Canon Typestar 4 Thermal Typewriter

Post-Script: The Typestar prints nice and straight lines and columns of text. The wonkiness you're seeing in the above typecast is because I'm experimenting with using the panorama mode in my iPhone's camera, where you slowly scan the camera across the scene and it assembles a very large image file. But if you're handholding the camera rather unsteadily, as I was, it looks a bit weird. Still, it's better than the results of using the camera in its normal mode, because then it tends to curve the lines near the top and bottom of the image due to pincushion distortion of the lens - which the native photo edit app can't correct for.

This is all in an effort to configure a more mobile blogging workflow, independent of my flatbed scanner. Still a work in progress, however.

Back to the thermal typewriters. It's been educational using both this Canon and the Brother EP-20, side-by-side. You'd think, because it has a much better keyboard and printing quality, that the Typestar would "mop the floor" with the Brother. But the EP-20 is smaller & lighter, with an integral clamshell lid and carrying handle, aside from its storage bag; whereas with the Canon I have to use a dedicated laptop bag for carrying around.

Yet they're both only going to make "temporary" paper documents, despite the quality appearance of the Canon's output, because thermal paper is essentially not an archival medium. I have thermally printed bookstore receipts jammed into paperback books I've purchased decades ago and, though readable, they're mostly faded away. It reminds me of magnetic tape media - it'll last a long time, but not forever. In the case of writing onto thermal paper, the workflow is essentially one of rough drafting, getting those initial ideas down on paper, to be later sorted and edited, using a more permanent medium, like regular typewriter ink on paper, or some digital media that is, though substantial, not permanent in the sense of forever permanent. It's kind of like the idea in photography of infinity focus. It's a theoretical construct, the idea that you can visually focus a scene from infinity. Infinity is a long way aways.

I suppose you could argue that nothing's really permanent, it's all gonna burn, given enough time until the sun flares up to a red giant. It just has to be "permanent enough".

The value proposition with these small thermal typewriters is that they're much more quiet than a manual typer. Meaning you can go places, use them in public, in ways you can't easily with a manual machine. And they resemble, in form factor, an older-style laptop computer. One with a sheet of paper sticking out. Yes, the printout isn't "archival," but it'll last plenty long enough to go through the inevitable edit phase, to eventually make its way into some digital file.

I'm going to do some cogitating in the near future about the validity of these small machines as "real typewriters." I know there are some folk who'd argue that any kind of electronic typewriter really isn't a "valid" typewriter, it has to be a manual machine. I can understand their point, but would also counter-argue that, if a 1950s Smith-Corona Electric is a "valid" typewriter (it's essentially the same as a manual series 5, but with a motor, belts and some drive spindles), then you can't discount a machine just because it's electric. So then what? Is it invalid because it has a daisy wheel? Or a carbon film ribbon? What does it matter, really; as long as it prints directly to paper - even if the paper's thermal paper - it's a typewriter, right?

Both of these machines use D-cell batteries, and also have AC adapters for when close to an electrical outlet. But the Canon will also charge Ni-Cad batteries internally, using the AC adapter, which I'm going to test out soon. But I've noticed some evidence of corrosion in the battery compartment, which I suspect is because someone in the past (isn't everything in the past?) kept non-rechargeable alkaline batteries in the machine while it was plugged into the AC adapter, a no-no as per the instruction manual. With the Brother EP-20, plugging in the AC adapter disables the batteries, so there's no risk of damaging the machine.

About the thermal paper I use. You can easily get 3-1/8" wide point-of-sale thermal cash register paper, at the big-box office supply stores. And then there's 4-3/8" wide rolls, available from online sellers, more appropriate for poetry. But I really like the 8-1/2" wide thermal fax paper rolls. You can either use the roll intact, or cut it in sheets and carry the sheet around with the typewriter in its case or bag, making for a very portable medium. These typewriters were originally intended to use special thermal-compatible film ribbon cartridges, meaning the machine would transfer the text onto regular paper. Both of my machines have a few such cartridges, but they're no longer being manufactured and are expensive to buy online, as new-old-stock. Hence the reliance on the much more readily available thermal paper, which you can use directly without any kind of cartridge in the machine.

And how long do we expect thermal paper to be in supply? As long as paper receipts are a thing, I suppose. And fax machines. Maybe about as long as fabric typewriter ribbons? Maybe.

Cold Hard Typing

Post-Script:



I've been enjoying this collection of jazz tapes. The Panasonic player is monaural, but has a pretty good tonal range. It's especially handy sitting table side; next to my writing area, where I can stop it easily enough before leaving the room. My Sanyo cassette deck with the Lafayette receiver and Polk speakers are in the garage, not where I want to sit while writing in the wintertime. The garage is also too cold for the Sanyo's health, which I should bring inside the warmer house during the winter months. The garage gets 45f in the winter, not too bad, but enough to cause the old deck some grief. That garage stereo system was intended to be there for the warmer months, and I don't really want a loud system in my office, since it adjoins the bedrooms and I have a tendency to be up late at nights on my off days. So the little Panasonic player is about ideal for my office cassette music needs.

About that top photo, you can see in the upper left corner a Japanese soroban abacus, another addition to my collection. I need to make a video about it soon. Maybe also review my entire collection.

Regarding Richard Polt's Cold Hard Type project, see this link.

If you're interested in my collection of Loser's Blend short stories, see this link.

