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So, I want to learn how to properly rewind typewriter ribbon onto old spools. Since I'm hearing the spools are an endangered species, this will be a handy skill. Anyone care to document the process? I know you photography people have this kind of thing down cold. There is a shop rather close to where I work that services manual typewriters, and I'm stopping in tomorrow to see about a ribbon for the Royal 10, so we'll see.
Has everyone already seen the Blickensderfer typewriter brochure?
A random article I found about the author of The Iron Whim.
So: do you think that adding some editorial oversight to Wikipedia is really "a cultural tipping point for online communities?"
PS, I survived the wedding toast. It even made this comic.
We Like The Moon, ‘Cuz It Is Close To Us…
2 hours ago
20 comments:
I've been told the "save your spools" statement several times, but I'm skeptical. I mean, I can run into my local Staples store and buy a printer ribbon for $4.97 that fits all three of my typewriters.
I suppose if what you are looking for is a non-standard size...my 2" spools seem to be the only one's I find and luckily, the only ones I need.
Hi, I love your blog, keep it up! I have been doing the rewinding of ribbons for about a decade now; it's the easiest way to get a new ribbon onto a spool that I know will fit my typewriter.
Unspool your old one. On the inside of the spool is a sharp protrusion of the sheet metal that forms the spool. Hook the new ribbon onto the protrusion by tearing a tiny hole in its end. Wind it back up onto the spool using a pencil or something. Attach the other end the same way, and voilà!
Good luck!
"Save your spools" also applies to those hard-to-come-by metal spools. My new-old Lettera has those snazzy Olivetti spools -- those with the cloverleaf cutout shapes. Although I think the standard fits just fine, you can't beat authentic.
Jonathan's got it right -- usually there's a prong or spike or pin protruding from the hub of the spool that catches the end of the new ribbon like a hook through a trout: you don't want your ribbon to fly away home at the end. This is not always the case, however:
* My Skyriters have a metal clip that fastens around the hub of the spool, pressing the end of the ribbon against the hub in a tight embrace. A metal/ribbon/spool sandwich, really. Those clips are a bear to get on, but the 'Riter's spools are smaller than the normal 2" ones, and they advance by friction on the center post, not by a peg that mates with a hole in the spool. I don't know what Smith-Corona was thinking, besides "Ha ha! These will break and then they'll need to buy more new spools from us!" Meanies.
* Most of my Remingtons have an open-spool design, and the newer portables don't even have a removable spool -- just wind the end right on to a pronged metal dingus that slips over the hub. I do this gondolier-style: fasten the ribbon to the end of the hub, hold the new spool in my left hand on a paper clip or knitting needle (to let it spin freely) and then use a pencil eraser to turn the machine-mounted spool. I place the eraser end of the pencil on the flat surface of the pseudo-spool, then push it around a half turn, then move the pencil back for another half turn. It takes a while.
Why so complicated? Because *@#$!! Remington gives you nothing to grab onto. I have found that my Underwood standard's spool fit over the hub, though, so I might see if I can order a bunch of these from Jay R. so I can spool the "normal" way.
* My Royal standard machine is even worse. It has spools that can be removed, but they are bottoms-only, and have a special prong mechanism that drops down when the ribbon runs out on one end to catch and trip the ribbon reverse. Gondolier-spooling is the way here, too.
Olivander recommends rubber gloves for ribbon changes, and I second that. Nothing worse than that lingering purple-finger syndrome.
Comic-Strikethru! (Hee hee..."Lowz." NOW who's name is fun to say?)
I second Deek's motion. I have a half-dozen plastic spools lying about the house because they seem to fir everything OK, and I get a new one every time I buy ink.
On the other hand, a few months ago, I ordered a red/black ribbon that showed up dry, but I didn't complain because it was on a super-cool metal spool, which I periodically take out of its drawer and stare at going "Oooh...ahhhhh."
Other Mike: Whaddaya mean, you don't like lingering purple fingers? They're great because they either indicate that A) You're a criminal who just got printed, and that people should stay away from you or that B) You own a typewriter, and that you quite possibly belong to a secret club.
Ugh. "Whose" not "who's." Disgraceful.
Am I to understand then that you know Jesse Reklaw? Dang!
Hello
I enjoy this blog a lot.
I use two chopsticks to spool a new ribbon on: with the metal spools, I catch the new ribbon on the sharp point with my thumbnail pressed over, then just pull in on and it cuts into the ribbon, usually; put them on the tapered chopsticks, holding them up with thumbs and twisting the uptake one while keeping the other spinning with my thumb as a way of making the holding spool loose enough on the tapering chopstick.
Hope that makes sense.
All the best, Jon.
So, I'm challenging someone to actually post a video of this process.
Possibly a dumb question, but is there a "wrong" direction to wind the ribbon onto the spool? Because if there is, that's the one that I will inadvertently try first.
I've known Reklaw since the 80's, he was a high school boyfriend. We have a mutual close friend (the guy who got married) so I still see him around sometimes.
Yes, 'Lowz' is a nickname from my younger days that kind of stuck.
Clemens makes several good examples for why you ought to hold on to "proper" spools. Most Remington and Royal spools are proprietary. I'll also throw in L.C. Smith spools. While Smith-Corona went with fairly universal spools on their portables, their office machines maintained the same proprietary spool from the early 1900s well into the 1950s (maybe longer; the latest S-C standard I have is from 1954, and its spools are perfectly interchangeable with my 1916 L.C. Smith #5).
Ribbon replenishing is one of those secrets that someone said I probably have. But I'll tell you this much of my process:
1) Tie a knot in the ribbon about 4-6" in if the typewriter is the kind that uses eyelets to switch the ribbon direction when it reaches the end.
