Friday, January 7, 2022

Sears Medalist by Smith-Corona 4-Color Typewriter Ribbon

I can't get over how awesome the Smith-Corona electric typewriters are. I want to type, type, type until my fingers are numb.


 

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Happy Birthday, Dear Ted, from a Sears Medalist Electric 12







Obviously I like Ted Munk a lot. He's one of the finest typewriter people in all the world. I'm a huge fan of other folks too, especially Richard Polt for The Typewriter Revolution & Cold Hard Type series, and Joe Van Cleave's many insightful videos. I would've never gotten this far so quickly without the Typosphere. <3



The Sears 4-color typewriter ribbon is quite cool, could be easily spliced to use on any typewriter, wound onto any old spool, and more than 2 colors is possible. Connect the color-change with a grommet within a few inches of clean ribbon and it's good to go for practically any machine.



I revived this 50 year-old ribbon by unwinding and fluffing the length in a cardboard box while lightly misting it with WD-40 and then let it sit all afternoon to dry a bit before rewinding. As you can see in the type sample up top, it's still got a some colorful life to it.



The Smith-Corona 6-series electric typewriters give the fastest typebar experience! A power return can add some speed, but I'm more into creative rather than productive typing, so I like the old-fashioned return lever too.





The previous owner installed a rope handle. Perhaps for easier lifting out of the case?



The main reason I bought this typewriter is for the SCM Changeable Type international kit, because it will fit all my Smith-Corona 6-series machines, both electric & manual.