All about the 1914 Blickensderfer Aluminum Featherweight typewriter

Here I present another strange typewriter with a weird keyboard layout (after covering the Mignon typewriter in    • This keyboard only has three keys! (1925 A...  ), namely this 1914 Blickensderfer Aluminum Featherweight. This was the seventh addition to my collection, whereby I got it for a decent price from an eBay seller within Ontario, Canada. This typewriter features a strange "DHIATENSOR" layout as well as a rotating type cylinder which you can switch out with a different typeface much like the typeballs on the Selectric typewriter which was based on this. This video will do a deep dive into the features of this typewriter and how it works. 0:00 Introduction. Single element versus typebar typewriters. 1:03 History. For more details, I recommend https://www.antikeychop.com/blickensd..., https://www.antikeychop.com/sholesgli..., https://www.antikeychop.com/hammondno..., and https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewrit.... 3:06 ***Ease of changing typefaces/fonts***. Imperial typewriter: https://www.typewritermuseum.org/coll... 4:18 New type cylinders: Italic and script. The ink residue was not dry... 5:49 Mignon type cylinders. Fraktur is pretty rare: see   / fraktur_cylinder_acquired_1925_aeg_mignon_4  . 6:24 Bennett type cylinder and Hammond type shuttle 6:44 Parallels with Selectric typeballs 7:51 Make sure your type cylinders will fit 8:52 ***The "Scientific" DHIATENSOR keyboard layout***. Plenty of layouts came about before Dvorak like on the Crandall and Hammond. 10:07 Benefits of DHIATENSOR 11:46 Make sure your type cylinders match your machine's layout 13:16 **My machine's condition upon arrival** 14:19 Original Blickensderfer ink roller vial and ink vial 15:20 Replacing the ink roller. 16:33 Change the RIBBON 16:36 Inking process. Caps and figs (shift keys). 17:51 Comparison to the Blickensderfer No. 6 and earlier https://www.antikeychop.com/blickensd... 19:06 ***Features***. Caps and figs (shift keys). See http://sevenels.net/typewriters/3bank.... 19:57 Caps and figs (shift) locks 20:48 Feed rollers. 22:09 Feeding paper. Paper release. Platen knob. Top margin. 22:38 Carriage release 24:27 Left margin 25:22 No right margin; only bell trip adjustment. The bell warns you of the end of the line. 26:26 "Cursor" mechanism 27:21 ***TYPING***. Key travel/depth. 28:17 **First keystrokes**. Regarding "visibility", or the ability to see what you are writing. 29:45 Line spacing and carriage return, the OG "enter key" 32:20 ***HOW IT WORKS***. Removing the carriage. 33:37 Escapement and carriage advance 34:47 Carriage rollers 34:55 Backspace mechanism 35:39 Under the machine. Touch control. 36:30 **Transmitting motion from the keys**. Backspace linkages 37:48 *TYPING AND INDEXING MECHANISM*. How a keypress puts a specific character onto the page. 40:39 Shifting mechanism 41:48 The importance of the retention spring. Also, if it is too tight, there will be too much friction in the type cylinder's rotation. 42:15 Shift alignment slots 43:01 Sector gear locks 44:27 Putting the carriage back on 45:21 Adjusting the touch weight to be even lighter 47:06 **TYPING DEMO** 47:30 "Carriage flicking" a Blickensderfer 48:26 Typing technique. Press fully and release quickly and fully before pressing the next key. 48:56 *Typing resumes* 49:56 ***Conclusion***. Keyboard layout performance. Speed typing video:    • I learned this cursed keyboard layout (DHI...  . 51:05 Speed limitations. Stella Pajunas fastest typist:    • World's fastest typist in typewriter | Ste...  . https://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/201.... 51:59 Resulting cost savings What you can expect to see on this channel: Soon: Typewriter, switch, and keyboard collecting, Romantic Era piano performances (Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Alkan etc.), "perfectionist" Lego builds and mods. Within a year: Programming, computer architecture, model ship building, worldbuilding?, conlangs?, philosophy? In the following years: Independent watchmaking, making a unique typewriters from scratch, "revolutionizing" the concert grand.