2) Get a starter end attached to the spool you're transferring ribbon to, be it by pointy arrow, clip, or press-in-the-hole ballbearing (I hate those).
3) Place what is to be the new supply spool in its cup and partially thread through the ribbon. I like to thread it all the way through to the other side of the vibrator. Make sure the ribbon direction is set so that the empty spool spins freely.
4) Place your finger on top of the spool and spiiiiiin it 'round till all the new ribbon is on it. Having the ribbon already partially threaded will ensure that it goes onto the new spool straight and evenly.
If your typewriter is one of those with a crank on the side for winding the ribbon, set the ribbon direction so that the empty spool is engaged and just use the crank to wind it.
And yeah, if you don't like getting your fingers dirty, or, like me, may have to drop everything and rush to grab a toddler, wear surgical gloves. When you're done, just whip 'em inside-out so the ick is on the inside and stick 'em in a drawer until next time.
Olivander's ribbon respooling tip is the best way that I've found. Those old metal spools are so much nicer looking than the modern plastic variety.
Also, that Blickensderfer catalog is pretty slick. Many years ago there was a technology museum that offered that catalog along with about a dozen other reproduction manuals and three now sought-after books about the history of the typewriter, all for an absurdly low price of $25 (if I remember correctly). I was pleased as punch when I recieved that box of goodies in the mail!
Dear World:
In the garage sale my gramma is having, I found a tin branded "Standard" that has a MASSIVVVVVEEE ribbon spool with no ribbon on it. I will post pics and link back to this post. If anybody needs this spool, they can contact me.
Much love,
julia eff
I second that request for a video. I've got some respooling coming up and - considering how well that went last time - I'd like to try a cleaner way.
Don't use those yellow kitchen-gloves. That's all I'm sayin.
I like Olivander's knot idea. I hadn't thought of that. But its fairly easy to just put your own eyelet on the ribbon.
My wife is into scrapbooking and has a ton of funky supplies. With one of them being an eyelet punch. You can buy eyelets (in many different colors) and get a punch (which looks like a standard single-hole punch) and voila, you can add an eyelet to any of your ribbons.
As to the plastic spools, definitely agree they are not as nice as the metal ones. I've also noticed that the plastic ones I've seen, all have the ribbon stapled to the center of the spool.
deek: That eyelet thing is a great idea! I'm totally going to try that.
I've been considering picking up an eyelet punch for the supposed ribbonpocalypse. I'll cut down line-printer ribbons if I have to.
As to "right way" and "wrong way", it generally only matters if you're using bichrome ribbons because you want the red to come out on the bottom, which may mean a little flipping until the spools are oriented correctly. Like Olivander, I put the empty "take up" reel on the machine and wind it with a finger or eraser so that know the ribbon is going on the proper way, and with enough tension to keep it wound. This does matter, as the ribbon path can vary. On my Underwood standard, the ribbon unwinds from the front of the spool, close to the keys, instead of the back of the spool near the platen (like many portables.) It's never a bad idea to take a quick photo of the ribbon path before ripping it all out.
The worst part of the process is the inky finger syndrome, honestly, both from fidding with the spools, and trying to remember how to thread the silly thing through the ribbon vibrator.
So, then. Someone is going to film this process.
Right?
Word verif: uneact. When no one will step forward to film themselves hand winding a ribbon.
Are you saying you like watching paint dry? :-)
Verify: redindi (adj) After I put that adding-machine ribbon into the Olivetti, my fingertips were all redindi.
All in favor of having Mr. Clemens create an instructional video?
Aye
Aye
Aye
Yes
Uh-huh
Si, por supuesto
The aye's have it. Get to work.
Oh, heavens, video instructions, yes!
I have been able to use the machine for the take-up reel (hooray, portables!) but always end up having to improvise something to hold the full, new spool. I'm tempted to solder a brass washer on a length of 3/16" or maybe 1/8" rod; that would do for most of the older spools.
Inky fingers don't bother me -- I worked in radio Way Back, when the mechanical teletypes used ink of amazing strength and lasting power and you could tell if a station had AP or UPI by whether the newspeople had jet-black or purple fingertips -- but the trick with latex or nitrile gloves around pinchy devices is to get 'em sized so they are really tight. Dishwashing gloves never work that way for me.
I've got an old Imperial Model 50 made in 1932 in Leicester, England. (I think it's got it's actually birthday stamped on it, I'll have to check next time I work on it and celebrate every year.) I keep a broken plasticky screwdriver next to the thing for when I have to spool up a new ribbon. I used to use it also to rewind the current ribbon, but then I found a switch that makes the ribbon advance direction change around. It does it automatically in one direction but not the other.
To spool up, I put the ribbon vibrator into red mode, lock the basket down with caps lock for ease of access and take the ribbon out of the ribbon vibrator. I remove the spools and tug the ends of the ribbon off the hooks. The hooks on the Imperial are hinged - it's pretty nifty - so when the ribbon comes to the end, the hinge pulls out and activates the mechanism, well, in one direction anyway. Put the new ribbon on carefully onto the right hand spool, put the centre of the screwdriver through the new horrible plasticky spool, and place the right hand spool on the typewriter, winding it off the plasticky spool. I unhook the ribbon from the new spool that doesn't fit, and hook it up to the old metal left hand spool before threading it through the vibrator etc.
It's one of the things I love about the thing. With the vaguely anarchistic black and red fingerprints I leave on books and MS for hours afterwards and the picking out of fluff from the typebars when the loops in letters become solid.
Unbelieveably, I'm still finding things out about this machine too. Only yesterday I discovered you can print an exclamation mark by holding down the space bar, which stops it advancing, rather than full stop, backspace, apostrophe. Cool.
I may be just a little obsessed.
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