Any guesses as to what they will have found in that backpack?
The Torpedo 18 just came out of a box the other day and will need a proper introduction at some time in the future. Except for the normal typeface, it is officially my favorite typing machine. I haven't cleaned or lubed it - totally awesome after coming out of someone's closet after several decades.
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| A windy day with leaves blowing everywhere. A part of the photo they are. |
This actually started as a single post through Tuesday typed with the assistance of Olympia! during a power outage. I gave up on marking errors as there were simply too many due to typing in the dark.
http://housefullofnerds.blogspot.com/
You've had quite a week!
ReplyDeleteThe Torpedo is lovely and looks like it would be a very solid, smooth typewriter to use, for hours on end.
It's been an interesting month for members of the typosphere (:
ReplyDeleteMan, Torpedos are so pretty. The only one locally I've seen for sale was $150, so I am clearly Torpedo-less. Someday... :D
Our week was generally interesting in a good way. The tuner unfortunately is exhibit A on why I gave up road biking. If they had run off the other side of the road they would have gone through the bike path I just returned from.
ReplyDeleteThe Torpedo is just freakishly smooth. Now I want one with an interesting type face. I'm not giving up on the Olympia SM3s, but they are just a smidge less snappy and require just a bit more force to get the job done. All the years of working on cars, mousing and keyboarding are starting to catch up with a couple of knuckles reaching a pre-arthritic state. Easy typing = Good. Getting older = Sucks.
Interesting you mention SM3, as that looks about identical to the SM3s I've seen. The Torpedo has to be a very close cousin, right?
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful Torpedo you got!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments on the Torpedo! Up close it is not a mint machine, but I didn't pay mint machine dollars for it, either ($46 plus shipping). I need to get some proper paste wax and buff out the little scratches.
ReplyDeleteThere was a gorgeous white on white Torpedo that sold on ebay the day after I bought mine that went for around $250. I would have named that machine "Elvis".
It does have a form factor resemblance to Olympia SM3s. Under the hood there are many small differences; some large as well. I need to take a close look at the mechanicals. That it can be so smooth with no maintenance for so many years says a lot about the engineering.
In slow motion, the key bars appear to accelerate in that last 1" of arc before striking the platen. That could be my imagination. Either way, there is something about the mechanism that gets along well with me. I have fewer missed/half strikes on it than with the SM3s.
So what's mint?
ReplyDeletehttp://maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com/2011/06/collection-torpedo-18.html
I got mine for free. :)
I don't think they're popular here in Hermesland, sounds incredible what prices you pay for them over in the US. Good new background picture, by the way!