Daisywheel Typewriter Tricks

[@taskyprianou]

So versatile and so much fun too. Thanks for championing these often neglected gems.

[@christophermckellar1352]

Thanks, Joe! Going to get mine out again. Was looking for a script wheel, but the only one I found was not pretty. Time to try that again, too. Be well.

[@chadbrotherton1487]

Thank you for your wonderful typewriter videos! Please consider making a video about cleaning/lubricating daisywheel-based electric typewriters. I purchased an IBM Actionwriter I and I love how it types, but the corrective ribbon does not disengage correctly (have to use spacebar or backspace before the raised guides will fall back into neutral position). I am new to typewriters and am having trouble finding guidance on how to diagnose and correct an issue like this.

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

We ❤ Joe's typewriters.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I far prefer my collection of mechanical typewriters. BUT...this spring a retiring colleague who knew of my interest in typewriters gave me hers. Hers was not a daisy wheel, but similar concept: some kind of drum thing. I haven't really used it except to try it out. Then this month I had to fill out a grant application on a specific form. Much nicer to do it on that modern electronic typewriter. Sadly the drums are hard to find, so I can't change the typeface. On the other hand, this is a limited application. But they do have some good points!

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

Wonderful video. The filming and sound caption are super nice! These machines do indeed have really nice features that speed up the completion of work, be it home or professional work, due to helpful formatting features, and the super fast lift off correcting. Do you find the machine feeds standard #10 envelopes well, or is it safer to feed address labels for that purpose? I also wonder about the lack of a traditional paper bail affecting printing on cards? Daniel

[@Joe_VanCleave]

They do envelopes well, with the caveat to open the flap before feeding it in (I find this is true of manual machines as well.) I’ve done some small cards and haven’t had a problem, but you could also use that old trick of using a guide paper with a pleat folded in it to help secure the card.

[@michaelh.gerloff3659]

💯 for your video, Joe. I enjoy my brother AX-15, writing letters with several daisy wheels to pimp them a bit. The only thing I am missing is typing in different colors.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you!

[@dadtype2339]

Hi Joe, Back in the mid 90's we had a brother WP-2200, and man that truly was like a Computer and a Printer together, with its comical handle for "On The Go" as the document said, we'd jokingly act like who in the world would be on the streets of NY city in a power suit crossing the street with this portable fortress of a machine!? But that was a fun machine, I had written my first manuscript on it a murder mystery when I was 14, it helped me through High school impressed the teachers there and in college with professional looking reports, it actually made homework fun. I bring it up because it had the exact same head, the hammer, ink cartridge and correction tape, same, (except it); I dont believe, you could remove the type wheel, or maybe we never did. It had diect print, or Captured Printing and because of its fairly large Amber Green screen you could navigate within the document and and edit, but then save on a 3.5 hard disk, and pick up where you left off. Then hit print and it would machine gun Kelly the work out, I enjoyed watching it work, and watching this reminded me of thise days. I remember when the hype was this was what the authors of the time were using like Stephen King, Dean Koontz and the like, people were just starting to get used to computers with MS Word, and of course electric Typewriters. I eneded up trading it to a friend I met in college, she needed a serious word / Typewriter and couldn't afford one, but i saw something she had that I really liked, and so we made a trade she got the Hulking brother Word Processor and I had me a realld nice Torpedo 20 Typewriter from the early 50's it was in this pearl blue grey tone. And then a few years later the house I grew up in someone broke in and took a bunch of things that Typewriter and a lockbox that they probably though was filled with money and expensive items but in fact had all of my baby pictures in it. My mother had spent about 3 months gathering all my baby and kid pictures to make a scrapbook with and placed them ina container that happened to be a lockbox. Sge placed it in a drawer and was about to work on putting a photo album and keepsake memory book together like she had done for my brother. It broke my mothers heart loosing all my pictures no there's maybe 3 photos of me as a baby we have and at different stages. We both cried except I was at the time crying over my Typewriter...lol. Sucks to have something stolen, next thing to be stolen was my car and I had for years paid theift insurance, I felt after 10 years it was safe and i could stop paying the insurance, and wouldn't you know the luck the car was stolen about a month later and had it been stolen just one day earlier my theift insurance would have covered it... I miss that Torpedo Typewriter. But with a glad and happy heart, thank you Joe for bring back happy and fond memories of my Youth. These machines are absolutely time machines too. Gonna go read the article you write.

[@marksy3944]

I have 2 brother typewriters, one is probably this model, the other is an even older, more basic model. I love using them and wish I could find different typefaces. I was able to get "Prestige" at a local office supplies store but they didn't have any other typeface available.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I was able to get other type wheels from a US distributor of Rarotype print wheels. Just Google them.

[@RaveSoul02]

Hello i just picked up this model. It powers on and came with ink ribbon. When i start to type it types the wrong letter. M is ) and s is L and so fourth. I have adjusted the letter wheelso the pin matches the arrow and nothing. Its also catching? Is this more of a problem with keyboard and motherboard or something else? I appreciate the information. Great video!

[@Joe_VanCleave]

When you first power it on, the machine should do its reset: the carrier moves to the left side and the print wheel homes itself. The homing of the print wheel is where it aligns itself properly.

[@RaveSoul02]

@@Joe_VanCleave thank you! I actually did a manual reset a few times and it fixed itself! So excited. I also got an Olympia Orbit P it works amazing but it's impossible to find ink ribbons for a price that won't break the bank.