Hello fellow typewriter, thrifting, and technology enjoyer! I stumbled upon this blog from your vintage-tech blog and wanted to ask: What is your favorite typewriter(s) and pitch to use? My favorite is the correcting Selectric II for general writing in Elite, and a Silent-Super for labels in Pica.
Hello fellow human who loves what I love!
Favorite typewriter: My weapon of choice is this...
It's a 1965 Sears Forecast 12, which was actually made by Smith-Corona (thus the two red Change-a-Type keys). The action is pretty average, but it's been reliable and I do love my Change-a-Type characters. I admit I have lost count of how many of those I own.
Since only one of my typewriters (the daisywheel Royal Beta 8000T) has the ability to change styles, I don't really have an answer for pitch.
I will however tell you my favorite machine font...
Thanks for sharing! I do love the action on Smith Coronas, they have my preferred function for space bars. Excellent color on the Oliver too, reminds of the keys on a Royal I found at the Bins once.
The Oliver does have a nice bold font to it, I wonder if a version could be made for the Selectric typeball. If I ever get around to acquiring a resin printer I might give it a try.
I didn't think to ask about fonts, but my favorite is Spencerian Script, I first used it on a 12 pitch Signature 440T typewriter (made by Brother I believe).
It's in rough shape, and the action is a little mushy, but it's probably my favorite non-electric typewriter for general writing if I'm not using the Selectric. I find I can't type quite as fast on other non-electrics somehow, even if the action is more crisp.
I liked the font so much that I found someone who makes 3D printed resin typeballs, Austin Selectric Rescue, and ordered one for my Selectric. They work very well, and many other fun fonts are available as well.
I think the "script" wheel for the Brother daisywheels is the same font also but I can't find any photos readily available for comparison at the moment.
First off, that is WAY COOL that you can get custom Selectric balls made. That's probably the only way I will ever find balls for the Brother Ball-o-Writer, next time I ever find one (I've passed on 3 of them so far).
Second, I know that color of green.
The Quiet De Luxe was definitely not the only model that used that deep green color for the keys, or Royal even the only maker.
I do love that script for not being the predictable flowing cursive used in church programs for decades. [Below is a sample found online, because while I own several things written in related fonts I don't have them handy.]














