Reviving dried-out typewriter ribbon

Jack Ricci

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Aug 4, 2008, 7:45:48 PM8/4/08

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I have a Royal portable typewriter with an installed black ribbon and a
spare ribbon. Both ribbons have totally dried out in spite of being
packed in a plastic bag. Is there a way to bring life back to them,
especially the new one, as they cost nearly 10 dollars for the plain
black ribbon? WD40? Stamp pad ink? Rubbing alcohol? Water? Anyone has
any idea for me? I would like to be able to bring the typewriter back to
life, in case of an emergency where electricity would not be available.
Thank you for any help.

Jack

Rod Speed

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Aug 4, 2008, 7:56:00 PM8/4/08

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Jack Ricci <jrit...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I have a Royal portable typewriter with an installed black ribbon and
> a spare ribbon. Both ribbons have totally dried out in spite of being
> packed in a plastic bag. Is there a way to bring life back to them,
> especially the new one, as they cost nearly 10 dollars for the plain
> black ribbon? WD40? Stamp pad ink? Rubbing alcohol? Water?
> Anyone has any idea for me?

Chuck the typewriter in the dumpster and get a printer for the PC for peanuts.

> I would like to be able to bring the typewriter back to life,
> in case of an emergency where electricity would not be available.

Just get a portable printer for the laptop.

Seerialmom

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Aug 4, 2008, 8:45:53 PM8/4/08

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Not sure about reviving the existing ribbons, but I'd think if you got
a "fresh" ribbon and packed it in an air-tight bag it could survive.
You could experiment with the stamp pad ink though.

Gary Heston

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Aug 4, 2008, 8:45:58 PM8/4/08

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In article <jritch53-840FF5...@news.west.cox.net>,

Most inks used in typewriter ribbons are oil or grease based. The more
volatile components (i.e., solvents) have evaporated, so that's what
needs to be replaced. A light touch with the WD-40 might work (that was
an old trick with dot-matrix printers which used fabric ribbons).

However, typewriter ribbons are still available from places like Office
Depot. You'll get better results by buying a couple of new ribbons and
keeping them in your freezer, so they don't dry out.

Gary

--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Why is it that these days, the words "What idiot" are so frequently
followed by the words "at Microsoft"?

Seerialmom

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Aug 4, 2008, 8:48:11 PM8/4/08

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On Aug 4, 4:45 pm, Jack Ricci <jritc...@hotmail.com> wrote:

One other thought, find some "carbon paper". Of course you need to be
extra cautious as you type as you can't "erase" the carbon paper
characters you just typed. Best bet is to find one of them mom/pop
typewriter shops and see what they suggest.

terryc

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Aug 5, 2008, 6:37:32 AM8/5/08

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On Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:45:48 -0700, Jack Ricci wrote:

> I have a Royal portable typewriter with an installed black ribbon and a
> spare ribbon. Both ribbons have totally dried out in spite of being
> packed in a plastic bag. Is there a way to bring life back to them,
> especially the new one, as they cost nearly 10 dollars for the plain
> black ribbon? WD40? Stamp pad ink? Rubbing alcohol? Water? Anyone has
> any idea for me?

WD40 worked on dotmatrix printer ribbons. Best if you can lightly spray
both sides of the rolled up ribbon, then let it sit for a couple of
weeks.

You could alsotry running them through a dot matrix ribbon re-inker.

Cindy Hamilton

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Aug 5, 2008, 1:07:20 PM8/5/08

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So, what kind of emergency do you envision wherein electricity would
be
unavailable and yet typewriting would be important? If there's no
electricity,
I'm going to be worried about access to food, cash, and gasoline, not
whether
I can produce a neatly turned out "Send Help" message.

Cindy Hamilton

Message has been deleted

Chief Thracian

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Sep 15, 2008, 11:23:00 PM9/15/08

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On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 10:07:20 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
<angelica...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>So, what kind of emergency do you envision
>wherein electricity would be unavailable and
>yet typewriting would be important?

You're a prisoner in a fortune cookie factory? :b

--
Steal This Blog!
http://www.gay-bible.org/steal

timeOday

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Sep 15, 2008, 11:40:17 PM9/15/08

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Chief Thracian wrote:
> On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 10:07:20 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
> <angelica...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> So, what kind of emergency do you envision
>> wherein electricity would be unavailable and
>> yet typewriting would be important?
>
> You're a prisoner in a fortune cookie factory? :b
>
>

Unabomber?

Community Organizer

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Sep 16, 2008, 11:24:11 AM9/16/08

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In article <48cf2608...@amsterdam.newsgroups-download.com>,
chief_t...@yahoo.com (Chief Thracian) wrote:

> On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 10:07:20 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
> <angelica...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >So, what kind of emergency do you envision
> >wherein electricity would be unavailable and
> >yet typewriting would be important?
>
> You're a prisoner in a fortune cookie factory? :b

i did print up my own "fortune cookie" fortune once.
as a joke on my wife. I pretended to drop my cooky at the restaurant and
pulled up my own printout.
No, I won't tell you what it said.
Use your imagination.

Perverts!
--
If guns are out-lawed. Only the Out-laws & politicians will have guns.

Chief Thracian

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Sep 17, 2008, 2:40:34 AM9/17/08

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On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:24:11 -0700, Community Organizer
<george...@humboldt1.com> wrote:

>i did print up my own "fortune cookie" fortune once.
>as a joke on my wife. I pretended to drop my cooky at the restaurant and
>pulled up my own printout.
>No, I won't tell you what it said.
>Use your imagination.

I know EXACTLY what you wrote:

"Did you remember to lock the front door?"

>Perverts!

Who, me? NEVER!

You know how to keep a relationship forever young. Congrats!

joshuahe...@gmail.com

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Dec 22, 2016, 10:06:22 AM12/22/16

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Follow this tutorial, I'm sure it will be helpful to you.
http://munk.org/typecast/2013/10/23/using-wd-40-to-bring-an-old-typewriter-ribbon-back-to-life/#comment-137582