German Blick
This little fellow came to me from Germany. It is Blickensderfer No.8, with German-optimised keyboard layout.
We are now in the very beginning of XX century, around 1909. Strange as it may seem QWERTY keyboard was only recently de-facto standard. Most, if not all, typewriters had this layout already adapted. Only one manufacturer kept his ingenious idea of making it better, more optimised for particular language: George Canfield Blickensderfer.
Most people do not realise that QWERTY layout comes originally from limitations in machine design. If one places most commonly used letters close to each other there is a high risk that a fast typist will strike two letters quickly enough to tangle the hammers and jam the mechanism.
Remedy for that was to cleverly spread these letters among others so that jamming is less likely to happen. With typewriters development the mechanism became more and more clever as to avoid it to happen and in the end it was no longer a problem but QWERTY layout stayed.
Blickensderfer machines, unlike other standard, front-strike machines, had no problems with tangling hammers upon striking two adjacent letters at the same time.
There are no hammers!
Blickensderfer designed a machine which uses a drum with 3 rows of letters on its circumference. Each key stroke rotates the drum of appropriate angle and strikes the paper, printing the letter chosen. Not only the machine could be built smaller and simpler but one was also free to design a keyboard layout which is optimised to certain language.
So came DHIATENSOR keyboard for which Blicks are so famous.
Blickensderfer studied the structure of English language and determined that most commonly used letters in written English are DHIATENSOR. He placed them on the bottom row so that the typist did not have to move hands further for ca 85% of the time. The second row contains letters used for 13% of the time and the last row contains the remaining 2%.
Clever as it was it was already too late.
Its main competitors, mainly Remington, have already flood the market with their QWERTY machines. The public was reluctant to adapt something new but Blickensderfer persisted.
In the end, not to lose the market, even he was forced to adapt so he started offering his machines with “Universal” (QWERTY) keyboard in place of “Scientific” (DHIATENSOR) layout. However - customers were asked to sign a statement that they indeed want a Blick with inferior keyboard layout!
My Blick has German-optimised keyboard. Same principle but adapted to another language.
Another interesting design feature is that the machine does not use inked ribbon. Instead the drum, on its way to strike the paper, is directly inked by felt roller, soaked with ink, rolling on the face of the letter just before it is printed.
For “mechanically inclined” crank-heads like me the Blickensderfer is an extremely interesting mechanism. One can clearly see that the man behind the design was a genius. It is elegant, simple in its nature but damn sophisticated in details. As it was nicely by Lucas Dul here: it is a “violent hellscape of mechanical hatred”.
I am still working on print quality - so far the result is quite OK but it can be much better. I use stamp ink mixed with 85% glycerine (to keep it from drying too fast) in 50-50 ratio. Probably better ink and new roller will do the trick but for now it looks as on the picture.
When I got this machine it was not working. Layers of dirt and dried oil clogged the mechanism. As it was totally new mechanism for me I proceeded very carefully and eventually I got it to move. Apart from dirt, broken carrying case, missing some springs, lacking the case key and wrong feet on the machine all seemed to be in place. My journey through the mechanism is described here.
Below are some more pictures of the machine and carrying case after the renovation.
I plugged all unnecessary holes drilled in this nice oak case and re-varnished it. Teak plugs match nicely with old red oak and are hardly visible.
Original label was in good shape, new coat of varnish will protect it for years to come.
Barbarians who found this machine, locked in its case without the key, did not bother opening it properly but they broke the lock (and part of the case) to reach the machine. I needed to play locksmith a bit to fix the lock and make a new key.
A bit crudely carved in mild steel but the key works fine and the case is useable again.
With its new feet matching cavities in the oak base the machine sits firmly and can be additionally screwed from below for safe transport.
Dirt, grit, broken springs and almost completely disassembled Blick 8 can be seen here.