Here's the website for Rust is Gold Coffee Shop, here in ABQ.

More about my coffee shop typing and the Cold Hard Type project in this video:

How You Doing Now?

Post-Script: I haven't thought much about how to "archive" these typings in my 3-ring binders until now. The width of the paper is too narrow to span two holes of a binder punch. I think I'll just cut some strips of thicker 11" tall paper, maybe several inches wide, then 3-hole punch that strip and tape the top of the thermal paper to the strip, sideways, and fanfold the thermal paper to fit inside the binder.

I use the term "archive" in quotes because of course thermal paper printing isn't archival. But if stored in a cool climate, it can last for years. My expected usage of this kind of printing is first-draft, to later be edited and worked into some more permanent medium; or journal entries; or just idle thoughts or notes that don't deserve permanence. The stuff that's important can of course be scanned into PDFs and archived digitally. And everything I put on this blog, image-wise, is also on Flickr - but we'll just ignore the question of how permanent online media corporations are in this era. I've a paid membership to Flickr, so all my images are, thus far, preserved from whatever upheaval is currently underway, as one company gets bought out by another. As long as I continue to pay my annual fee, that is.

I know some people have advised me to just host my own server and store my own images that way. But however you spin it, you've gotta pay somebody for some kind of service. The people who are currently complaining about the changes at Flickr mostly have been riding for free. You don't get something for nothing.

Okay, I've also got a video up today for The Tape Project series, comparing two "shoe box"-sized compact cassette recorders, a Radio Shack against a Panasonic. I expected the Panasonic to be the clear winner, but some surprises were found.



This week I also made a more permanent intro clip for my videos, that's in 4K, which in iMovie causes the rest of the video to be rendered also in 4K, even if the rest of the clips are only 1080P; which in turn improves playback quality once uploaded to You Tube. I also made an intro clip for the Tape Project.

Thermal Typing at Rust is Gold

Post-Script: Ted Munk's thermal paper roll holder was much more pragmatic than mine. As is usual for these kinds of projects, I rummage through a bin in my work shop for just the right bits. Usually they aren't ideal, but I figure a way to make them work. In the case of this project, it took several iterations to get a simple, workable holder system that easily breaks down flat enough to fit inside the front pouch of the Brother EP-20 carrying case, along with a roll of thermal fax paper.

When it comes time to cut or sand wood, I like to open the garage door and air out all that sawdust. But cold weather kept me from doing so, and now I have a cleanup job to do when (or if) it does warm up sufficiently.

Here are the components to my paper roll holder, disassembled:



To assemble, first one end of the brass rod is inserted into one of the side brackets:



Then the paper roll is slipped onto the rod:



Then the other bracket is installed:



There's enough clearance for the bottom of a full roll not to drag on the table:



The bracket has a low profile and sits conveniently just behind the machine. In practice it helps to pull out a "service loop" of paper and drape it behind the bracket, so the paper has enough slack to easily feed into the machine.



I thought the experience of writing using this system was actually rather good; better I think than using a manual typewriter in public, which for me is fraught with constant worry about what other people think about the noise. Definitely a usable writing system, and easy to tote around.

Here's a video about today's venture:

Thermal Typing Madness

Post-Script: Today I took the EP-20 in its carry bag up to the cigar store ("up" in ABQ meaning uphill, easterly, closer to the Sandia mountains) and had a chance to work with it, along with the roll of 8.5" wide thermal fax paper. Nestled in my lap, the paper sat comfortably on my knees behind the machine, though it would work better with some bracket to keep the paper from falling on the floor should I move the wrong way. Yes, I do have the wooden paper roll holder, but it's too bulky to take in the little carry bag with the machine. I'll therefore have to fashion some kind of wire bracket thingie sometime soon.

I had to remember to give the paper a "service loop", so it would be free to feed through the machine during a carriage return, else the line spacing can get wonky.

In actual practice, I would keep the machine powered off (I was using D-cells) until some thought struck me, at which point I'd turn it on and start typing. The correction feature of the 16-character LCD display is pretty handy for ironing out most typos, though a few snuck through anyway.



I thought I was going to do some profound writing, but being seated next to the TV in the cigar lounge that was blaring some obnoxious court show, it was all I could do to remember my own name. I did end up with some journal notes, not a total waste of time.

After I got home with a bit of writing, ready to archive in my notebooks, I figured out the best way to bind these long scrolls of paper is to hole-punch the bottom edge, crosswise to the paper along the 8-1/2" width, then insert in a 3-ring binder and fan-fold the paper scroll so it fits snuggly in the binder. It can then be unfolded to be read. The width is enough to permit being punched by two of the three holes in a 3-ring binder punch, sufficient to be securely bound.

I don't think this little thermal typewriter is a real substitute for a good manual typewriter, but what it has going for it is: light weight; small size, nearly dead-quiet operation and quick response between pressing a key and seeing the characters printed - better than most daisy wheel typewriters I'd estimate. Its negatives are being electric (though the D-cell batteries work well enough) and having to use thermal paper; the original carbon film ribbon cartridges are not being manufactured, and online are exorbitantly expensive; another reason to treat it as a thermal-only machine.

Here's a printout from Ted Munk's Canon Typestar 4 thermal printing typewriter, that I tested when in Mesa, AZ last week. The Brother EP-20 predates the Typestar machines. Note the Typestar line offers more fonts and font sizes than the little Brother machine:



For more details about this machine, see the video: