backwards) of the 1878 version of the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball: https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_hansen_writing_ball.htm https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_hansen_writing_ball...
- hackermatic 3y agoIf you're looking for a typewriter with a light touch, the Olivetti Lettera 32 and Underwood Universal are some of my favorites. I love my Remingtons, but all of mine (all of which are 1940s models) are pretty heavy.
- 3y ago
- blockwriter 3y agoDoes anyone know a reliable source for purchasing Selectric II typewriters that are in good working condition? I worked on a Selectric II while working on a novel, and I am nostalgic for it and want it to write letters to friends.
- hackermatic 3y agoMany larger cities still have one or two typewriter repair shops, or business machine shops that handle electric typewriters! You can also ask on the GolfballTypewriterShop group on Facebook.
- zbrozek 3y agoThere's one in the closet of my childhood bedroom in Kentucky.
- bombcar 3y agoThey're pretty common on eBay and some offer local pickup (they're heavy!) so you could verify it works before buying.
- seltzered_ 3y agohttps://typespec.com/ https://typespec.com/ might know.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- timcobb 3y agoWe had a couple of these when I was a young child. I wish I still had them... they were awesome.
- zwieback 3y agoMe too, I think my parents still have their Selectric at the ready in their study. My mom used to fill out carbon-copy forms a lot on this thing and my dad wrote a book on it. It's a rock-solid machine.
- akavel 3y agoPiggy-backing on this thread: does anyone know of any open-hardware computer printer you can DIY at home? (Ideally not using any pre-made ink/etc. cartridges; can be a dot-matrix or even Selectric/daisy-wheel printer.)
- fnord77 3y agosort of https://hackaday.io/project/167446-diy-inkjet-printer https://hackaday.io/project/167446-diy-inkjet-printer
- sudobash1 3y agoA pen plotter might be the most well-trod path to go. I regularly come across home made ones.
- nickloewen 3y agoHere's a ridiculous idea: photographic contact printing using a transparent LCD screen! A good result would probably require commercially made photo paper, but maybe this could work with a totally DIY anthotype process? And the LCD could be salvaged from an old computer monitor... LCD contact prints: https://pierremuth.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/digital-picture-to-analog-darkroom-print/ https://pierremuth.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/digital-picture-... Anthotypes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthotype https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthotype Salvaged displays: https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Use-an-Overhead-Projector-as-a-Computer-Mon/ https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Use-an-Overhead-Project...
- 7thaccount 3y agohttps://imgur.io/a/ZZXFq#Xr17aEc https://imgur.io/a/ZZXFq#Xr17aEc If you want to see the typeball for the APL programming language.
- 1MachineElf 3y agoNice. Theoretically, I could switch the letter placement in order to make the Selectric have the Dvorak layout. Would be a cool ornament for my keyboard display case.
- Eisenstein 3y agoSorry, I don't get it. DVORAK is a keyboard layout. What does that have to do with a typeball?
- jsimzeroone 3y agoThe idea would be that you would replace the "A" on the ball with the character that is in the QWERTY's A position the Dvorak keyboard, etc.
- 1MachineElf 3y agoExactly! A was an ironic choice for an example, however, because it's the one character in QWERTY that's got identical placement on Dvorak.
- kadoban 3y agoNit: 'm' matches as well. I think it's those two only.
- gmueckl 3y agoKeys are mapped to specific locations on the typeball. When you rearrange the letters on the typeball you remap the mapping between keys and the actual letters that get printed. So you get a different effective keyboard layout.
- neilv 3y agoI wonder how many actuations per character it can take. The precision of the Selectric II must help with longevity, but the crazy-powerful feel when using one makes me wonder how much force is hitting the ribbon, page, and platen.
- golem14 3y agoTo deepen the wonder, I'd be interested to see the longevity per material (PLA/Nylon/metal/...). I'd expect a lot of trial and error to deal with shrinkage and the probably high precision needed by the Selectric. But this is a great repository, thanks a lot! P.S. excellent short video by Bill Hammack on the Selectric internals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRCNenhcvpw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRCNenhcvpw
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- neilv 3y agoDoes anyone have a method for sustainable supply of Selectric II ribbons? The Selectric II ribbons that I saw weren't like the inked-cloth used by most typewriters and dot-matrix printers -- which could be reused a few times, or even re-inked with a special tool. The Selectric II ribbons were more like a plastic film with a black coating that was crisply and completely transferred to the paper where the typeball struck it. (Not great for OPSEC, incidentally.)
- ravetcofx 3y agoAmazon? https://www.amazon.ca/IBM-Selectric-Typewriter-Ribbon-Correctable/dp/B002BXL23S https://www.amazon.ca/IBM-Selectric-Typewriter-Ribbon-Correc...
- ckz 3y agoA common supplier for typewriters in general is Ribbons Unlimited: https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/ https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/ The carbon film you're referring to is likely part #1299095 (black correctable). Believe generics of these are still made. I also buy NOS sometimes. So far the 30-40yo cartridges seem to work fine once you get to the spooled film vs the few inches that may have been exposed to the elements. Not sure if the chemistry of them is just that stable (vs ink ribbons) or I've simply had good luck (i.e. I'm not speaking from 40 years of experience or anything). The tougher one to source is the "bicycle" style of cartridge used on some Selectric IIIs (other IIIs were built/swapped to work with the old II-style carts).
- kamranjon 3y agofwiw just got a couple of bicycle style cartridges delivered from ribbons unlimited, along with some correcting tape, and they both work great.
- neilv 3y agoThanks, Ribbons Unlimited looks like a great resource. A bit like the guy who sells much of the remaining new-old-stock of floppies. A small wholesaler and retailer I worked for as a kid in the late-1980s did a lot of business in replacement printer ribbons, and there was one third-party brand that offered compatibles for most every printer. Today, I wonder how the manufacturing worked: whether they just sourced from factories that already had the tooling and know-how to make those particular compatibles, or they had to arrange the reverse-engineering and tooling. And whether the same parties still make the ribbons today.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- ridgeguy 3y agoLoooong ago, I had work that required APL. It felt very cool when IBM sent me a Selectric APL type ball! Wish I still had it.
- bradrn 3y agoIf anyone’s wondering: the letters on the piece of paper are from the Cherokee script [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_syllabary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_syllabary]. I have no idea if it shows coherent writing or just random letters, though.