3D Printed Type Elements for Typewriters

Type elements (shuttles, wheels, typeballs, slugs) for antique typewriters, generated to order and 3D printed.

The project has three generations. v4/ is where active development happens; v2/ and v1/ are the OpenSCAD lineage it was ported from, and both still open and render exactly as before.

v4 (current): Python pipeline + interactive tuner

A Python/manifold3d pipeline rather than OpenSCAD - the draft taper is a real Minkowski sum, every assembly step is a real boolean, and each of the 15 supported machines is driven by its own config YAML with an interactive TUI (tune.py) for editing and live-previewing it.

• Live documentation site
• v4/README.md - setup, usage, architecture
• v4/LAYOUT_TRANSCRIPTION.md - how the keyboard layouts were transcribed from real manufacturer type catalogs
• v4/SESSION_LOG.md - full development history
• v4/CLAUDE.md - the conventions and hard-won invariants that keep the pipeline correct

Machines: Blickensderfer, Postal, Mignon, Bennett, Helios Klimax, Hammond, Hammond Split, Selectric I/II, Selectric III, Selectric Composer, and the Type Slug family (Type Slug, Vogue Slug, Gauge Slug, Oliver Slug, Lumi Slug).

v1 / v2 (OpenSCAD): usage

The rest of this file covers the original OpenSCAD workflow. v2/ is the shared-library refactor of v1/; see CHANGELOG.md for what moved where.

Download OpenSCAD snapshot

Download a development snapshot of OpenSCAD.

Open SCAD file

Open an OpenSCAD file. Use the Customizer on the right to create elements and adjust parameters.

Creating a custom element

1. Install font for all users (right-click the font file > Install for all users).
2. Open an element file.
3. Preview the element and adjust parameters in the Customizer.

Render and export

Preview → Render → Export STL.

Meanings

• debug / no minkowski: render element without embossing (faster)
• preview / render / export: typical OpenSCAD workflow

Documentation

• Machine specifications — all dimensions and calibrated values per machine
• Glyph pipeline — how characters are rendered, draft angles, platen cutout, CharLegend
• Text centering & dead space — how halign="center" actually centers glyphs, why narrow characters can sit off-center in their slot, and options to correct it
• Resin support systems — CutGroove, rod geometry, per-machine support placement
• Calibration procedures — sweep tests, debugging symptoms, procedure order
• IBM Composer — proportional unit system, hemisphere mapping, Composer vs Selectric
• Refactoring plan — shared library architecture, extraction order, old vs new code style (executed as of v2.0, see CHANGELOG.md)

v2.0: shared library files

v2/ holds the current, actively-developed set of machine files — a shared lib/ (glyph pipeline, resin support, core/shaft, layouts) plus one thin file per machine. See CHANGELOG.md for what moved where and which machines share the pipeline. Every v1 file below is untouched and still opens/renders exactly as before.

• lib/glyph_pipeline.scad
• lib/resin_support.scad
• lib/core_shaft.scad
• lib/testing.scad — shared calibration-sweep array generator
• lib/layouts/ — blick, bennett, mignon, ibm, hammond (postal.scad's single fixed layout stays inline, no separate file)
• blickensderfer.scad
• postal.scad
• bennett.scad
• mignon.scad
• heliosklimax.scad
• ibm.scad
• hammond.scad
• hammond_split.scad

v1 SCAD files by directory

The following directories (now under v1/) contain the original machine-specific type elements:

• Bennett
  • BennettElement.scad
  • BennettLayouts.scad
• Blickensderfer
  • Blickensderfer2.scad
  • BlickensderferElement.scad
  • HebrewBlickensderferElement.scad
• Hammond
  • GalgolicHammondShuttle.scad
  • HammondIndex.scad
  • HammondShuttle.scad
  • HammondSplitShuttle.scad
  • HammondSplitShuttle2.scad
• HeliosKlimax
  • HeliosKlimaxElement.scad
  • HeliosKlimaxTester.scad
  • imagetest.scad
• IBM
  • IBM2.scad
• Mignon
  • MignonCylinder.scad
  • MignonIndex.scad
  • MignonIndexLayouts.scad
• Postal
  • Postal.scad