JustAnotherGuy wrote:

Hey, calm down, it was just an idea. In theory it sounded easy, even though it is really just not a workable method.

?!? Trust me, I am extremely calm - and I don't appreciate the attempted lecture. If someone visits the forum looking for advice because they don't know much about typewriters, and ends up being told to do something that would effectively destroy his machine, you can be sure that I'm going to step in and say something. Maybe it's something that comes with age and experience, but if you don't know what you're talking about it's often best not to give advice to someone who thinks that you do, and who will have to deal with the consequences of it later on. 

Alexander Pope must have foresaw the pitfalls of the internet almost 300 years before it was even created when he wrote,"a little learning is a dangerous thing."
 

Ok, so all we are all saying is that this would be  an extremley hard thing to do.

On reflection, I think I would go for the key-swapping on a machine it would be easy and non-destroying to do it on. I don't know why I didn't think of it! Sometimes the answer is just staring you in the face!
If the type-slugs were re-soldered properly, then I don't think the typewriter would be destroyed, just different. It would still be a functioning typewriter, albeit a headache for a touchtypist. The main problem would be finding the skilled person to do it and the money to pay them.

Last edited by malole (18-6-2015 07:49:19)

No problem. I wasn't angry or mad, just concerned. I believe that one of the best features of this forum is how it helps those new to the hobby, and although it's great that the "regulars" here are always willing to help someone out, we should make sure that when we dispense advice that it's either based on experience, or established methods. I don't want to see advice coming from here that would do more harm than good, never mind that conflicting advice only makes it harder for a new member to know which is the sound approach to take. 

I remember seeing a Liliput children's typewriter in a local charity shop which had loose typeslugs slotted onto the typebars. If this was the way they were normally sent out of the factory, then one of those would be a good machine to try out the swapping on. I remember thinking it was a pretty rubbish looking typewriter though, and that if it were to be typed with, the slugs might just fly out! I do see them sometimes on ebay.