Greetings from a Happy Robot

The junk bots on this blog look vicious.

I'll admit enjoying the whole mythos of giant robots from space run amok and determined to take over our pretty, shiny planet.  But there are also heroic robots like R2-C4 that come out of nowhere to save humans from the literary slaughter. 

This is R2-C4.  You may have seen him defending William Shakespeare from the Spacebot.  I would classify him as a moderately vicious looking robot.  It's a good thing he is on our side.

I also have some totally happy and well adjusted junk bots I've built and similar collaborations with Claire.  She tends to save robotic destruction for cartooning and builds generally happy robots.

Unfortunately, those robots haven't been featured often enough and I need to alter the Happy Bot Quotient.

The following happy robot was built as a gift for a friend of the family's high school graduation.  She is a Harry Potter fanatic and one of the biggest Word Nerds we know outside of our own family - ironic as she is the child of an engineer and a math teacher.  She is relentlessly upbeat with a touch of snark and needed a friendly companion for the dorm.

With the exception of the after Halloween clearance arms, this bot was built with parts from my favorite thrift shop.  I was so excited to find a travel Lite Brite!  I can think of few things better for Word Nerds.

I didn't have time to add batteries, a switch and LEDs inside the camera.  The light stick arms really balances this guy's look.

Still charming with the lights off.

This robot has a lower recycled content than many due to the light sticks.  All of the assembly hardware came from yard and estate sale garage and basement collections.  We often use LEDs and sound boards recovered from dead or unwanted toys.

I have to admit a bit of existential angst after reading Robert Messenger's post on typewriter vandalism (more commonly known as Key Chopping in North America).  It's hard for me to know where to draw the line between junk and history when gathering parts.  Happy Meal toys are easy as there are whole tubs full that go unsold and end up in the thrift store dumpster.  My Spousal Unit would probably not be shocked to learn that I have scrounged things out of said dumpster.

Both the Lite Brite and the Kodak Hawkeye were garage sale rejects that still had their masking tape price stickers.  Still, the Hawkeye is unique.  I do save and display a variety of point and shoots from the 1930s-1970s.  So the line is fuzzy at times and subject to fits of whimsy on my part.  Generally, the higher the technology and mechanical level, the less likely I am to turn it into a robot part.


So there you have it: a happy robot with a side of angst.  This probably won't be the last happy robot to earn a spot on Vintagetechobsessions.

Typing Heavy Metal

Typed on a Torpedo 18 (Because I am too lazy to take another one out of a case.)

Linkage to the official music video on YouTube:
White Zombie - Black Sunshine with Iggy Pop

Everest K2 with a Serif Allergy

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!

Christmas Was So Two Weeks Ago

It's interesting to me just how short the American post-Christmas attention span is.  We have this huge build up starting before Halloween (our local CVS had nutcrackers and zombie masks out at the same time), and by December 27th Christmas is just a dim memory made foggier by leftover cookies and family feast remains.

Christmas was so two weeks ago, but I am still enjoying gifts including a little something that Claire lovingly modified for my amusement.

We'll just say that no board book or mini bit of kitsch artwork is safe from her and her pens.  These particular books had moved from her closet to a donation pile over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Each page has an added hidden Nerd symbol.  The rocket was really hard to find.

Yep, every letter of the alphabet is now a monster.  At first I thought the "Q" was smoking a cigar - that is until the girls pointed out the fingernail.  Very much my kid in so many ways...

Claire received multiple sketch pads and pens for Christmas.

Thus ends Christmas 2011.  As long as the Mayans were wrong, we look forward to another season of lights and nerdy fun at the end of 2012.

Really, I mean it.  Christmas is over.  We take down the decorations this weekend.  Some people have a hard time letting go, but the the next post will be something entirely different - promise!

New Maker Space - Teen Spirit Free of Charge

This page was scanned from the 1954 edition of "Science for Here and Now".  The student information inside indicates it was a second grade textbook in the Kansas City, Kansas schools.  It is a Good JuJu find from a couple of months ago.

Behold our new slate top work bench!  It should be impervious to solder, fire, many fine chemicals and Lego NXT pieces.  Metal bits can scratch slate, so we'll be careful with typewriter repairs and robot builds.

The real challenge is keeping a house full of book, crossword, pen, typewriter and electronics loving nerds from filling up this luscious horizontal space.  We will do our best and try to keep the major builds out by the drill press on the junk art bench.

Here is the new multipurpose maker space.  This was before addition of 200 watts of halogen lighting above.  This beast is all oak and the slate is 1 1/4" thick.  Yes, it as heavy as it looks.

I finally have a place to set up a proper soldering station.  This is our trial run with a new Radio Shack digital unit I picked up during one of their many sales.  It heats up quick.  Now we just need to improve our soldering skills.  I found the magnifier stand at a local thrift shop.

