Typewriters

256. Construction of Typewriter. The typewriter is a machine for printing letters (Fig. 145). The letters making the imprint are attached to shafts which can each swing to one point. Care should be taken to strike one key at a time, as they are all made to reach the same point, and contact with each other may cause bent shafts. If a shaft becomes bent, the letter attached to it will not swing to the desired point, so will be out of alignment, or will fail to leave a mark, since the imprint is made on a roller and the letter hits only the nearest part of the surface. The shaft may have one, two or three letters on it. This is made possible by the use of the shift key which raises or lowers the framework to which the roller is attached, so that when the machine is in normal position, one set of type on the keys will be imprinted, and, upon the holding down of a shift key and simultaneously striking a letter, another set of type will make the imprint. On some typewriters there are two shift keys, allowing three sets of characters to be used. The motion of the keys turns a small wheel which shoves the roller from right to left, and, also, turns the spools of ribbons so that a new bit of ribbon comes under the letter each time a key is struck. If the ribbon did not move, the letters would soon cut a hole thru it. This ribbon carries the ink which reproduces the imprint of the letter. When the end of a ribbon is reached, most machines reverse its direction so that it again winds onto the spool from which it has just unwound. On other machines, it is necessary to release the bar which controls the spools to reverse the winding of the ribbon.

257. Special Features of Typewriter. Learn how to use the attachments on the typewriter to get the greatest service from it. If a machine is equipped with tabulating keys, much time is saved by using them for the indentations instead of working the space bar until the desired place is reached, or by using both hands to release the carriage and move it to its desired place. Some machines are equipped with a key marked "ribbon" key. This key, when pressed, lowers the ribbon so that no impression from it is made on the paper. When the ribbon is removed, stencils may be cut with the letters for mimeographic work. These are only two examples. There are many automatic aids on each make of machine.

258. Interchangeable-Type Typewriters. On these machines, the type is not placed at the end of a shaft, but the complete set of letters is put on a semi-circular plate which is attached to a wheel which brings the desired letter to the point wanted when the key is pressed (Fig. 146).

The change of type can be made very easily so that with the proper semi-circular plate any one of several languages may be written on this kind of typewriter regardless of the characters used to represent the letters.

Charts of the keyboard are furnished with each set of letters to guide the operator in writing. This machine requires the same general care as other typewriters.

259. Care of Typewriters.

1) Read the directions for cleaning and oiling the machine. Keep them for future reference.

2) Do not attempt to take the machine apart. Only readjust parts for which such directions are given.

3) Use only the best grade of typewriter oil, and oil only where indicated. The average machine does not require oiling oftener than from ten to fourteen days.

4) Brush the entire machine each day before using. This prevents the accumulation of oil and dust, which retards the free action of the machine, and rusts or clogs the bearings and other parts.

5) Use a stiff brush to clean the type. If the type has become gummed with ink from lack of care, moisten the brush with alcohol or gasoline, and brush it until clean. Avoid cleaning the type with a sharp instrument, if possible, as it mars the edges. However, in case of the letters having an enclosed parts, such as c, d, e, b, g, p, a, s, c, q, it may require the careful removal of the deposit with a pin. After this treatment, the type should be well brushed. Keep machine covered when not in use. With proper care, a machine should stay in good order indefinitely. If, in any way, any part of a machine is out of adjustment, have an expert readjust it.

260. The Hectograph. The hectograph is one of the simplest devices for obtaining duplicate copies of written work (Fig. 147). It is a sheet like heavy paper or pad of jelly-like substance on which a reversed copy of the writing can be made and from which copies can be taken. The original copy is written with hectograph ink on smooth paper by hand, or on a typewriter, and allowed to dry. This copy is placed face downward on the hectograph pad, which has been moistened and rubbed to insure the contact at all places. It is allowed to remain here for three or four minutes. More time is required in cold weather, as the absorption of ink by the pad is slower. The paper is then removed, leaving a reversed impression on the hectograph plate. Copies are then made by placing dry paper on the impression and removing them instantly. Twenty copies may be taken. The plate should be washed in lukewarm water immediately after use. The hectograph plate should be about the temperature of an ordinary room; chilled plates produce faint prints. Never use cold water on the plate. Keep pen flowing freely when writing the original copy, by wiping it frequently. Keep the hectograph covered when not in use.

261. Mimeograph and Multigraph. The mimeograph (Fig. 148) is a more complicated device for reproducing duplicates than the hectograph, but more copies may be made at faster speed on this machine and the stencils may be saved for making more copies later. A stencil (tissue paper, usually blue, fastened to a sheet of equal size waxed cardboard) is cut by a typewriter. This is done by removing the ribbon and allowing only the outline of the type to cut thru the tissue which has been saturated with "Dermax," a liquid wax which is brushed over the surface of the waxed paper, and the tissue paper carefully smoothed out upon it. Some stencil paper or waxed sheets do not require this treatment of "Dermax"; instead a tissue or silk sheet is placed under the stencil paper. When the desired wording is cut, the cardboard is torn off at the perforated line, leaving the four holes which attach the stencil to the roller of the mimeograph machine. First see that the pad on the machine is well inked, and then fasten the stencil to the pins at the top of the roller and with bar at the bottom, seeing that it is smooth.

Set the adjustment which indicates the number of copies turned out, so that it is not necessary to count them while printing. (Full directions are printed on this adjustment.) Place the paper on the feed board, far enough down for the sheets to come in contact with the rollers which feed them in, and turn the handle. If the proportion of space at top is greater or less than desired, set the attachment for regulating the space. Full directions are printed on each attachment of most machines. See that the ink tank which is located inside the cylinder is kept full of the best ink. Ink the pad by pushing the brush across the inside of the perforated cylinder.

Multigraphs differ from mimeographs in that they print the copy from type instead of thru a stencil. The type is set in a cylinder that is covered by an inked ribbon. Manuscripts printed by a multigraph look more like typewriting than those printed by a mimeograph. When turning out less than a thousand copies, the mimeograph will be found more economical on account of the small amount of time required in preparing the stencil.

Questions for Part IX