where to buy typewriters

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• James Cook is a typewriter artist from Essex, England who uses vintage typewriters to make intricate, typewritten drawings.
• He uses hundreds or thousands of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks to construct his drawings, which create shading, texture, perspective, and occasionally splashes of colors.
• He does not use pencils or paint, only the keys of his typewriters.
• He uses @ symbols to create skin tones and underscores and capital I’s for brickwork to create vertical lines.
• From a distance, the images resemble illustrations or prints, but up close, one can see the numbers and punctuation marks.
• The drawings may contain hidden words or phrases for the viewer to find, adding a layer of complexity and engagement.
• Eye drawings are the hardest facial feature to get right.
• James notes that something A4 sized could take a week, and one image of the London skyline took two months.
• James enjoys typing outdoors, and all of his favorite typewriters have portable cases. As people watch him creating his artwork, many are surprised by what they see.
• James has approximately 63 typewriters in his collection. He has been fortunate that members of the public donate preloved machines to his collection. Each typewriter has different personalities, sounds, and keys.
• While most people don’t write with typewriters anymore, some things (like these machines) never die.
• No information is offered in this transcript as to where to buy typewriters.
• The adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” was coined in 1921 by advertising executive Fred R. Barnard to promote his firm, but James Cook uses thousands of words to make his typewritten drawings more than 100 years later.
• The first typewriter was introduced in 1868, and the last remaining typewriter factory in the world, located in Mumbai, India, closed in 2011.

• Lucas Dul, a typewriter repairman, has been studying and repairing typewriters for nearly a decade. He has repaired typewriters from 1880 to 1980.
• A late 1930s Royal brand portable typewriter made for export to India during the British imperial reign is restored.
• The restoration involves taking apart the entire machine for deep cleaning, removing rust with a wire brush, replacing discolored keys, reassembly, and a type test to ensure the machine works perfectly.
• Timecodes for the different steps of the restoration are provided: 00:34 Disassembling, 01:05 Cleaning the mechanics, 01:44 Cleaning the keyboard, 02:37 Creating new glass keys, 02:52 Replacing parts, 03:11 Reassembling, 04:57 Typing adjustments, 05:34 Repairing the case, 06:22 Reveal.
• The typewriter had accumulated a lot of dirt and rust, which required a deep cleaning process.
• For rough machines, like this Royal typewriter, the internal type bars and the actuator rods are all removed aside for individual cleaning.
• Mineral spirits with a soft-bristle brush are used to clean bare metal surfaces, and all the keyboard keys are disassembled to remove accumulated corrosion.
• To clean the keyboard, a razor blade is used to scrape off all of the accumulated corrosion that is stuck to the surface of the glass.
• New glass rings need to be fabricated when they break, cut by hand from around a 16th-inch-thick piece of glass.
• Springs that are missing on the typewriter get replaced, together with other pieces.
• The most critical part about assembling Royal typewriters are the ball bearings, which require a straw to insert them along the carriage rail.
• All typewriters are individually adjusted so that the parts work well together, and parts from one machine to fill into another machine that is missing those parts need to be adjusted.
• Generally, the case is a secondary aspect of the restoration, but it might still need some care, such as counter-sinking holes or cutting a strip of leather for a new handle onto the case.
• The cost of restoration has to be weighed against the monetary and sentimental value of the machine, as even cosmetically bad machines can be restored.
• Lucas Dul has an Instagram account and a website, which could lead to potential contacts or resources for typewriter purchases.

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