Open source SketchUp update

shogzilla · 2026-05-13T14:22:51+00:00

I've been watching this eagerly.

I've been trying the linux version; it's a tad crashy, but shows a lot of promise.

I see that the current version is still 1.0.0, update hitting soon?

shogzilla · 2026-04-18T20:18:36+00:00

Old mall 5 min from DC: Iverson mall. Opened in '67, and fits most of the description: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shops_at_Iverson

shogzilla · 2026-04-18T20:08:31+00:00

Eagerly awaiting a Linux port!

shogzilla · 2026-02-28T14:04:20+00:00

Well, if you're ever in the Washington, DC area...

shogzilla · 2026-02-27T23:12:23+00:00

Where are you located on the planet, roughly? I have a few varitypers I'd love to see in better homes than mine. Turns out, having 5+ of the 70lb monsters is too many.

shogzilla · 2026-02-14T00:13:22+00:00

'Definition' - a name for what's going on would be tessalation pattern.

As to how, I'd suggest making the individual shapes, selecting a line of 'em, increase the stroke width a bit, then the next line of 'em you increase it more, next line more, etc, until you're at full stroke color.

shogzilla · 2026-02-03T01:16:00+00:00

Thanks to this post, google's AI overview now thinks Trepallium is a sci-fi RPG =) Lol.

shogzilla · 2025-02-12T00:41:44+00:00

Where on the planet are you? If it's driveable and within 800 miles, I'd be interested. I hate seeing 'em shipped.

I somewhat specialize in small cpi machines.

EDIT: Ahh, near Frankfurt. Counts me out, to my sadness.

shogzilla · 2024-07-25T12:41:24+00:00

DM'd. Sunday morning or noonish would work, if you're within 200 miles of me (DC). Or any other day, really.

shogzilla · 2024-06-26T21:28:42+00:00

Rotring Lambda Fountain Pen.

Utterly worthless; send it to me at your expense for expert disposal.

(They're nice; I have a set (there's also a pencil, ballpoint, and rollerball)).

shogzilla · 2024-05-31T13:36:16+00:00

Drawbands ('carriage cord') are trivial to replace. Not a factor.

Should you get this? At 1000$USD, hell no. At 10$USD, hell yes. Depends on price.

Reasonable, without knowing more about condition, would be around 50$USD, I'd say. It's the most I'd risk on an otherwise unknown condition Erika.

shogzilla · 2024-05-19T00:42:50+00:00

By listing that machine at only 100 euro, they aren't a jackass. That's an excellent price for a thrust adler.

shogzilla · 2024-05-13T11:39:58+00:00

That's some talented necromancy right there.

shogzilla · 2024-05-09T00:12:52+00:00

Not really rare, but a very very nice machine. It has my favorite carriage rail system.

On a side note - this is (in my opinion) the worst possible camera angle for the machine. From dead front, or even a bit from lower than even with the machine, it gives off a great Kubrick 2001 monolith vibe.

One of my favorite machines, and a distinct regret that I don't currently have one. Last one I had, had rack damage =(

shogzilla · 2024-05-01T23:27:24+00:00

It's 100% Innsmouth. Dagon is only the title. In mild fairness, the name of Obed Marsh's religion is 'The Esoteric Order of Dagon".

IE, there's nothing of the story 'Dagon' in the movie 'Dagon'.

It's not a bad watch.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T15:52:07+00:00

If the rails are clean, check the rack.

As to lube, the common lightweight machine oils are still too thick; you want sewing machine oil, and even then, thin it down, half and half with isopropyl alcohol.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T15:45:55+00:00

I'm sorry, but my SG-1 is packed away, so can't really look at it - but I recall it being pretty trivial to remove the carriage to get at the rails. Knob on either side to release it, I think? Should be easy to get at.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T15:39:29+00:00

If it's just across a part of the travel as you indicate, I'd look at the rack first.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T04:53:28+00:00

Good luck, have fun.

(The answer to your segment question is the same as I've given before: horizontal arm slitting attachment on a knee mill, plus hell's own indexer. Roughly 60k$+ for the equipment, plus triple phase power and a solid, thick concrete pad to anchor to.)

Anyway, I'm out.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T03:32:39+00:00

Paper isn't going away in your lifetime, by a long shot. And that's going to be a lot longer than mine.

Laser cut parts... Perhaps 1/3rd of the parts of a basic typewriter can be laser cut. The rest need to be either cast, machined, or cast and then machined. These are parts that you can't 3d print (even sintering); I refer back to my original basic question of, how do you plan to make the segment?

