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Saturday 25 July 2020

Yucky Hermes Baby Typewriter Makeover

David Lawrence of Eden Typewriters in Auckland, New Zealand, is probably the only full-time, fully-qualified typewriter technician left in the Southern Hemisphere. David not only services and fixes typewriters, he also sells them. Not so long ago he had a visit from a young lady looking to buy a portable, and she spotted a 1963 Hermes Baby (serial number 6012422) going cheap, because somewhere along the way it had lost its ribbon spool cover. “No worries,” said the lady, “I have a 3D printer, I can make one.”

       The lady was so proud of her work she sent David photos of it. But neither of us were terribly impressed, for a range of reasons, not least of which is that the typewriter just looked awful. But lo and behold, David has now spotted the machine for sale on TradeMe, New Zealand’s equivalent of eBay.  Asking price: $500!!! This lady presumably thinks she's on to a good thing.

       The seller says, “A lot of hours have been put in restoring this good looking machine.” Which is not entirely true, since the machine was in excellent working condition when it left David’s workshop. “It’s been thoroughly cleaned inside and outside,” the seller continues. “No mouldy smell or dusts like most other pre-owned typewriters!”

But here is the clincher: “Custom designed top cover, platen knobs and feet to replace the existing parts that were in poor condition (photos of the original knobs indicate otherwise). "3D printed the parts with PLA plastic in olive green colour.” The colour, of course, being one of the main problems I have with it – yucky, to say the least.

The seller says, “Repainted with satin leafy green that matches the original green - feet and baseplate have been refurbished with new lining inside and anti-slip padding.”

But then comes the real punchline: “We can custom make typewriter parts as well. Please check out our website below for more details.” Caveat emptor, as they say in the classics. And it seems they are in New Zealand, for there have been no takers yet.

8 comments:

Richard P said...

I don't care for that color either, but I do approve of the trend of 3D-printing typewriter parts. It has a long way to go, but it holds promise.

Bill M said...

I agree, YUK! She will probably sell it as P.T. Barunum once said "there is a sucker born every minute." As far as the cover, if she set her printer finer, and used the correct color polymer, she would be on to making some nice replacement covers.

Kristians said...

Frankenhermes... Would be very surprised if anyone will pick it up even for 10$. I have several typewriters without the covers and find them still better looking than this creation. Although I admire 3D printing and probably will use it one day to replace for example type slug holders on my Merz 3.

Ted said...

oh hey, Sarah "IE Monster" is a member of the facebook group and has been very active in 3d printing solutions. I approve, actually. I dunno if she'll get $500 for it, but at least it's complete, functional and unique (and the carriage knobs aren't likely to break on a breath of wind). You can't say that for a number of machines with silly price tags on them online.. (:

Robert Messenger said...

Thank you Richard, Bill, Kristians and Ted for your comments and the interesting discussion on this. I'm never likely to be using 3D printing and know little about its potential for further development, though I'm sure Richard is right on that score. However, to me the evidence here is far from convincing. Quite apart from the terrible colour, the top plate looks like it was hacked from timber by a broad, blunt chisel. The surface is, as they say Down Under, "as rough as guts". It may well be useful for replacing such things as lost platen knobs, but even the ones here look pretty ordinary to me and far from an exact match. Ted, bear in mind claims about it being functional have more to do with the technician than the 3D printer. As for Facebook groups, spare me. There are more chancers out there than at a Donnybrook Fair, and many of them are from this end of the earth.

Nick Bodemer said...

I love the idea of knob covers! And, if that were for sale in Seattle for $125, I'd consider it ...

Andy Kovacs said...

I think it more greatly represents the potential of how the use of modern technology can bring positive results for what could otherwise have been a "lost cause" machine. What strikes me as rather incredible too is that this user went straight to her own, home crafted, and creative solution while the rest of us may have waited eons for the OEM part to surface as the machine sat on the shelf tagged: "PARTS MACHINES". Is it color correct? Not even close. It is detestably hideous and I certainly wouldn't pay anything close to the asking price.

Robert Messenger said...

Andy, not sure a typewriter without a ribbon spool cover but in otherwise perfect working condition can be called a "lost cause" machine. I guess it depends on what one intends to do with it, use it or try to make a profit by selling it. In this case the exercise is profit driven. The "makeover" was about removing the smell (which many of us like), tidying up the base (which can be best done with a stiff brush) and that sort of thing. It's very cosmetic, and in my book in no way related to a love of typewriters.