An update, at last

1 JUN 2025

Sorry it's been so long! I had the usual production problems last fall when the weather got cold, then at the beginning of the year my day job took over all my free time and energy and didn't let go until we launched our big project last week. Oh, and we bought a house and moved this spring so I lost my workshop, the old shed in the back yard.

So where are we now? I might be able to run the printer in the garage but we're going to need to add ventilation. On Friday I did a test run outside behind the house and, to be honest, when I got the first whiff of the resin fumes I though I might give up on the project. Resin printing is messy, nasty work, and I worry that I'm getting more sensitive to it the more exposure I have. But I got it done without too much trouble and if I can get everything dialed in again I shouldn't have to spend too much time dealing with toxic goop.

The next problem is I don't have any way to test them right now--the belt on my S2 broke right as I finished typing the thank you note for the last order I sent out. None of the other 16 or so Selectrics I have in the garage (go ahead and judge, sure) is in working order, either. Some day I'll get around to fixing them up..

This afternoon I brought out the old blue S2 for a belt replacement and I realized I have no idea where my crank tool is. That's the thing that lets you rotate the drive shaft by hand, which is pretty much necessary when there's no belt to do it. I'm sure I thought it would be obvious when I put it wherever I put it but I've been through everything even remotely Selectric-related and no luck. At least it made me clean up the office, finally. I've got a new crank on order now, and when it gets here I can put a new belt on the typewriter and then I can test the type elements I printed and the others I have on hand, and then if THAT goes well I can open the store back up.

Again, sorry it's been a while with no updates. Here's a teaser of what we've got coming up, assuming everything works out: