Great video. Thanks! I've done this with several of my type-balls. I use a small set of needle-nose pliers to remove the metal clip. I also write what the ball IS on top of the naked ball with a fine-tip sharpie.
My mother had the same typewriter. She took out a loan at HFC to pay for it and paid the loan back by typing out notes at night for a local company that would drop off the notes they hand wrote during the day and picked up the typewritten copy in the morning. It came with two elements that were in plastic boxes that looked like books, the boxes also included cleaner and a brush. Her machine was avocado green. Eventually we got deeper into graphics and added a Varityper and a 3M typesetter but I remember the old IBM the best.
Duuude, you got the Oriental! JL loves you. Artisan is one of my faves too. I also have a similar hack for broken ones, posted in the FB Golfball group. Another member 3D prints plastic clips. May as well break them all off in advance!
Cool! I got a Selectric II three weeks ago and it had a type ball with the broken hinge on. I bypassed that while cleaning the heavy grease, installing a new motor and hub but wondered exactly how the ball was held on. From your video all I needed were two small optical screwdrivers and off it came. I then split it apart like you did, cleaned, and bagged it.
I started my career at IBM in the mid-70's as a "Customer Engineer", repairing Selectric typewriters along with a plethora of other IBM Office Product equipment. Point of advice: When you remove an element which still has the lever, hold the body of the ball with one hand and lift the lever with the other. When you fail to do this, there is a great amount of torque placed on the base of the lever which can cause it to break. This is especially true given the probable age of the elements, as the plastic they are made from tend to grow brittle with age.
This is such a helpful resource here. Was wondering why one of my balls with yellow wasn’t quite staying on my selectric 2, thanks for this. Didn’t know the balls came apart but was curious about them. By the way, love the knife, my dad had one & my brother got me a newer one years ago.
Excellent video as ever, Joe. This has really piqued my interest - I once did a summer work placement in a firm that had Selectrics (we always referred to them as golf ball typewriters) and I was fascinated by them. At university, my own portable "word processor" was a daisy-wheel and that always felt second rate by comparison (and the type elements always looked a bit delicate to say the least). As I'm in the United Kingdom, every time you mentioned John Lewis, I'm slightly bemused, because there's a posh department store chain called John Lewis here in the UK, and my mind keeps being excited by the prospect of going in their store to pick up a new "golf ball" element! 😅
You have reverse snap ring pliers there, wherein they open, but they make a snap ring pliers with multiple tips and on will get in the loops and hold on, so when you squeeze, they will open and hang on like the original plastic latch did. Anyway, thanks.❤
I used Selectrics and Selectric-based wp's for a decade. We found, professionally typing, exactly the opposite. The earlier spring-loaded elements were much longer-lasting than the lever-type ones, and when those decided to break on the machine it'd usually require a service call to get the thing off the post. IBM went to the lever-type, according to an FE I worked with, because of women and their fingernails finding it easier than holding the two spring steel pieces. Certainly I've owned over 50 of these elements and I had no problem with home typing. But that's a whole 'nother world from professional work...
I've got two Selectrics...a first generation 711 that is fixed 10 pitch (with a carbon film ribbon), and a Personal Selectric that is a fixed 12 pitch that uses the Selectric III bicycle ribbon. I've got about a dozen elements for both...but I have to say, my favorite typestyles for both machines are Delegate (10) and Adjutant (12). They're the same font but in different pitches, and they both seem to be exclusive to IBM. Many other typewriter manufacturers had their own Prestige and Courier (a.k.a. "Brougham") fonts...but the Delegate/Adjutant style is proprietary to IBM, which is why I am so enamored with it.
If you don't have Orator Std and Orator 15 Pitch maake sure to collect both as they were the prevalent fonts used in public school offices and a lot of the early school purple worksheets (Dittos). Get a purple ribbon and type in them and it will spark a lot of nostalgia.
I have enough trouble choosing a typewriter… now you have to choose a typeface too? Arggh! Haha. I would like a letter from you in that Chinese and/or olde English type. They are fun.
Many, many thanks for sharing this technique. By the way, my favorite typeface is Large Elite because of its funky "8" with that "beret" or "slash" on its head. When I need to cram a lot of text into a small space, I'll use Adjutant, which is 9 point, I think, and does its best to present the illusion of having been printed rather than typed.
What I was thinking is that I could use a 3D printer to create new inserts for this type of typewriter and also for those with a daisy wheel (unfortunately I don't have a 3D printer yet, so I haven't been able to try it out yet)
The 1st generation elements without the lever design (like shown in the original commercial) seem like they would be the strongest & most convenient. Any idea why they went away from that?
