[GreenKeys] Ribbons that don't dry out?

[Jim Haynes]

Back in the day we were told to buy a tube of ink from National Cash
Register and use that to re-ink ribbons.  At the time you had a choice
of black or purple.  I don't know if you can still get ink from NCR.
Another possibility is Bates numbering machine ink.  And possibly you
can still get ink for reinking ribbons for dot matrix printers.  The
feature of all those is that they are oily inks.  I have been warned not
to use stamp pad ink because it is watery and might rust the machine
parts.  Bates especially tells you not to use stamp pad ink for their
numbering machines.

If a Teletype ribbon is dried out but still contains a lot of ink you
might rejuvenate it by spraying with something like WD-40.

Back in the day the ribbons were mostly cotton fabric, so they would wear
out soon enough and have to be replaced.  Then we got nylon ribbons which
are much more durable but don't hold as much ink as cotton.

 	---

 	"Ya can argue all ya wanna, but it's dif'rent than it was."
 	"No it ain't! No it ain't!  But ya gotta know the territory."
 		Meredith Willson, The Music Man