The fun continues - Blickensderfer type elements & 3D printer
This 3D printing business got me!
Ability to make my own typeface elements to otherwise obsolete Blickensderfer typewriter is refreshing. I even started to use this machine for writing letters!
I’ve tried several fonts which are available for Windows/Mac free of charge. Some of them required several iteration of CAD design to get them look right on paper.
What I have learned - which should be obvious to anyone - is that the epoxy resin is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Keeping these factors controlled makes the process much more predictable. In my case the workshop is heated to 20 degrees and stays like that during the whole print. Working in temperature lower than that - 10 or 15 degrees - yielded smaller openings, thus forcing me to file axle and steering pin openings to match my Blick.
As my arsenal of type elements is quite rich now I added type face name on the top of the typing element. Even covered with ink it is still visible, making it easier to pick from a can of these.
Curing the epoxy is crucial if these are to last. For prototypes I was just exposing them briefly to UV light from a small torch or leaving them outside in daylight for several hours.
To make myself independent of weather I made a simple curing chamber, out of old steel plate with mirror finish (drier plate form old photographic drier).
The plate is rolled to form a cylinder, held in shape with bolts and tape. Bottom and top locks should be mirrors but my wife was skeptical to give me her mirrors so I just took old DVD discs. They do the job equally well.
UV light source is the same torch, mounted onto the top lock. By trial & error I established curing time to be 30-45 minutes with this torch.
Choosing the font to implement is another thing. Apart from runes all other fonts need to be properly spaced so that words look like words - not like a bunch of letters. I am by no means educated book-press specialist so I rely on gut-filling.
My recent implementations are Fraktur and Bernard typefaces. In case of Fraktur I needed to change a shape of some letters to make them readable. They were too strange, especially with less than perfect Blick imprint.
Bernard took me 3 iterations before I can say I am satisfied. It prints clear and bold now so I think I will call it a day.
Recent fail was Bodoni typeface. It turned out to be too dense, resulting letters to be too far spaced in words. Not sure I will continue with that font, same as French Script which is too delicate for this technology of printing. Harrington looks promising but requires more work.
All in all - the results are promising and I am ready to buy and implement my two beloved type faces: Doves and Mason.
Stay tuned.