one typist in the 21st century

one typist in the 21st century

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Underwood De Luxe Quiet Tab font








Download the font here: Underwood Quiet Tab.ttf

Read about '50s Underwoods on Alan Seaver's site and Robert Messenger's blog.
Read about designer Paul A. Braginetz on Robert Messenger's blog.
And here's the black-and-white version of this machine.
Typed by Richard P at 7:36 PM
Labels: ,

21 comments:

  1. Bill MJanuary 15, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    Very nice typewriter from the trademark Deluxe to the great color scheme. The typeface is wonderful. I need to add this model to my wish list.

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  2. notagainJanuary 15, 2012 at 9:24 PM

    They sure knew how to design a logo back then, didn't they?

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  3. Miguel ChávezJanuary 15, 2012 at 9:31 PM

    Wow, I wonder if they ever sold this type of machine in my country; I'm definitely adding it to my wish list too.

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  4. Mike SpeegleJanuary 15, 2012 at 9:40 PM

    I like the googie-style paper-holder-upper-thingies! I'd never be able to use that thing; I'm far too high-strung.

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  5. Mike SpeegleJanuary 15, 2012 at 9:41 PM

    "Paper support." You named it right there. Sigh...

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  6. CameronJanuary 15, 2012 at 11:22 PM

    Wonderful typeface, indeed! Very distinctive.

    Somehow I can't imagine you being SEDATE...

    It reminds me of what I should do with my finicky Olympia SM-3, which bunches the ribbon every time I shift. So, I should use all lower-case letters!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Richard PJanuary 15, 2012 at 11:33 PM

    @Cameron: interesting comment -- in fact, people usually perceive me in person as very low-key and laid back. It must be that my blog expresses my inner turmoil!

    @Mike: Thanks for reminding me of the term googie. That's what this is: the googie typewriter!

    There is one for sale on eBay now, by the way.

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  8. maschinengeschriebenJanuary 16, 2012 at 3:38 AM

    Amazing typewriter design, and amazing typeface. Thanks for sharing this.

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  9. TedJanuary 16, 2012 at 10:40 AM

    Nice! I have that typeface in Elite on my Underwood Golden Touch. Sadly, mine is the fairly unexciting boxy design, but I love it anyway. (:

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  10. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 6:29 PM

    It's a nice one, but still a bit misaligned.
    For example, the A prints too left and high, it means that typebar is hitting on the left side of the guide (the letter will print even higher with a light keystrike) , or hitting on the right and being "thorwn" to the left (in this case will print with good alignment with a light keystroke).
    So, when you figured out the problem, you only have to bend the typebar to the right position.

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    Replies
    1. Richard PJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:40 PM

      You're quite right. I got the capitals and lowercase aligned better, but many individual typebars could still use some work. Thanks for the tips.

      Delete
  11. rnJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:48 PM

    I'm enjoying the fact that it's taken ten years to start working on this. Every typewriter has its moment. Beautiful. And thanks for the font.
    Rob

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  12. Rob BowkerJanuary 18, 2012 at 6:48 PM

    Yes, the black and white needs a siren and flashing lights, if only in photoshop. And a box of doughnuts on the dashboard. See what a warped images of the US we have this side of the Atlantic?

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  13. AnonymousJune 1, 2012 at 9:44 PM

    That has a nicer font than my model, the first brown and beige QTDL model which was essentially a souped-up Finger Flite Champion. Although I really prefer the warmer color scheme on the early version, I really like the newer ribbon cover and carriage lever on those later QTDLs (and the B&W version is super-cool as well). The font is also nicer on the ones you have. You're getting a very clean type. Are you using a normal ribbon?

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    Replies
    1. Richard PJune 2, 2012 at 12:20 AM

      Yes, it's a typical nylon ribbon. Thanks for your comment and I love your blog.

      Delete
  14. AnonymousJune 2, 2012 at 1:16 AM

    Thanks for the kind words about my blog, Richard.

    I asked about your ribbon, because I recall you mentioning using another kind of ribbon -- graphite or some such thing? Is that difficult to use? I suppose that other kind of ribbon would be nice insofar as it would never dry out. Am I correct about that? I think that would be very useful for those typewriters that don't make it into rotation very often and see little use.

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    Replies
    1. Richard PJune 6, 2012 at 5:55 AM

      On some typewriters you can use a carbon ribbon, which is a thin plastic strip coated with carbon on one side. The best kind is made for the IBM Selectric I and is a non-correctable, single-use ribbon. Although they can't be reused, one of these will last quite a while because they are very long, and as you say, drying out is not an issue. They create a very precise typescript.

      However, the typewriter mechanism needs to advance the ribbon far enough with every keystroke that there is no overlap between characters on the ribbon. As I recall, the Underwood portables do not advance the ribbon far enough to make it possible to use a carbon ribbon.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJune 8, 2012 at 12:55 AM

      Thanks for the info (and the warning about the Underwoods)!

      Delete
  15. AnonymousJune 13, 2012 at 3:19 AM

    I finally found one of these on eBay - woo-hoo!

    ReplyDelete

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