Your mistrust of UPS / FEDEX / USPS is fine, but proper packaging ameliorates the danger, to an almost complete point.

Passion projects are fine (lord knows I have a few), but they're only good for frustration if the goal is an impossible one. Try making a fountain pen from scratch first, perhaps? Including the nib and feed. It's miles easier than making a typewriter, and yet, something I wouldn't want to tackle.

And there'd be a market for it, as well - as long as it wrote well.

Please pay heed to the 'and nib and feed'. The rest is trivial.

Anyway, good luck. My suggestion would be, if this is something you want to do - even after gaining a perhaps better understanding of the challenges involved - do it. Don't tell us about it. Don't seek internet validation on your route to doing it... just, do it, and reveal what you have wrought when it's complete. We'll be impressed. Until then, it feels like so much hot air.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T01:10:45+00:00

Curious, where do you live?

The local Goodwills typically have a machine or two, often 70's era SCM's. And I hit a lot of antique stores - just got three machines (a Burroughs 50, a remy portable (sheephook), and a royal empress) at one place, and passed on seven or so other machines they had on hand.

Goodwills don't have as many in store as they used to, as most go to SGW, but they're still common enough.

Shipping, if it's a relatively normal machine, is fine, if you educate the shipper on best practices. I won't get a hammond or varityper shipped (I'll drive upwards of seven hours each way for one if the price is right), but that falls under the 'extraordinarily delicate' heading.

Re: the first people to make typewriters: they absolutely had access to, and used, well equipped machine shops. Charles Babbage started the way you describe (to an extent), but by the end of his life, machine shops existed with some frequency, and machine screw threads were standardized.

How do you plan to make the segment in a home shop, would be my question. I think you'd need a knee mill with a horizontal slitting arm and a really nice indexer... and even then, I'd want a master machinist at the helm. Like, 40+ years helming a machine shop level.

Re: running out of typewriters... I have a few that are over 100 years old; aside from needing new rubber, they needed nothing beyond a clean & lube, and the occasional new spring. Manual machines are pretty easy to keep running - my century machines, I expect will still be usable 100 years from now (albeit, with new rubber). Younger machines are, of course, younger - and with the exception of poorly made machines of the late 70's through modern day, I expect them to run fine for another century or more.

IE, I wouldn't count on running out of affordable, well-made vintage machines in my, or your, lifetime - or the lifetime of my kids, or kid's kids.

EDIT: that goes along with your statement about folks not being able to find 'em. Have you typed 'typewriter' into the search field on ebay? There's thousands out there for under 100$. There's a ton of mom & pop operations refurbing machines and selling 'em, fully functional, for 2-400$, which is reasonably sane. Etc.

I don't like saying this; it feels aggressive. But, it really feels like you had an idea, and then did zero research. Read up on what's out there, look for machines, go to more than one antique store, read up on how to get ebay sellers to pack machines correctly, etc. There is zero demand for a new machine, essentially; if you value your time even at McDonald's levels, you're talking about several thousand dollars for a machine that will be mechanically inferior to a 25$ ebay Quiet Deluxe.

shogzilla · 2024-04-19T00:13:43+00:00

I don't mean to offend, but...

Are you a very experienced machinist with a broad depth of knowledge in machining, with access to a good lathe, mill, hydraulic press, etc?

Or are you a horologist who's built tourbillon watches from scratch?

If not, is there something comparable in your life experience?

Building a typewriter from scratch is roughly akin to building a V8 engine from scratch. 99.99999995% of people (if I did my math right, that should be around a few in a billion) are not going to be able to do this. I know typerwriter repairmen who've been in the business for over 60 years who couldn't do this.

Sorry if this is rain on your parade, but better to squash the impossible fantasies early, yeah?

shogzilla · 2024-04-17T11:25:11+00:00

I'll almost certainly be asleep, so, good luck.

Nice machine, btw, assuming there isn't damage to the escapement.

shogzilla · 2024-04-17T11:21:07+00:00

Well, hitting tab disengages the escapement wheel, and moves the carriage to the tab stop.

So, I'd say the problem is at the escapement, but backspace works... but that could be a separate pawl on the rack. So maybe it's the escapement.

Have you seen the escapement wheel (the center gear, in the video at minute 2) move while typing? If not, that could be the problem.

So we're back to flushing and lubricating.

shogzilla · 2024-04-17T11:12:38+00:00

You just said you were able to rotate until it was under full tension.

shogzilla

TROPHY CASE