1 - Dubdubdubdub
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Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
I'm looking for a typewriter I can freely replace the slugs of. As far as I understand, this should be possible on the Smith-Corona Galaxie 12. But I'm not sure: can you put any slug on any key, or are there several predetermined sets? I hope you can enlighten me!
You see, I'm building a sort of puzzle room. While in this room, I want people to type in some code words, that will come out completely different (as numbers, for example).
Of course, I want to do this without butchering a typewriter. Is the Galaxie 12 what I'm looking for?
Thank you!
Last edited by Dubdubdubdub (25-7-2013 05:46:13)
- beak
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
You may be better off swapping the keys round than trying to replace the slugs, but, yes, I have heard of these in a recent post - will try to find it again. A sort of Enigma machine?
ETA
Yes, here it is; post 2 in this thred:
Last edited by beak (25-7-2013 08:26:04)
Sincerely,
beak.
- Dubdubdubdub
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
I'm afraid replacing the keys is not an option: they'd see right through that.
As for the Smith-Corona's: am I understanding correctly from that post that you can only customize 1 or 2 of the keys? That would be a shame - I need a full 10 letters to correspond to numbers.
I had never heard of Enigma machines! That is a fantastic find - not really an option for my little puzzle though 
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
Dubdubdubdub wrote:
I'm looking for a typewriter I can freely replace the slugs of.
I couldn't tell you off-hand without performing an online search as to which makes/models would apply, but if you look at very old machines, some of them used pins to secure the slugs to the typebars, which would allow you to swap them around.
Even so, this would require you finding such a machine and purchasing it, which seems like a lot of effort for what you're doing. If you already have a typewriter that you wanted to donate to this cause, I'd be more inclined to experiment with swapping its type slugs. More than likely they're soldered on to their typebars, so with a the right heat source you should be able to melt that solder and remove the slugs.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Dubdubdubdub
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
Well, I don't own any machines right now. I'd have to buy one anyway and if it's possible to buy an old machine that works with pins, I'd prefer that. I'm not great with a soldering iron.
Can anyone help me in the right direction? What kind of models are we talking about? As you may have guessed, I know little to nothing about typewriters (but I'm willing to learn a little more!).
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Thread Starter- Dubdubdubdub
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
By the way, I figured out the Smith-Corona Galaxie 12 is nog what I'm looking for. It only has 1 or 2 'Change-A-Type'-keys, like the post in the other thread said.
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Thread Starter- ProfessorC30
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
You might want to consider an IBM Selectric with a Hebrew or Scientific font element.
Clark
- Dubdubdubdub
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
I'm afraid that's not an option either: there's no way to put numbers in the place of (the right) letters with a Selectric; just switch fonts completely.
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Thread Starter- ProfessorC30
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
There are elements (balls) made that have no letters at all on them. Instead there are symbols (astrology, math, engineering, etc). They aren't common, so I'm sure that's why you don't know about them. Each letter on the keyboard will output a symbol instead of a letter.
Also, a Hebrew element used on a Selectric typewriter with an English keyboard would also output characters that don't resemble the letters on the keyboard.
On typebar machines, wouldn't it be simpler to just paste different letters/numbers on the keyboard instead of trying to swap the typeslugs around? If the typewriter supports it, you could actually remove the keytops and place them in different places also.
Last edited by ProfessorC30 (30-7-2013 21:08:46)
Clark
- Dubdubdubdub
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Re: Removable slugs on S-C Galaxie 12
I did find out about mathematics balls, but I don't think they (really) fit the bill.
I want people to type in a certain 4-letter word, and the machine returing a 4-number code. On a mathematics ball, as far as I know, the actual numbers are on the same places as on a regular type ball. This means typing in a 4-letter word would result in 4 random math symbols. Which, admittedly, is cool! But you can't put math symbols on a combination lock
Replacing keytops is certainly simpler. But what I am looking for is a suprise effect. These people know what QWERTY looks like. They'll notice if I just put the letter keytops on the numbers' spots, so I want the machine to look like it hasn't been messed with.
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