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09-5-2019 13:09:15  #1


Keep Warm with a Thermal

Okay, you can't keep warm with a thermal typewriter, but I am obsessed with them nonetheless. I would choose a thermal over any other electronic typer any day. Here's why:

1. They're probably the quietest typewriter you can get. Take it to the library!
2. No ink or ribbon required. All you need is thermal fax paper or even receipt paper.
3. They're light and very portable.
4. They're usually very inexpensive. My cheapest was $17, and the most expensive was $50.
5. They're discreet, looking not much different than an old laptop.
6. Even though they're far from new, they feel very futuristic... in a retro sort of way.

Currently, I have a Sharp, two Brothers, three Canons, and a Silver-Reed. A Casio is on the way. I really need to stop, but the Canon Typestars, especially, are tempting. I want to collect the whole line!

Anyone else not hate thermal typewriters?


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09-5-2019 16:05:38  #2


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

I could never claim to hate thermal typewriters since I don't own any, nor can I recall having ever used one.

I can't believe after all those years of using a fax machine that I don't remember anything about them: If thermal typewriters require fax paper to use, which I seem to recall comes in rolls, how is it used with one of these machines? I can't even remember if you can you write on fax paper as you would normal paper? And surely thermal fax paper must be disappearing? My last fax machine used regular paper (and an ink cartridge of some kind).


<aside> Why on earth would anyone still be using Facebook, easily one of the most corrupt entities on the internet? 
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09-5-2019 21:27:43  #3


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

Uwe wrote:

I can't believe after all those years of using a fax machine that I don't remember anything about them: If thermal typewriters require fax paper to use, which I seem to recall comes in rolls, how is it used with one of these machines?

I think thermal typewriters are to the typewriter world what the MiniDisc was to the music world. I certainly have no memory of them.

Believe it or not, fax rolls are still being made; Staples carries packs of six. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm not complaining, either. There are also receipt paper rolls, and those aren't disappearing anytime soon. Of course, those are very narrow, but some thermals offer a choice of typefaces, including elite, 12 characters per inch. That's slightly less confining.

As to your aside, Facebook is what you make of it. Personally, I've connected with family I've never even met before, reconnected with old friends, made new friends with similar interests, and so on. I was recently corresponding with the hosts of Austin Typewriter, Ink. I think despite its faults and flaws, it can be an important part of staying connected with the world.


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10-5-2019 08:06:17  #4


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

Never seen one.  Never even heard of them!  But an interesting idea.  My big question would be; does the typing fade to illegible as did the faxes themselves?


Sincerely,
beak.
 
 

10-5-2019 08:09:53  #5


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

Oh yes - UWE: rolls of paper can be very handy in a typewriter, particularly if it is equipped with a tear-off bar such as a teleprinter has.  Endless amounts of short (or indeed any length) messages can be typed, torn of, and forwarded.
  Have seen such used in communications shore bases, the roll being fed to the TW from a holder placed on the desk behind it.


Sincerely,
beak.
 
 

10-5-2019 10:52:28  #6


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

beak wrote:

My big question would be; does the typing fade to illegible as did the faxes themselves?

That's an excellent point. So many of my receipts that were printed on thermal paper have over many years faded to the point that they can no longer be read.

beak wrote:

rolls of paper can be very handy in a typewriter ...


I get that, it was the standard set-up for telegram services, but I'm curious about how the OP uses fax rolls with an electronic typewriter. Are letter-length sheets pre-cut from those rolls, or has he set up some sort of a mounting bracket to hold the roll behind the machine?


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

25-5-2019 14:13:51  #7


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

beak wrote:

Never seen one.  Never even heard of them!  But an interesting idea.  My big question would be; does the typing fade to illegible as did the faxes themselves?

Yes. Stored in a dark, cool, dry place, they should last quite a long time. The main enemies are sunlight and heat.


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25-5-2019 14:27:46  #8


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

Uwe wrote:

... I'm curious about how the OP uses fax rolls with an electronic typewriter. Are letter-length sheets pre-cut from those rolls, or has he set up some sort of a mounting bracket to hold the roll behind the machine?

I set the typewriter on a folding TV table. I put the fax roll on a 1/2" dowel, which sits where the legs cross forming an X. Then I just feed the paper from under the table into the typewriter.

I actually bought some little wooden ampersands at a craft store which I will adjust to fit the dowel so I can set the roll on top of a desk or non-folding table.

Joe Van Cleave has made a few different mounts to use when he takes his thermal typers out to coffee shops:



 


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13-10-2019 22:18:32  #9


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

poortypist wrote:

Okay, you can't keep warm with a thermal typewriter, but I am obsessed with them nonetheless. I would choose a thermal over any other electronic typer any day. Here's why:

1. They're probably the quietest typewriter you can get. Take it to the library!
2. No ink or ribbon required. All you need is thermal fax paper or even receipt paper.
3. They're light and very portable.
4. They're usually very inexpensive. My cheapest was $17, and the most expensive was $50.
5. They're discreet, looking not much different than an old laptop.
6. Even though they're far from new, they feel very futuristic... in a retro sort of way.

Currently, I have a Sharp, two Brothers, three Canons, and a Silver-Reed. A Casio is on the way. I really need to stop, but the Canon Typestars, especially, are tempting. I want to collect the whole line!

Anyone else not hate thermal typewriters?

So, what’s your favorite thermal machine so far?
 

 

02-12-2022 23:31:41  #10


Re: Keep Warm with a Thermal

beak wrote:

My big question would be; does the typing fade to illegible as did the faxes themselves?

Yes, that's simply the nature of thermal paper, regardless of the device used to print.

My biggest issue is the lifetime of the print head.  I was tasked with designing a portable barcode printer back in the early '90s, about the same time as these thermal typewriters were on the market.  We researched those thermal print heads and, IIRC, they were only good for 100k to 250k characters before burning out.  That's about 20k -50k words on a typewriter, or roughly 100 - 250 single-spaced pages.  Who knows how much of that lifetime was used up by the previous owner(s)!  In the end, we decided to use inkjet cartridges with integrated print heads for our product instead of thermal (Canon Bubblejet - it was new technology at the time).  Run out of ink, get a new cartridge - and with it, a brand new print head.  I'm fairly sure the limited lifetime of the print head is one reason why thermal typewriters didn't last long on the market...
 

 

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