Very cool. This makes me want a Selectric. :) And now I'm wondering about designing one's own type balls, and making them with CNC techniques or something... 😲
Great stuff! You are convincing me of getting a Selectric! I wonder if one could slide the springy holder to the left to remove it rather than opening it? Daniel
In their manual, IBM warns the user against putting excessive force on the element when replacing it. I’d be cautious about applying excessive force, else the alignment may be thrown off.
Do you know how many different font balls were ever made? I have about 25, wondering if there are still any i don't have in my collection. Also i have multiple doubles and triples in case a ball breaks a tooth (which usually renders it unusable, sadly).
Somewhere online I’ve seen an IBM catalog of type elements, but don’t recall how many they made. There was also the GP branded balls, with funky typefaces like Oriental and Caligraphy.
I've soldered copper wire on in place of the hinge in the past. It works ok.... it's easy to melt the plastic. Your method works better. Instead of using pliers, can't you just slide the clip off?
Those for Selectric 2s, yes. The “bicycle style” cartridge for the 3 is out of manufacture and getting harder to find. The Selectric 1 came in two mechanisms, an open-reel film ribbon and a cloth ribbon in a cartridge, both can be found online. I like the latter because you can easily open up and replace the cloth ribbon.
Despite your best intentions, no, the Selectric came out in 1961. However, there is a history of IBM cooperating with the German government at that time -- along with other western corporations.
"Less.....domestic turmoil...you should THANK me for getting these...." LOL Joe, you staved off being bashed over the head with a Groma Kalibri this time...but , I'm sure there are limits to her patience. You just don't want to know what they are...
Great video. Thanks! I've done this with several of my type-balls. I use a small set of needle-nose pliers to remove the metal clip. I also write what the ball IS on top of the naked ball with a fine-tip sharpie.
My mother had the same typewriter. She took out a loan at HFC to pay for it and paid the loan back by typing out notes at night for a local company that would drop off the notes they hand wrote during the day and picked up the typewritten copy in the morning. It came with two elements that were in plastic boxes that looked like books, the boxes also included cleaner and a brush. Her machine was avocado green. Eventually we got deeper into graphics and added a Varityper and a 3M typesetter but I remember the old IBM the best.
Good tutorial!!! Good mention about the yellow triangle not fitting the "1" series.
Duuude, you got the Oriental! JL loves you. Artisan is one of my faves too. I also have a similar hack for broken ones, posted in the FB Golfball group. Another member 3D prints plastic clips. May as well break them all off in advance!
Phoenix Typewriter has a repair video for elements that get stuck; I had to make use of it haha
👏👏 👍👍
Cool! I got a Selectric II three weeks ago and it had a type ball with the broken hinge on. I bypassed that while cleaning the heavy grease, installing a new motor and hub but wondered exactly how the ball was held on. From your video all I needed were two small optical screwdrivers and off it came. I then split it apart like you did, cleaned, and bagged it.
Ooh, Oriental is extremely rare. very jealous! :D
I need to type up some Asian restaurant menus!
Same! Been hunting for 2 years now. Congratulations on your find!
I started my career at IBM in the mid-70's as a "Customer Engineer", repairing Selectric typewriters along with a plethora of other IBM Office Product equipment. Point of advice: When you remove an element which still has the lever, hold the body of the ball with one hand and lift the lever with the other. When you fail to do this, there is a great amount of torque placed on the base of the lever which can cause it to break. This is especially true given the probable age of the elements, as the plastic they are made from tend to grow brittle with age.
This is such a helpful resource here. Was wondering why one of my balls with yellow wasn’t quite staying on my selectric 2, thanks for this. Didn’t know the balls came apart but was curious about them. By the way, love the knife, my dad had one & my brother got me a newer one years ago.
Excellent video as ever, Joe. This has really piqued my interest - I once did a summer work placement in a firm that had Selectrics (we always referred to them as golf ball typewriters) and I was fascinated by them. At university, my own portable "word processor" was a daisy-wheel and that always felt second rate by comparison (and the type elements always looked a bit delicate to say the least). As I'm in the United Kingdom, every time you mentioned John Lewis, I'm slightly bemused, because there's a posh department store chain called John Lewis here in the UK, and my mind keeps being excited by the prospect of going in their store to pick up a new "golf ball" element! 😅
Great stuff, Joe. Love the idea of using broken golf balls!
Thanks 👍
You have reverse snap ring pliers there, wherein they open, but they make a snap ring pliers with multiple tips and on will get in the loops and hold on, so when you squeeze, they will open and hang on like the original plastic latch did. Anyway, thanks.❤
I used Selectrics and Selectric-based wp's for a decade. We found, professionally typing, exactly the opposite. The earlier spring-loaded elements were much longer-lasting than the lever-type ones, and when those decided to break on the machine it'd usually require a service call to get the thing off the post. IBM went to the lever-type, according to an FE I worked with, because of women and their fingernails finding it easier than holding the two spring steel pieces. Certainly I've owned over 50 of these elements and I had no problem with home typing. But that's a whole 'nother world from professional work...
