I have recently been thinking a lot about this three-axle End Times van my son spotted in San Mateo a couple years ago.
Oliver No. 9
Been There, Done That: Oliver No. 9
My plan last week was to clean Moe’s Oliver No. 9 typewriter on Monday and Tuesday and get it back to Moe’s shop when she re-opened on Wednesday. I hated to keep the Oliver off her shelves longer than necessary, especially since it was getting so much interest even in its nonfunctional state.
Straightening Bent Typebars on the Oliver No. 9
I have been experimenting with Vine typewriter videos. Vine is a short-form video sharing service similar to YouTube, but the videos are a maximum of six seconds long. It’s a great format for me since I tend to be long-winded and it compels me To. Cut. To. The. Chase.
At Last: Oliver No. 9
Cue the Etta James: at last, my typewriter has come along. Thanks to help from friendly typospherians, this old green gal is typing. Check out my mad hunt-n-peck skillz:
Progress: The Oliver Advances!
Yesterday I wrote about an issue I was having with my Oliver No. 9: the carriage wasn’t advancing on typing and the ribbon vibrator seemed limited in range of motion.
The Printype Saga: Chapter Six
To be honest, I would have been disappointed if my Oliver No. 9 from eBay had arrived in functional condition – it would have deprived me of many hours of pleasant tinkering. I chose this Oliver primarily because she didn’t work.
Making a Carriage Draw Cord Hook & Reattaching the Cord to the Mainspring of an Oliver
My Oliver is a little miracle of Chicago engineering. It has a very clever draw band and carriage set up that works like this: a small hook attaches to the end of the draw band / draw cord. During routine carriage removal, this hook catches mid-machine on a little two-prong fork so that the draw cord doesn’t fly loose from the mainspring and cause the mainspring to lose tension.
Oliver Typewriter Mainspring Repair: AKA Insane Slinky Nightmare
Spring is sprung.
Frozen Rust: Oliver Clean Up
I woke up with a start in the morning thinking, “I have GOT to get some Evapo-Rust.”
The Oliver Has Landed – Hard
A package showed up today. It was marked “Fragile” and had some mysterious puncture wounds.
A New Baby on the Way
We’re expecting an ancient Oliver No. 9 any day now.
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