a true labor of love

January 25, 2005 9:06 AM

A fantastic example of old meets new, a man spends weeks crafting the perfect Christmas gift for his wife, with spectacular results. I give you the typewriter-keyboard conversion: a true labor of love. Makes me want to dig up my grandpa's old Underwood and give it a go.
posted by Igor XA (27 comments total)

and i searched as hard as i could and i could not find this posted elsewhere.
posted by Igor XA at 9:07 AM on January 25, 2005

I saw this last night on that Slashdot discussion about the fisher-price-like keyboard. I was very much impressed, and would love to try this out myself.

Apparently he wired it so that the key isn't "pressed" until the hammer hits the bridge. A little strange, to me. I would have wired it with a little less resistance, so that touch-typing would be easier. Unfortunate that he didn't get the backspace key to work.

Seems the better place to do the wiring would be beneath the keys, somewhere. But, then you lose the full typewriter effect, I guess. Still a delightful little project I'd love to try someday.
posted by odinsdream at 9:11 AM on January 25, 2005

1) That is f-r-e-s-h!
2)Thanks.
3)Very Brazil.
4)I'd buy one if I had any money to spend and anyone made em to sell.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:19 AM on January 25, 2005

I'm hoping this doesn't turn out to be a double, because this truly is Best of the Web. Fascinating and oddly inspiring. Thanks, Igor.
posted by soyjoy at 9:48 AM on January 25, 2005

Freaking great post.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:50 AM on January 25, 2005

This is even more Brazil.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 9:59 AM on January 25, 2005

Great, thanks. And nice addition, Zed_.
posted by taz at 10:18 AM on January 25, 2005

Love this. I too would buy one. Someone start a company, stat.
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:06 AM on January 25, 2005

There's also an Underwood with a mini-itx PC shoehorned into it. Disappointingly, the keyboard mechanism was replaced with a plastic keyboard (topped with the original keys).

This is definitely cooler.
posted by O9scar at 11:34 AM on January 25, 2005

This is why women love their geeks. :) That's the sweetest Xmas gift I've seen in a long time.
posted by dabitch at 11:35 AM on January 25, 2005

Fantastic post! My mind's working overtime on alternatives for all of that soldering. I can imagine a system where you mount a membrane keyboard underneath, and attach some sort of an extension to each key that would depress the underlying membrane key.
posted by SteveInMaine at 11:36 AM on January 25, 2005

yay! i have a winner! i feel like a real part of the community now. finally. after years of lurking.

oh, and O9scar, i saw that one too. i was also disappointed by the lack of the original keyboard.
posted by Igor XA at 11:38 AM on January 25, 2005

Ha! This is great. I also want to make one or, better yet, pay or convince someone else to make one for me...
posted by vacapinta at 12:31 PM on January 25, 2005

The detective in one of the shorts in the Anamatrix is shown "hacking" with a computer with this type of keyboard and some other analog inputs (dials and stuff).
posted by 445supermag at 12:33 PM on January 25, 2005

all hacking should involve dials ans stuff.
posted by dabitch at 12:36 PM on January 25, 2005

If that project seems too daunting, you could always make some jewelry from typewriter keys.
posted by fixedgear at 1:21 PM on January 25, 2005

Tried before?
posted by jon_kill at 1:28 PM on January 25, 2005

I love it when someone is really, really in love. This is beautiful...
posted by fluffycreature at 1:44 PM on January 25, 2005

This is even more Brazil.

Yesssssssssss. Terry Gilliam would be proud.
posted by The God Complex at 2:15 PM on January 25, 2005

I love it when someone is really, really in love. This is beautiful...

That was my first reaction, too. I'm such a softy in my old age!
posted by The God Complex at 2:16 PM on January 25, 2005

What an incredibly sweet and considerate gift. This is hacking of the highest order.
posted by QIbHom at 2:41 PM on January 25, 2005

odinsdream - His wife said that what she liked about the manual t/w was the gradual resistance - the weight of the hammers provided that. If he'd done it "the easy way", it would have missed the point.

Cool post, Igor XA.
posted by swell at 2:41 PM on January 25, 2005

Ditto
posted by Heatwole at 4:15 PM on January 25, 2005

I would love for someone to wire my ancient typewriter thusly. I love that typewriter, and much prefer to compose on it, but it's almost impossible to get the ribbons for it anymore, and thus, it sits idle much more than I would like.
posted by dejah420 at 4:51 PM on January 25, 2005

Damn, I missed it and it's gone. Did anyone mirror?
posted by bingo at 5:04 PM on January 26, 2005

not me, but trust us, it was dead romantic in a hacker-sorta-way.
posted by dabitch at 5:07 PM on January 26, 2005

Now that no one cares anymore it is back up. Oh, you'll never come back here again.
posted by nanojath at 7:27 PM on February 24, 2005