I've got two Selectrics...a first generation 711 that is fixed 10 pitch (with a carbon film ribbon), and a Personal Selectric that is a fixed 12 pitch that uses the Selectric III bicycle ribbon. I've got about a dozen elements for both...but I have to say, my favorite typestyles for both machines are Delegate (10) and Adjutant (12). They're the same font but in different pitches, and they both seem to be exclusive to IBM. Many other typewriter manufacturers had their own Prestige and Courier (a.k.a. "Brougham") fonts...but the Delegate/Adjutant style is proprietary to IBM, which is why I am so enamored with it.
7:19 just slide the clip to the left, it should slide right out. You could bend the tips of the clip so it slides in easily.
If you don't have Orator Std and Orator 15 Pitch maake sure to collect both as they were the prevalent fonts used in public school offices and a lot of the early school purple worksheets (Dittos). Get a purple ribbon and type in them and it will spark a lot of nostalgia.
Caramba, que nostálgico, usei muito a Orator 10 em uma Seletric III com memória eletrônica, quando trabalhei em um colégio, aqui no Rio de Janeiro 🇧🇷.
I have enough trouble choosing a typewriter… now you have to choose a typeface too? Arggh! Haha. I would like a letter from you in that Chinese and/or olde English type. They are fun.
Grew up with the Selectric typewriters. Wrote a few papers for grade school on them. Even one typewriter (a different model) had an erase function.
I have such a typewriter, unfortunately it is defective and I haven't got around to repairing it yet
Many, many thanks for sharing this technique. By the way, my favorite typeface is Large Elite because of its funky "8" with that "beret" or "slash" on its head. When I need to cram a lot of text into a small space, I'll use Adjutant, which is 9 point, I think, and does its best to present the illusion of having been printed rather than typed.
WOW these are absolutely gorgeous typefaces..
What I was thinking is that I could use a 3D printer to create new inserts for this type of typewriter and also for those with a daisy wheel (unfortunately I don't have a 3D printer yet, so I haven't been able to try it out yet)
The 1st generation elements without the lever design (like shown in the original commercial) seem like they would be the strongest & most convenient. Any idea why they went away from that?
Good question, not sure why.
Realmente, as primeiras versões não tinham o acabamento em plástico, era só o “clip” de metal.
Very cool. This makes me want a Selectric. :)
And now I'm wondering about designing one's own type balls, and making them with CNC techniques or something... 😲
@@daveaw89 Wow. Seems... likely to be (and even visibly, in the one picture they show there) of really poor quality/reliability, but... still, cool!
Great stuff! You are convincing me of getting a Selectric!
I wonder if one could slide the springy holder to the left to remove it rather than opening it? Daniel
In their manual, IBM warns the user against putting excessive force on the element when replacing it. I’d be cautious about applying excessive force, else the alignment may be thrown off.
Do you know how many different font balls were ever made? I have about 25, wondering if there are still any i don't have in my collection. Also i have multiple doubles and triples in case a ball breaks a tooth (which usually renders it unusable, sadly).
Somewhere online I’ve seen an IBM catalog of type elements, but don’t recall how many they made. There was also the GP branded balls, with funky typefaces like Oriental and Caligraphy.
Quando algum dente quebra, e você tem o pedaço é possível colar, já salvei várias esferas usando SuperCola de secagem lenta.
I've soldered copper wire on in place of the hinge in the past. It works ok.... it's easy to melt the plastic. Your method works better. Instead of using pliers, can't you just slide the clip off?
Are the ribbons for the Selectrics still being manufactured?
Those for Selectric 2s, yes. The “bicycle style” cartridge for the 3 is out of manufacture and getting harder to find. The Selectric 1 came in two mechanisms, an open-reel film ribbon and a cloth ribbon in a cartridge, both can be found online. I like the latter because you can easily open up and replace the cloth ribbon.
@@Joe_VanCleave very good to know. Thank you. I’ll steer clear of the S3s.
Did they use these in german concentration camps? It has been recorded that IBM was supplying them with all kibds of body corpse accounting equipment
Despite your best intentions, no, the Selectric came out in 1961. However, there is a history of IBM cooperating with the German government at that time -- along with other western corporations.
O sistema que a IBM USA negociou e vendeu e fomentou o “Holocausto” foi o Hollerith.
"Less.....domestic turmoil...you should THANK me for getting these...." LOL Joe, you staved off being bashed over the head with a Groma Kalibri this time...but , I'm sure there are limits to her patience. You just don't want to know what they are...
epic