[GreenKeys] Dry ribbons

[Ralph Irish]

A good friend of mine, a wonderful Model 28 mechanic, came up with a neat way
to re-ink ribbons.

He carefully cut some of the 'top' of an empty metal spool away, so that it
might be 1-1/2" 1-5/8" or so in diameter.  He was able to  CAREFULLY  add a
few drops of ink with an eye-dropper to different parts of the exposed ribbon
layers and then wind the ribbon carefully onto the other spool.  Then winding
back and forth off the machine usually gave him a good 'presentation' for his
print outs.  He only did this on metal spools.  I don't know how the others
that might be plastic or some kind of fiber would respond to cutting with a
pair of tin snips.

Part of the success of this method is  NOT  using the freshly re-inked spool
for a while.  Letting it sit somewhere and 'bleed' from layer to layer 
provided the best results.  He also had a Model 32 and may have done it on
that machine as well.  

I just offer this from a 'historic' standpoint as something I saw work
successfully, back in the 1970s and 1980s when he was involved with RTTY.

I look forward to comments from anyone who tries this.  On or off the list.

Ralph - W8ROI

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -        


On Mar 22, 2022, at 5:43 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

> 
> I have not tried it, but some say that you can give them a very light spray
> of oil like wd40.
> 
> There is an article in one of the RTTY journals that shows how to take a M15
> reinker and cut it so it will fit and work with the 28.  Long time ago and I
> have no idea which issue it is in.
> 
> Ralph ku4pt
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John, W9DDD
> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2022 4:54 PM
> To: Green Keys
> Subject: [GreenKeys] Dry ribbons
> 
> It's been maybe 3 years since I returned to heavy metal.  During the 
> time I was searching for my 1st KSR, I spent a lot of time reviewing the 
> RTTY Journal archives as a refresher course.  Other than maybe a mention 
> of the kit for the 15 that replaced part of the standard ribbon 
> mechanism with a re-inking device, I don't recall seeing other options 
> for restoring a ribbon.
> 
> I now find myself with about 10 sets of dried out ribbons (which 
> represents 20 metal spools).  Some of them were still in the cellophane 
> wrap, which fell apart with opening.  I'm thinking, no ink, but fabric 
> should be fine it I can get some ink on them.
> 
> 
> So far no good ideas have emerged. The only somewhat effective methods 
> have been labor intensive.  The 15 kit used a cylindrical ink reservoir 
> which had a felt wick wrapped around it. There were small holes in the 
> ink reservoir which kept the wick supplied with ink.  I'm looking for 
> something that's kind of automatic.  Was there ever a re-inker kit for 
> the 28?
> 
> Any ideas or suggestions?
> 
> BTW none of the dry ribbons were from Jim, his are great.  I'm just 
> thinking that he doesn't have an endless supply and ebay etc is 
> sometimes a crap shot.
> 
> -- 
> ---
> ----
> The above comments or recommendations are SWAG. Use at your own risk.
> John, W9DDD
> 
> 
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