My shirt was filthy. It was my 'working on my car' shirt after all. There were dots of sweat all over it, and prints of my hands where I had wiped my palms on my hips.
"You'll be looking for Scott" I said to the man walking down the driveway in a friendly and welcoming tone. He didn't even look up at me, while he read the name on the package in his hand.
"I'm looking for a Scott" he replied to me, clearly having ignored what I said. This was a man that was very no-bullshit, who just wanted to get a package delivered.
I rolled my eyes behind my sunglasses, before I pushed those glasses up into my unkempt mop of sweat soaked hair. "That'd be me" I replied to him, using the same dry pitch that he'd just spoken to me.
He scanned the barcode and got my signature on the screen of his machine, before turning away and heading back to his van.
I knew what the package was. The back of my car was open, and the delivery man just left the package sitting just inside the tailgate of my car before he walked away. I saw the name of the company emblazoned across the top of the package, and I suddenly started to get excited. So I snapped a shot of the driver heading back to his van for the sake of illustration in my blog, and then finished what I had been doing under my car.
* * *
About a month ago I was trying to find a solution to a problem that I had with a typer I had just bought. I wrote down a few ideas, and then set about researching a couple of them. From that research this was born:
Any ideas on what this is? And.... for what typewriter?
I was too excited when this arrived. It is a prototype, and I'm hoping that it represents a tiny tip of what might be possible in the future with our ageing typewriters. I don't want to spoil it just yet, but there's a tale to be told. The typewriter insurgency might just be about to discover that the future isn't as grim for their machines as they first thought.
I'm currently doing some inspections on my car before I hurtle myself across the Great Divide and into the desert. When I'm back, hopefully I'll be able to get to work on using this piece, and tell you why I think it is so special.
Uh, is it a home made carriage return lever for some steam punk typewriter?
ReplyDeleteLever, correct. Home made? Far from it. The finish isn't the best, as this is a prototype version...
DeleteOkay, I didn't actually mean "hand made" as in modeled out of Play-Doh. I meant something along the lines of a custom made item, verses a mass-produced item. But then again, you did clearly indicate that it was a "prototype", so I must not have been paying attention when I read that the first time. Mea culpa.
DeleteAnd please show us the machine to which the lever belongs. Is the machine as tricked out as that lever?
Maybe one of those pinky tab levers on a Royal standard machine?
ReplyDeleteHow interesting..... The design could very well be revised to be used on one of those.
DeleteI'm still not sure which machine this might work with. I like the style.
ReplyDeleteIt appears to have been prototyped on a 3D printer. Printing with colored ABS would make a lot of sense for durability and strength. The per unit cost should be low enough to allow stockpiling making the assumption that the widget will eventually wear out from wear against steel parts.
Of course my guess could be totally off, but it doesn't look milled and prototype casting with anything but a composite would be really pricey. I can't wait to hear more about this part!
Ohhh.... you were getting so close! And incidentally, it isn't ABS.... It is Steel!
DeleteI don't know where this thing goes, but I had the same thought as Dwayne - 3D printing might help us build things we need fro our machines! Hermes Baby spool missing? Print. Valentine ribbon top cover thingy? Insert orange plastic, print. Hermes 3000 platen knob? Print.
ReplyDeleteThat's gonna be awesome in 2022.
Yep..... You're starting to see what I have been thinking about. Exactly right.
DeleteI'm gonna guess an Olivetti carriage return lever.. (:
ReplyDeleteHah a ha ha.... It is a carriage lever, indeed.
DeleteThat's a back-scratcher and it's meant for you to use after using the Valentine. ( :
ReplyDeleteYou know... I hadn't even thought about using the Valentine as a backscratcher... maybe it has use yet!
DeleteIt's very good looking, whatever it is. My guess was also a carriage return lever, but I have a feeling I'm wrong. The color and the Deco-ish design are attractive. I'm very curious.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, and I'm glad someone picked up on the deco design features. Very astute.
DeleteGod, now I want to know what typewriter would have use for such a thing. I wanted to say carriage return, but it is facing the wrong direction, considering where it would be mounted. That is really neat looking, and I look forward to hearing all about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm about to blog and tell you all about it.
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