The simple pleasure I got from being able to type this standard old line today surprised even me. It was typed on a 45-year-old IBM Model 82 I found at the recycling centre on a dump site on Mugga Lane in Canberra this morning. I was there for an entirely different reason (green waste), but thought I'd pop into the centre on the off-chance there'd be a typewriter there. There were two, a massive big Adler electric and this IBM. The IBM looked in reasonable condition, but it was only after I'd forked out $5 for it that I found the power cord had been cut at the rim of the mask. And it's not like me to bother too much trying to get an IBM working. Still, I figured I might be able to build from what was left of the cord if I could get the mask off. That was easy enough (from past experience, happily not forgotten), but the mess under the mask - mainly from disintegrated black foam, was a real shock. My heart sank, this was one dead duck IBM I thought. Once I powered it up, however, there were coughs and splutters and signs of a small flicker of life, so I ploughed on.
A really thorough clean-up of the clumps of foam and the rest of the dirt and mess - including two pencils, one tightly stuck under the feed rollers, four paper clips and sundry other items - a degrease and relube and a blow-through with the air compressor, and this machine started to show more positive signs of being alive once more. It polished up rather well, in fact. So I put back the feed rollers and the platen and, sure enough, bit by bit, it came back from the brink. It had no golfball, but I took a Courier font ball off an IBM in the display room. I also dipped into a stockpile of spare ribbon cartridges. And finally I was able to type a line. That was enough for me for one day. Oh what joy! Such simple pleasure, even from an IBM! The sense of achievement and satisfaction being felt all the more keenly because of all the typewriters I've had to relegate to the spare parts section this past year. Being able to type just that one line meant so much.
There's something even more satisfying about being able to revive an old IBM electric than just cleaning up a manual typewriter. My green 1975 Selectric II looks very much like yours. I was overjoyed to get it working again and to discover there are still all kinds of supplies available, like beautiful script fonts and colored ink cartridges. :-D
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your success.
ReplyDeleteYou are indeed a Very Brave Man!
Just the thought of that bio-degraded foam/tar/sludge/adhesive/guk gives me nausea and daytime Night Mares!