Got my bake-set clay, liquid plastic and silicon mold-making stuff today, so I decided to replicate the feet for the “Silver Bullet” Olympia SM case and build my first molds.
I’ve built the masters for my Corona 4 feets, tested for perfect fit, correct height and superior desk grip. I’ll likely be doing even more types of feet, but before any of that can happen, I need to source a good Shore A-80-90 rubber compound.
Until then, I do have the liquid plastic, so let’s go ahead and make a couple of silicon molds for things I’ll be casting in plastic. Galaxie carriage release levers, of course – and because it’s always good to have an overflow mold, I decided to cast a 1950’s Smith-Corona poke-through-the-lid nameplate.
Allrighty! with a 6-hour cure time, it’ll be the morning before I see the results, and then I’ll still then have to pour the second half of the molds. I’m also casting about (haha) for other parts to replicate or improve. Also, yes – if I can get good results, I’ll be selling (stock and hot-rodded) parts in a little online shop. Maybe you’d be interested in a re-enforced set of translucent Starlight Blue with embedded glitter stars Carriage Release Levers for your Starlight Blue Galaxie? Maybe a Smith-Corona lid badge in a special color? The current troubles have been unkind to my regular work prospects, and I need to make some moneys! :D
New updates to the Caligraph Age List on the TWDB, as a bunch of new info came in. I’m still working on it, and stuff will likely change as I complete the update. Once a tree gets shook, all kinds of stuff will drop out of it for a surprising amount of time, as other interested collectors bring sources and input. What’s there so far is pretty good, though. Getting some nice detail in there.
Tell ya what, Reverend, you start making rubber feet for some Olympia SM models, etc, and you may just have yourself a customer for these.
SM3 is on the list (:
OOOOOH. Replacement feets and levers and H3k knobs! You should have a good business with many customers. I hope things work out.
Funny, After Field Day ended I once again picked up my broken SCM carriage release lever and thought I should look for some molding supplies as our Maker’s group is still inactive due to the virus. I wanted to use thier 3D printer to try making one.
So many missing and fractured plastic parts and dried-out feets out there.
I have some missing plastic keytops I’d love to find replacements for. And translucent Starlight Blue with embedded glitter stars carriage release levers – yes.
When you get all caught up with feet and carriage return levers, you might consider custom type slugs. Maybe just unique designs, like a small trademark. When I was in Korea in the 1950’s, banks used a “chop” stamp.It was a stamp with a unique character, about the size of a nickle. They would fill out a money order, etc. form in a book that had stubs that remained in the book (like old check books). They would stamp the tearout perforated strip. Later they could prove a fake because the marks would not match the marks on the stub that remained in the book.