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10-1-2021 14:42:45  #1


End of the line.

Never having had lessons on a manual, or any typwriters for that matter, I have a basic question. How do you know when you are reaching the end of a line of type so you don't end up with half a word at the end? The bell on my 1909 does not always work consistently, so I'm wondering if there was some way that was taught? It seems, as when someone is for example touch typing, once the bell does ring, you can't just return the carriage and continue typing?  

 

10-1-2021 16:12:47  #2


Re: End of the line.

Underwood09 wrote:

.... snip .... It seems, as when someone is for example touch typing, once the bell does ring, you can't just return the carriage and continue typing?  

I can't make sense of this sentence. When the bell rings, you do return the carriage at the earliest word break or hyphen position. It the bell does not give sufficient warning, as for example too faint or not at all, then in the old days the typist would just get it fixed. Nowdays, we have to fix it ourselves. Close inspection will show what has to be done.

 

10-1-2021 17:06:27  #3


Re: End of the line.

Umm, not surewhether to thank you, or fu...

I did mention I never had any lessons, and apprecitate the reply. I couldn't find any reference to the bell anywhere, but now it makes sense if I'm correct in assuming that the exact purpose for the bell; is for those 'touch typists' and secreataries who are looking aside at the source, rather than at the machine? 

As for the Bell, I am making small ajustments, to be easy on 120 year old wire and welds. Also not sure how loud it was supposed to be. Similar to the sad fact we will never experience that 'new car 'smell and ever feel the machine when it was factory new.  They must've typed so beautifully.  

     Thread Starter
 

10-1-2021 17:26:38  #4


Re: End of the line.

It can differ from machine to machine, so I normally count the number of characters from the bell to the margin stop on the typewriter I'm currently using. Knowing this number means that while you are touch-typing you will know whether to continue a word or use a hyphen when the bell rings. In short, a properly functioning bell is the only way a touch typist would know that the margin was looming.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

10-1-2021 18:02:51  #5


Re: End of the line.

The bell was, and is, supposed to be loud enough that the typist notices it in the work environment. Yes, a touch typist does not depend on watching the paper. As Uwe notes, a typist would be familiar with her or his particular machine and know the  character count between the bell and the hard margin stop (which could still be overridden with the Margin Release. These things were very well designed and as you note, beautiful to type on, even today when they are in good condition.).

I don't get the "fu..." reference, though. Thanks would be enough and not even required.

 

10-1-2021 18:12:27  #6


Re: End of the line.

Hi 09

If you are not a touch typist and are regularly checking your page, one idea is use a sturdy backing sheet when you type and draw a vertical black line on the sheet where the margin is set. Now draw a vertical red line 10 character widths to the left of the black line. This way, when you see the red line showing through your typing paper, you know you're getting close to the margin. Hope this gives you some ideas,

Sky 


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 

10-1-2021 20:24:55  #7


Re: End of the line.

I've had a number of typewriters with feeble bells. The most common cause (for me) was a stem which left the clapper (striker) touching the bell after the strike, which damps the vibration.  As M. Hohne says, inspection normally reveals the cause, particularly on older typewriters with open frames. I've dealt with several I was not able to fix. For pages and pages it's a deal killer, but if you just want to write a letter you can cock a weather eye at the page and get a peripheral feel for how close you are. When the bell works I've learned to overcome the temptation to squeeze in just one more word -- as if the paper were platinum or something. Now I return as soon as possible to avoid time wasted with margin release. Typewriter bells never seem to get louder with age - must be some facet of the second law of thermodynamics - they always get feebler or stop working altogether. 

 


"Damn the torpedoes! Four bells, Captain Drayton".
 

11-1-2021 13:07:34  #8


Re: End of the line.

Underwood09 wrote:

I have a basic question. How do you know when you are reaching the end of a line of type so you don't end up with half a word at the end?  

Underwoods have an arrow in the carriage pointing to a ruler on the body of the machine that will tell you exactly how many characters you have left to the margin, very visual. If you are touch typing you better fix that bell, and count how many characters you have from the ding to the end.  
 

 

11-1-2021 14:01:46  #9


Re: End of the line.

Thank you all for your input and advice. Frankly I don't ever see myself getting the skills of a touch typist. I use random fingers on keys and very much need to see them to type. Not a big deal in what is admittedly a dying, or more accurately a lost art with no real marketable value, and I can type fairly quickly on an ealry machine, so it's fine as it's a quaint hobby. Typing is something most people don't even think of or if they do, get. Those of us who discover or redsicover them, get the allure, but most people, not so much. 

     Thread Starter
 

12-1-2021 12:42:50  #10


Re: End of the line.

My 1909 Underwood No. 3 standard also has a feature where just before the beel, there is some restance to let you know you are getting near the end of a line allowing some advance notice as well. I suspect most Underwoods of this era had the same. Though I only own the one typewriter. As they say though, "Beware the man with only one Gun, as he most ashuredly knows how to use it." 

     Thread Starter
 

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