The Rhino Unboxes: A Photo Essay

FIGURE 1: THE RHINO MAKES A DISCOVERY


"O hai! A present for me!"



FIGURE 2: ALAS! VERTICALLY CHALLENGED


"Little help, plz?"



FIGURE 3: DECIPHERING AN EXOTIC TONGUE


"Insert 'upside down/down under' joke here, k thx bye."



FIGURE 4: WHEREUPON WE ARE RIGHTED


"Mr. Remington, I presumes?"



FIGURE 5: THE RARE BURROWING RHINO


"HALP!"



FIGURE 6: THE PATIENT IS READY


"This won't hurt a bit."



FIGURE 7: OBLIGATORY MACRO SHOT


"I can haz teh shiny?"



FIGURE 8: LEARNING AT THE MASTER'S FEET


"Chamfer? I hardly even know her!"



FIGURE 9: OBLIGATORY OLD VERSUS NEW



Right on time, the replacement lever for my busted Underwood Noiseless arrived yesterday, and whether by chance or because of the mystickal frission that binds the Typosphere together, Scott posted his own experiences with repairing his Noiseless. Spooky!

I opted for the plain stainless steel finish on my part, instead of the antique bronze that Scott accidentally chose.The plain steel lacks the lustre of the chromed parts that it will be living alongside, but I'm not going for a historically-perfect restoration. At first I thought I might buff and polish the surface a bit, but now I don't think I will. There's a slightly pebbly, imperfect look to the new part that I like. You won't mistake it for original equipment, but it's not immediately evident that it's only a week or so old. The part is very well-made and much smoother to the touch than you might expect, and I really like the extra details Scott added to the model -- the loose "S" shape to fit your fingers, the Deco-style ridges on the end. It was well worth the expense and the wait.

Now I need to take some careful pictures of the spring arrangement in the return lever, and dig up some tools to make the necessary adjustments to fit this piece in place, and get this old beauty back in typing shape. And maybe I'll let the Rhino help a little, too.