Sunday, August 04, 2013

Imperial Good Companion 4


24 comments:

  1. I love how this looks like one of your letters! A great post, and a very interesting story about Caroline at the airport. I'll have to remember to show them my typewriter when I go...

    Glad to see you back on the Typosphere. Been a bit boring around here without you. Ha!

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    1. Thanks, Ken, for your thoughtful comment.

      And I'm definitely looking forward to you working your typewriter magic here IN PERSON soon!

      Yes, folks, Ken is getting on an airplane & leaving his time zone for the first time, flying with his wife Leila across the country to come visit us here in The Woods later this month.

      So now the news is officially out, Typospherians. More soon about this amazing event! ;-)

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    2. You've let the cat out of the bag! I was going to surprise everyone with an in-depth post about it when we returned. Has anyone seen my thunder? Oh yea, that's right...CAM STOLE IT!

      HA!

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  2. With the ribbon vibrator, first thing to do is take some goo gone or other mild solvent to all the parts that slide past each other and then very sparingly oil them. If that doesn't do it, it's very likely one of the rods in the vibrator linkage needs a little bending, usually possible by hand.

    What you could do is lightly pencil in boxes where you want the photos to go and then add them in digitally afterwords--no quality loss there, and saves on ink.

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    1. Hello Nick,

      The ribbon vibrator has been lubricated and moves smoothly -- just not quite HIGH enough.

      My method for printing pictures in personal correspondence & adding typed text has always worked well for me in the past -- I simply need to plan the selection and placement a bit better before I start! Today I just had to jump in and do a blog post. High time after 5 months! All best wishes.

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  3. I've been curious about this Imperial Good model so thanks for sharing. I find it attractive, especially in that color combo. Loved the airport story!

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    1. Caroline is amazing, traveling so far to see us here in The Woods. I can only imagine the many other Customs stories she has to share! She was so generous to bring me this Imperial Good Companion, that truly lives up to its name. As well as the giver!

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  4. Glad you are back. That is a very nice typewriter. I like the typeface. The letter from Caroline is really nice.

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    1. Hi, Bill! I'm glad that you enjoyed Caroline's account of the IGC 4's journey across the pond.

      Actually, towards the end of her 7-week visit, I just asked her to sit down for a short recorded interview about how she passed through Customs with the typewriter, and I transcribed her words. I never thought about the "eBay angle" before. I'm so relieved it worked out!

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  5. Fascinating format for this typecast -- so you've taken digital photos, printed them, then redigitized the printing? I love it. And it's neat to see my ex-SF at work.

    The IGC4 is a neat, pretty little machine.

    I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy the visit from Ken and Leila. Looking forward to a report.

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  6. Have a look underneath the typewriter and you will see in a central position two levers connected by a screw and nut . This the height adjustment. Before you do that make sure that the ribbon is threaded correctly through the Vibrator, if you think it is OK go ahead and make the adjustment. If you can post a photo of the ribbon Vibrator I could tell you is the ribbon is fitted correctly...cheers

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  7. Great to see you posting again, Cameron! I loved reading the account of Caroline's trip through customs, and I totally sympathized with her trepidation that the typewriter might have come from a coke dealer - the horror! It is always chilling to be called out of that line. The IGC is lovely and I hope you enjoy using it. Will you and Caroline be doing a bit of sewing this time as well?

    P.S. I love your new format - I have always appreciated the photos in your correspondence and it is nice to see them popping up here as well!

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  8. Hi Ho, Cameron! I was about to send off a Where Art Thou? postcard after not seeing a post here for some time! Great tale and a most interesting machine. p.s. A letter goes off to you today!

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  9. Great to see you back at your posting station, Agent Cameron! Vive' le Resistance!

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  10. I had to squint, but it was fun reading, indeed !

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  11. That is a very pretty machine. Count me jealous!

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  12. Indeed it looks very much as your letters. Nice work. I loved the story of what happened at the airport! When I brought two typewriters back from Rob Messenger's place, I took them as carry-on as well and had equally as strange a reaction.

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  13. I like the way the format of your blog looks, Cameron, but I don't think I would have the patience or the forsight to bring it off. Actually, I'm not sure how you pull it off, although my best guess is that you print the images first and then type around them. That's where I would run into trouble, as I only have a vague idea of what I'm going to say before I start in.

    Anyhow, I've just realized that we are nearly neighbors. I drove up from Cool and snuck a nice (well, it has potential) Remington out from under your nose the other day: http://tonymindling.blogspot.com/2013/08/not-junker-theres-hope-in-this.html

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    1. Hi, Tony!

      Yes, we ARE indeed neighbors -- we live closer together than any of the other Typospherians I currently know - only an hour's drive away. So let's have a mini type-in sometime.

      The thrift stores in your town are very disappointing as far as typewriters are concerned, aren't they? They've caught the eBay bug, unfortunately, or ShopGoodwill. You can still find typewriters down in Sacramento, but even THAT is becoming scarce in recent months, as thrift stores struggle to make a buck, and these erstwhile machines become more popular.

      Great find on that Remington. Very cool. I have a soft spot in my heart for that brand.

      Email me sometime. Thanks for commenting!

      All best wishes,
      Cameron

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    2. P.S. This latest format on my blog posts is how I handle my personal correspondence (you are right; I print out the images first, then type around them) -- so it's easy and fun for me. Those folks who read these blogs on small devices are a bit out of luck Oh well. It's my way of being in the Typewriter Insurgency!

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  14. PS - I hope we can get together when Ken is out here.

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  16. Very lovely post! I love the "multimedia!" I also caught the reference to the cursive machines - my wife and I have a trio, ourselves - an SCM Galaxy (Love the big caps!), an Olympia Traveler, and I am returning home from this trip with a cursive SM7. Fun times!! I have to brave the TSA with typewriters quite a bit, and they've let me slide with a skyriter or hermes rocket left zipped away in my computer bag. :-) it still elicits the wonderment of "you have a ....... T y p e w r i t e r ....... ???" :-) thanks for sharing the great post!!

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  17. Just reading old posts... ive a ribbon vibrator issue on an oliver portable. Whats with the english???
    Love that good companion. The color is to die for

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