First Project:  I'm working with Claire on a kit we picked up at the Kansas City Maker Faire.  One of the local hacker spaces put together a pre programmed TV Be Gone.  It will be housed in a mini Altoids tin.  These things are the only way to stay sane in airports and waiting rooms.  I use my TV Be Gone selectively when it is obvious that no one is paying attention.  I've never noticed anyone even look up when the random, blaring TV suddenly goes dark.  Southwest terminals were horrible in 2010 and through the middle of this year.  I've noticed many of them have muted the screens except for football games.

This is what decades worth of teen spirit looks like.  There are few random gouges in the slate as well, but none profane.  Some of the graffiti looks pretty recent.  There is a Springfield, Missouri school district property tag on the bottom that can't be more than  20 years old.

This is somewhat benign teen spirit spoor.  Shelf liner covers up the worst of it.  Not that we or our middle schoolers have never seen four letter words.  Mild refinishing will have to wait for spring.

Well, my boring gray Royal Futura 800 looks like it grew out of the slate.  If I'm not careful, the color scheme may actually grow on me.

Happy New Year!

Typed on a Torpedo 18.

A Gifted ROYAL Quiet De Luxe

I love typewriters!  And, like many aficionados of these fine machines, my tastes have become more refined.  Sometimes I enjoy aesthetics more than function, but the latter has become more important to me over time.  That and unique typefaces.

With that in mind, I posed a rhetorical question to my brother the recovering newspaper journalist turned teacher (paraphrased):
Me:  Would you be interested in a portable typewriter?
Answer:  Maybe.
Me:  That's as good as "yes" to me.  So, would you prefer something classic with glass keys, or something more modern that might be a tad easier and have a few more functions?
Answer:  You know, I would really like something that Hemingway might have used to write columns in the field.

Ding! Ding! Ding!  We have a winner!

As it turns out, I have two machines that Hemingway might have preferred.  The first, a Corona 3, is still a little glitchy and takes an uncommon ribbon (my brother is unlikely to transfer new ribbons on to existing spools).  The second is a 1947 Quiet De Luxe.  I love the typeface on this one and it is very easy to get along with.  But with multiple odd typefaces to choose from and the Torpedo 18 being my favorite overall machine, this poor QDL spent all of its time in a case.


So out came the QDL for a final cleaning and wrapping up with a bow for Christmas.  Thanks to MagicMargin for posting tips on cleaning wrinkle finish.
http://www.magicmargin.net/2011/10/how-to-cleaning-wrinkle-paint.html
The technique worked great on the QDL.  It looked pretty good to start with, but the cleaning pulled off a lot of embedded skin oil and dust.  I cheated a bit with the case.  Even after washing it still looked pretty dull.  I wiped it down with just the slightest bit of penetrating lube and it looks fabulous!

Oh, credit where credit is due to the Classic Typewriter Page for resources on writers and their typewriters:  http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html

I was surprised at what a difference proper cleaning makes.  I had already lubed the mechanical bits earlier this year, but it really didn't need much more than that and a new ribbon to work like new.

Such pretty keys - and forever safe from key choppers!

I am helping my Dad resurrect a 50s square QDL.  It received lube service and 25% cotton paper for Christmas.  I am unhappy to report that my local Office Max no longer appears to carry standard large ribbon spool replacements.  There are tiny spools hiding inside the box on the peg where these normally were found.

The bow deserves its own photo.  It is vintage from a collection of ribbons and bows my step-mother had kept from her days of running a clothing store.  So sparkly!

How's this for subtle wrapping?  We hid it inside a bag until time for the official gift distribution.

I am happy this machine has a good home and will be used on a regular basis.   My brother plans to keep it in his office and have students do occasional laps with it just so they can see how old school journalists kept it real.

My girls liked the QDL and its typeface, but understood the need to have machines in use.  Besides, Claire got an Olympia Socialite for Christmas.  But that machine, and her sister's Olympia SF, are a topic for a later blog entry.

Note to the Typosphere:  After creating a more than adequate back story for the Christmas Squirrel, I realized that I have done zippo typewriter related since my travels to Florida earlier in the month.  For those of you that like more regular typewriter posts, thanks for the patience - especially with the weird Star Wars knockoff. 

One of my vacation projects was to get our computer setup more refined.  The scanner now lives next to the Dell Precision 4600 (new refurb) connected conveniently through a Tardis USB hub.  And to think my first exposure to computers was a cutting edge Apple II way back when.  At any rate, scanning typecasts should be an easier task.  Now I just need to clean off my old laptop for Claire and convert an old tower into a RAID Network Attached Server.  Etc.

Bonus factoid:  Claire and I are going to start attending an amateur radio class the first Saturday in January.  This is her idea and she really wants a broadcast license.  Guess that means we'll be shopping for radio gear in the next few months.  I'm guessing that NERDY1 is not a valid call sign.  Too bad.