Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A story without words











8 comments:

  1. Great story. I made a comment similar to this on Adventures In Typewriterdom - it's amazing how a recovered platen, a new ribbon and a little cleaning will make these things last for another century. They really are quite remarkable.

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  2. Some day, I'll have to send my platens out for some refurbishing. I could probably do a couple batches of 5 and get them all done...

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  3. I need to do this too. I only have one typewriter with a new platen, and it makes a HUGE difference.

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  4. Strikethru, do it! It's one of the best things you can do for your typewriter! I'm sure you know this, but a rock-hard platen can damage the typeface on a typewriter over time, and leaves a not-so-good impression. I've been lucky in the way that typewriters with like-new platens just fly to me (not literally, that would be dangerous), and until you do get the platens re-covered, the best thing to do is put in two or three sheets of paper at a time to give the same cushioning effect of a new platen! Hope this helps!

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  5. That looks like a QDL. My own identical (I think) machine has petrified rubber.
    Which made this particular story very poignant for yrstrly.
    Do you mind divulging what the current rate is for a platen recovering? I seem to recall it being rather on the spendy side a few years ago.

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  6. It's a KMM. They didn't include an invoice, and I gave them carte blanche in advance to charge me whatever it cost, so I don't know how much it was yet; they may mail the invoice in a separate envelope, or I'll wait for my credit card bill. I'll post the information here when I have it. If past experience is a guide, it will be about $20, which is twice what the typewriter itself cost me at the thrift store! But well worth it.

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  7. The invoice arrived today. They charged me $12.55 + $7.57 shipping. Total: $20.12, very consistent with my prediction.

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  8. What a friggin deal!! Shame its gone the way of the mammoth.
    Newer places charge a helluva lot more if I remember others experiences right.
    If I ever get to travel back in time, id be sure to send all my platens to them for recovery... then again id prob go back in time and get a bunch of machines I want so id end up sending them 5000 platens and my bill would be $10K hahaha

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