Fair price and ways to find a teletype

[tony duell]

[ASR33]

> This is a very delicate mechanical device.  In spite of the fabulous shipping crate, the bolts
>  installed to secure the printer, the shipping guys let us down. The thing had very rough
>  handling, sheared off the shipping bolts, the printer was totally shook up and Wayne and
> I are working on it to bring it back.

A general point. The 'Typing Unit' -- that is the main chassis with the motor, carriage, platen,
punch, in fact everything apart from the keyboard, tape reader and electronic unit is not
normally bolted down. It rests on rubber mounts. If you are shipping an Model 33, you
must either put in a shipping screw, or preferably remove the typing unit (it's just some
electrical connections and the H-plate link to the keyboard trip linkage) and pack it separately.
Otherwise you will have damage.

If it;s a real Teletype as opposed to, say a Data Dynamics 390 (which is  Teletype mechanicals
in a Data Dynamics case) then note that the plastic cover is likely to have gone very brittle with
age. Take care.


> You need to understand, and be prepared for handling a mechanical marvel, that there are
>  virtually no replacement parts.  You will have to be pretty good with your hands, have tools
> and a shop.  This is a totally mechanical device, and the innovation in it, how it works is so
> clever you will not get it without some help.

All I can say is YMMV (and mine certainly did). I rebuilt my first Model 33 when I was still
at what you would call high school. Back then there was no WWW, no places to get manuals,
no lists like this one. And I didn't have the paper manuals. I took the whole thing apart down to
the last nut and bolt. And got it running. You need a good hand tool kit, but not that much
more unless you need to make parts.

Perhaps because I had a mis-spent childhood but I had no problems figuring out how it
all works. It's not that complicated, it follows very logical principles.

> Lots of patience, and when things go wrong (they will) you will need the perseverance to
> stick with it.

That I will agree with. My first one, working without manuals, took about 6 weeks of tinkering
in the evenings after school and at weekends to get going. And it certainly didn't work first
time (it almost did, I had misunderstood the print suppression linkage).

-tony