The Corsair picture brings back memories. The first machine I could call "mine" looked just like that one, bought for next to nothing at a garage sale and disposed of (by a parent who actively discouraged my literary ambitions) for even less. In recent months, I have forced myself to resist the temptation to replace it. I may live to regret it.
I found one of these at the thrift once. It proved to be defective, unfixable, and extremely flimsy (I could bend important pieces with one hand). I dismantled it as far as I could and ended up with hundreds of useful springs and screws that have saved my bacon more than once!
I fully expect this machine not to survive this summer's wizarding event (if my young nephews are any indication - they just POUND on the SMC Classic I gave them). But I sure like it and will try to get some letters written on it before I send it off!
Have one of these myself that I'm currently offering up at a local consignment shop. I feel dirty about that.
This is the first machine I ever typed on: my mother had one exactly this color.
Both of my two corsair-era machines have the same issue: the line space selector is nonfunctional and just flops loosely back and forth, stuch in single-space. I'm guessing this must be a common problem since both have the same issue.
@MT: that's a very sad story! Literary ambition should never be squashed.
@Richard: I was expecting worse when I bought this one, and then did some searching on PTF afterwards. "What have I done?" came to mind. Maybe I got lucky?
@Ledeaux: The Classic will probably last a good long while. Dunno about the Profile/Corsair, but short of bending things or forcing parts to move that don't want to, I think it should be able to withstand a few eager hands. I use the benchmark of the BTO as what a truly abused typewriter must experience.
@Duffy: I just tried it, and the lever on my machine is loose, too: there's no distinct "click" into place. I have had some issues with the line space on my Skyriter, too: it may be a weakness of the design. Unlike your machine(s), though, I am able to double space on this machine. At least for the moment...
I've had a, hmm, 'crush' you might say, on these Corsair/Cougar-type SCM typers for a long time now. I'm not expecting them to be among the best small typewriters, but I wondered how you would compare this to a cheap Nakajima or Silver Seiko. (I have versions of each, so I'd use them for my comparison) I'm not swimming in money, so I want to know if it would be a foolish idea to try to search one of these out, regarding quality.
Send me a reply in email, maybe, in case I forget to check back on this post. belandnick (at) yahoo.com
6 comments:
The Corsair picture brings back memories. The first machine I could call "mine" looked just like that one, bought for next to nothing at a garage sale and disposed of (by a parent who actively discouraged my literary ambitions) for even less. In recent months, I have forced myself to resist the temptation to replace it. I may live to regret it.
I found one of these at the thrift once. It proved to be defective, unfixable, and extremely flimsy (I could bend important pieces with one hand). I dismantled it as far as I could and ended up with hundreds of useful springs and screws that have saved my bacon more than once!
I fully expect this machine not to survive this summer's wizarding event (if my young nephews are any indication - they just POUND on the SMC Classic I gave them). But I sure like it and will try to get some letters written on it before I send it off!
Have one of these myself that I'm currently offering up at a local consignment shop. I feel dirty about that.
This is the first machine I ever typed on: my mother had one exactly this color.
Both of my two corsair-era machines have the same issue: the line space selector is nonfunctional and just flops loosely back and forth, stuch in single-space. I'm guessing this must be a common problem since both have the same issue.
@MT: that's a very sad story! Literary ambition should never be squashed.
@Richard: I was expecting worse when I bought this one, and then did some searching on PTF afterwards. "What have I done?" came to mind. Maybe I got lucky?
@Ledeaux: The Classic will probably last a good long while. Dunno about the Profile/Corsair, but short of bending things or forcing parts to move that don't want to, I think it should be able to withstand a few eager hands. I use the benchmark of the BTO as what a truly abused typewriter must experience.
@Duffy: I just tried it, and the lever on my machine is loose, too: there's no distinct "click" into place. I have had some issues with the line space on my Skyriter, too: it may be a weakness of the design. Unlike your machine(s), though, I am able to double space on this machine. At least for the moment...
I've had a, hmm, 'crush' you might say, on these Corsair/Cougar-type SCM typers for a long time now. I'm not expecting them to be among the best small typewriters, but I wondered how you would compare this to a cheap Nakajima or Silver Seiko. (I have versions of each, so I'd use them for my comparison) I'm not swimming in money, so I want to know if it would be a foolish idea to try to search one of these out, regarding quality.
Send me a reply in email, maybe, in case I forget to check back on this post. belandnick (at) yahoo.com
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