Tag Archives: smith corona skyriter

A Month of Doctors and Stories

So, this isn’t typewritten, obviously… It’s because I’m working on the final proof for this story. At this point, it is literally just itty-bitty things like silly spelling mistakes that are notoriously difficult to catch because our mind automatically corrects them.

This month… phew… well… This month is literally the month of doctors. Got my psychiatrist (who should be ecstatic to see my weight loss, but not too happy to hear about the recent mood swings and increase of agoraphobia) today. I’m having one of those days that I’d cancel on a dime if my partner couldn’t drive me or at the very least be with me. I’m actually becoming genuinely worried the Wellbutrin is losing its effect. Later this month, I’ve got a ‘catch-up’ appointment with my GP. Around that time, I’ve got a 6-month check-up with my cardiologist. (That should have happened last month, but… yeah, didn’t happen.)

I’ve plateaued the last two days, but it could be because I’ve switched up my diet a bit to increase protein. The result could be that I’m building muscle while burning fat so it causes a zero weight lost weigh-in. I’m fairly confident that I’m not losing muscle and building fat — which is the other scenario. I’m trying very hard to not bring in powders. Aside from the asinine cost, they’re nothing but chemicals.

The rain will be away for a week or so. I should be able to restart work on the Skyriter as a result. I’ll need to do another cleaning first before its entirely done, but that is mostly touch-up. Some of the keys have begun to stick again, which wasn’t entirely unexpected. At least it is the same keys that were giving me issues before. I’ll have to resort to using mineral oil and some powerful compressed air, I believe. The metal isn’t bent, so the friction isn’t originating from that. It must be gunk.

The story isn’t the original one I had intended to finish… It ended up being an “End of the World” or “Apocalypse” one that came out of no where. A sentence came to my head while I was trying to sleep during the “Great Houston Flood of 2015”. After that, I couldn’t sleep. I ended up staying up to write — good thing too considering the patio was really starting to flood and I had to wake up my partner to help combat the flood waters.

It’ll be going off to a few friends (4-5) for readings. One of them is really excited to read it after I told him about it. Hopefully it won’t let him down. It’s a different kind of story for that age old subgenre of science fiction. Well… not necessarily a different kind of story but a different kind of format since all apocalypse stories are effectively the same: something triggers something, that something is bad, that bad something causes horrific results — unexpected or expected, said horrific results tend to cause mass extinction or near to it. It is just one of those subgenres that tends to follow a formula. What makes each story unique isn’t necessarily the characters or the plot or what causes things to happen, but how it is presented.

In these stories, there are a lot of coincidences that I feel a writer can abuse. The protagonist just happens to be former military or just happens to know survivalist techniques or just happens to run upon a running car, as examples. Or, even better, out of the entire nation said protagonist is in, s/he just so happens to run upon a group of survivors.

I find these things far too convenient and, honestly, boring and repetitive. If I wanted to read about a military protagonist having flash backs and telling war stories to the group s/he’s found, I’d go read a non-fiction book about World War II. At least then, the dialogue wouldn’t feel stilted and forced and full of jargon just to “make the point” the protagonist has that background.

Anycase… /end{rant}

Got just over 30 minutes before my ride. Since this is the schedule for last week, it’s only a 45 minute ride. The week off really did a world of good for me though. My cruising speed (rpe 3-4, zone 2) really has increased and stabilized between 16-17 mph. Before it was between 14-15 mph.

Until later, be safe and enjoy y’all’s days.

Bae

 

Skyriter Update & Forthcoming Articles

Tue 5-12

This side probably showed some of the most improvement post cleaning. The front was just caked with grime and old ink. This just goes to show how quality materials do, in fact, pass the test of time.
The sides were cleaned up as well. Everything got a thin layer of metal protectant that doesn’t attract dust. The spool systems got cleaned up as well.
The reverse side of the front was cleaned as well — though it doesn’t show it very well. I couldn’t reach it as well, but q-tip after q-tip came out dirty until it was a 20% French grey versus Onyx. 😉
WP_20150512_09_55_05_Pro

Our cat Maze. Figured y’all could use some cuteness. This is her asleep in her tower enjoying whatever sun beams there might be on this rainy, cloudy day.

 

House Husbandry Rants and Skyriter Work

(Sorry for the tons of typos. I was typing standing up and moving back and forth between doing this. Normally not that bad!)

Sun 5-10

Empty registry bay.
The pin that was holding the keys in place. I was expecting a struggle to get it out, but a few gentle taps of a hammer made it come loose.
Post cleaning. Gleaming like it should again.
At least we can all be rest assured that these keys won’t be going on auction for arts and crafts.
This is an example of how the keys used to look before cleaning.
Post cleaning. Big difference, eh?
All done. Now /that/ is how they should look and not grimy n’ dirty!

Updates and Painting Skyriters

Okay guys…

*sighs*

A lot has happened the last few days that I haven’t been able to actually sit down and do a typecast then post it. Yesterday (Friday) and today, I’ve had a friend over. Didn’t cycle yesterday or today, but still lost weight, so I’m good with that. Haven’t worked on the Skyriter lately, but I just got my sewing machine back, so I’ve got to clean up the quilt room and set up my machine again. Woo!

I need to do some shopping for the Skyriter. Nothing big — nothing that deals with replacement parts or anything like that. (Though, the key tension adjustment needs a replacement. Moving the lever from ‘L’ to ‘H’ does nothing since there is no actual tension from the spring!)

If I do any work on it today, it’ll be removing the carriage like I did last time to separate it into its two parts: carriage and register modules. From there it’s just a matter of just doing work on it slowly but steadily.

A commenter on a previous post wants to do a color change for his Skyriter, so I might cover how to do that in later posts. (Shout out to Teeritz.) The trick about these machines is getting the colors right. These early ones have Hunter Green keys that are difficult to get some good color combinations with. Some suitable colors are in the wheat family, deep to medium purples and a very selective collection of blues. The wheats will bring out the Hunter Green in a very big way while the purples will complement and harmonize more. The blues will tend to give a more ‘relaxed’ feel.

These Skyriters also have metal cases. So there is a lot of potential of having fun there too.

The biggest issue, as I mentioned in my reply to Teeritz, is that this paint could contain lead. That is obviously bad. You don’t want to exactly inhale lead dust unless you want you screw yourself over in an awesome fashion.

If you decide to go the sanding route, for the love of all that is good and holy, wear the appropriate respirator! Do all work by hand, unless you’ve a sander that collects dust — even then I wouldn’t risk it. Clean up is annoying. The entire work area has to be vacuumed with a HEPA certified vacuum. Then all surfaces that could be contaminated need to be wet mopped to prevent spread of the dust.

If you want to do any painting to any of these older typewriters, I would highly suggest finding a primer that doesn’t require sanding. They exist — I have a quart sitting on my work area right now. The one I plan on using is called Bulls Eye Water-Base Multi-Purpose Primer and Sealer by Zinsser. This stuff will stick to any clean surface so sanding is not required.

As a rule, do two coats of primer. Several of the color, sanding lightly between each to remove any possible unevenness. (Use a spray applicator for the color if possible! The sanding should be done with fine grade sand paper so you’re just smoothing the surface and not really removing paint.) After the final coat of color, apply a sealant/protectant like polyurethane. (For those who have done any refinishing of any kind, especially on guitars, this process will be all too familiar.) The coats of the protectant  should be the thickest of all layers since its job is to protect that paint. Choose whatever finish you want (matte, satin, gloss, semi-gloss…) but make sure you use a spray applicator and get everything evenly! Patience is key here, y’all. Don’t rush. Go to your place of Zen, take your time, and have happy thoughts on how awesome your typewriter will look.

Until later, be safe and have enjoy y’all’s days,

Bae

May I Introduce…

Wed 5-06

Early Skyriters had metal cases because they’re derivatives of the Zephyr. All Zephyr cases fit Skyriters!
Note the short carriage return lever.
I’ve tried to find out what “CEEE” might stand for, but all of it seems a bit too bogus for this typewriter. The ‘S’ has been smashed through, but this is fixable.
A look at the filthy internals. This typewriter was heavily used then heavily forgotten!
I found this interesting… The rubber feet are absent and instead cork is used.
Showing its heritage versus the other one which was made in England.
More filth… I tried to use compressed air to no avail. This stuff is the sticky, icky, grimy kind.
A small look at the platen and the state of the felt under the typebars. The original metal spools did not come with it. I have some proof it was used into the 80’s, so it makes sense.
I only cleaned the MR key here. Go between this one and the next to see the difference.
After the cleaning. Some of the keys appear to be gnawed on like by a cat or possibly someone was tapping a pointed object on the keys.
I decided to try something new on this guy. I pulled out a ‘secret weapon’ weapon and tried it on the keys. Made them reflective again! The keys on the left are done, the keys on the right (cloudy/hazy ones) aren’t. They’re clean though.
Fully finished keys. If this thing could speak, I wonder if it was thinking, “I’m in a spa!”
The icky bend. I fixed this already and is fully functional again. The ‘Skyriter’ plate was bent and dinged in some areas, those are gone/fixed as well.

UPDATE: I’ve actually done some work on this today, off and on. The platen is recovered and conditioned. The typebars, -heads, and -faces are cleaned. The margin sets are cleaned and polished, along with their bar. The paper rest is fully functional and unbent — along with the name plate. Miscellaneous things have been cleaned as well.

Just chugging along and enjoying my time with this. I’m learning new things this time around and using different techniques. Thankfully the new things are good and the techniques are giving excellent results.

Frankly, I’m really proud of the unbent paper rest. Such a simple thing, but for some reason, I have an inkling people would consider that part “dead”.