Hi there, my name is Gordon and I'm a little new to typewriters. I'm most likely going to be quite a bit younger than the lot of everyone here, as I was born well into the post-typewriter age, but I am honestly and fully amazed by pre-1980 technology. Especially so if it performs functions one would take for granted or expect a digital circuit to provide. 

For the most part I was never too interested in typewriters, partly due to a complete lack of knowledge. That is, until I met the Selectric line from IBM. 

I had a small need for a free/cheap typewriter that was working, and I manged to find a Selectric I on the local Criaglist for $5. The woman was kind enough to give it to me for free, as I still had to take it home for about an hour on transit. "Hefty, Hefty, Hefty!" for sure!

I took it home and studied up on the system before I attempted to try and fix the problems it had- mainly sticking keys and a motor that woudn't spin. 
After looking up the full details of the system, I was amazed just to read about the complexity of the mechanics on the inside, and the reliance on the whiffletree mechanism to convert a key press into a mechanical form of binary... Very, very interesting. This piqued my interest in pre-80's tech greatly.

I now realize that the Selectric I I picked up is actually in fantastic shape, as it was used very lightly be a personal writer who passed away shortly after buying the unit- it had remained unused for the good part of 45 years! Minus a couple minor paint chips on the case from being moved about, it was quite a catch.

I'm in the process of fixing up a Selectric II, and I'll be picking up another Selectric unit, either a II or a III tomorrow. I have been in need of a small knowledge base that I could get some help from to expand my self-taught knowledge of these typewriters, so I'm hoping all of you here will be able to help me. I'm going to stay away from intensive dissassemblies for now until I find a junk machine that I won't feel guilty when I tear it down (systematically, I might add), so for the time being I'll just have some simple questions.


Thanks! Glad to be a part of the forums, and while I'll be asking a lot of questions, hopefully I can give back in some way. 

18, first year in University. I'd be fairly surprised to see someone my age here. While people think that having a typewriter is "cool", I'm not so sure about too many people who would go out and use/fix/buy  one (or more)

I'm Janet and live in Maine with 8 typewriters. The oldest is a Royal Model P (1930) and the youngest is an Olivetti Lettera 32 (around 1978). In between are a Corona Comet DeLuxe, a Corona Silent, a Royal Quiet DeLuxe, a Corona Silent-Super, and a couple of Olympias.

I am not mechanically minded -- I can change the ribbon, but other than that I leave repairs and cleanings to Cambridge Typewriter. 

Last edited by JanetLand (16-12-2013 13:44:24)

Hello.  I'm from Toronto, and I learned to touch type with a Selectric back in high school. (I'm a Gen-X-er).....so high school in the mid-late 80's.
I have always been drawn to older technologies, and love letterpress printing (although I no longer own a press...space issues), and am getting back into manual typing as a form of art.
I would love to talk with people about a good typer to get.

Hello all,

I'm Ten Thumbs 'cause that's how I type!  I bought a Remington Deluxe Model 5 a few years ago for my WWII Living History display & recently tried to get it working.  Turns out my feed rollers have long given up the ghost so I'm trying to replace those & clean up the machine.  Other than the rollers, it seems to work just fine.

I came across this forum at the Fedora Lounge & I look forward to learning more about my machine.