 |
| Serifs are seriously overrated in certain alternative universes. This typeface is a total mystery. Any ideas from the Typosphere? Side note: I had to photograph this because when a HP all-in-one printer/scanner runs out of black ink, it won't even let you run the scanner. I am reminded of why printers are so cheap. Our HP 4400 deserves a generic replacement cartridge in repayment. |
 |
| The Everest K2 has a classic shape. I purchased less for the color than the typeface. |
 |
| The body shell is all aluminum as are a number of components such as the key bar guide. |
 |
| So, what does the number 20 stand for in Everest land? I looked through most of the sans serif examples in the Munk's NOMDA guide and couldn't find an exact match. We love the egregiously long "f"! I suppose you could make a simpler lower case "d", but there wouldn't be a whole lot left. The "h" is very fashion forward. |
 |
| The color and style this De Luxe logo remind me of early 1950s Chevy sedans. |
 |
| Maybe Everest had a dislike for serifs in general. Alright, that is a bad theory given the identical machine in Robert Messenger's possession and Adwoa's shiny, black K2. |
 | |||
| I like the odd little details. I can easily imagine that lever inside one of the little Fiats now cruising around American cities. |
Does anyone have a controls diagram for this machine that they can scan?
I observed in the typecast that this typewriter still has a few issues. I can't help comparing this to my German machines including the Olympia SM3s and the freakishly smooth Torpedo 18. I had to do a lot of filing and bending to get parts to work on this machine due to alignment problems in the key bar slots. That gave me a chance to get to know the mechanical bits well, with some problem yet to be discovered that is keeping the carriage from moving consistently.
My general opinion is that they tried hard, but there are just some basic design and finish issues that get in the way. It isn't as slushy as the Royal Futura 800. The cast aluminum frame is well done. They didn't skimp on key tension springs. With all that going for it, various alignment issues appear to have kept this machine from having been used very much. The type slugs were already pretty clean when I got it.
Assuming I get the carriage draw tweaked, I think it will be a decent typer for short works. The type face is really cool and joins the unique SM3 italic iterations and the Royal script in the household typing pool. Guess I need to buy some new ribbons!
This is one of my favorite typefaces. I especially like the lower-case "f."
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous typeface! I think it is reminiscent of Royal Vogue, but you may want to look that up on Richard's website.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a shiny *red* Everest K2 which I found in the dumpster and loved, but the azerty keyboard threw me off and I ended up giving it to Georg. I did a typecast on it, though, and found the typing action quite good - fortunately, it was in a mechanically sound condition when I found it.
Typeface looks similar to the Techno typefaces out there, but I do not have an example to compare it to. I did look at Hermes Epoca and Epoca looks a bit more squared to me. Look at Munk's site also:
ReplyDeletehttp://munk.org/projects/typewriters/
He has some examples that I did not see on Richard's
http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/
Someone has a chart of Hermes typefaces on their blog, but I am of no help: I forget who!
Very nice type face. I really like it. The typewriter looks good also.
Isn't modern technology wonderful? If the black runs out on a typewriter it still allows one to switch to the red (or other half of black).
Gorgeous! Congratulations to your human.
ReplyDeleteSearch for the typeface here:
ReplyDeletehttp://munk.org/typecast/?s=styles
I'm with MEK, I love the "f".
You got lucky on this one. True Italian style!
ReplyDeleteThe number on the type slugs is probably internal numbering from the company which produced them?
Did anyone ever email you an instruction guide? I just got a burgundy Everest K2 with the same typeface and am wondering, since the Everest lacks an extending or flip-up paper support arm that many portables have, whether the panel on the top rear with the margin scale is intended to also serve as the paper support. It does move so that the back of it comes up.
ReplyDeleteNo luck on the manual so far. Identical typeface? Who would have guessed that it could be common for this particular machine? I'll try your paper support trick.
DeleteI was looking for that typeface. It is called Simplicitas, it was included in the Olivetti font library in the 30s. What I don't know if the design belonged to Olivetti or to Everest
ReplyDelete