Today’s been busy will all sorts of minor maintainance jobs, but there’s a couple of points I though you might be interested in.
The main one is that when my grandfather passed on last year, one of the items in his estate was an origional copy of A Treatise on Horology, possibly the definitive text on clock and watch making. I looked it up on Amazon at one point. The cheapest second hand copy was £450.
It is of course no longer in print, and I beleive was published in the tail-end of the 19th century. With that in mind, it’s fair to say it’s copyright has expired. I intend to Gutenburg it.
It’s currently in the possesion of my cousin, and we’ve come to an agreement that I can borrow it from him to scan it into my computer providing I’m careful. It’s about the size of one of those old family bibles, and seems to have the same wafer-thin paper, so I’ve begun stripping down an old lightweight USB scanner. That way I can place the scanner on the book, not the other way around, and reduce the chance of damaging the spine.
Along with other useful public domain texts, I’ll create a small “library” section on the website where they can be accessed as they’re scanned and converted. Scanning A Treatise on Horology will be designated “project-005”, and all library entries will be tagged “library”.
Also, a note to myself. The relevant dimensions of the Hurley typewriter:
Total footprint: 10-13/16″W * 15-13/16″D (274mm * 401mm) (excluding 3/8″ protrusions for feet at sides)
Keyboard space; 10″W * 4.5″D. (254mm * 114mm) (max height base to keytops 1.5″)
Main frame space; 8-5/8″D * 10-1/4″W (219mm * 260mm)
Main frame hole; 7-3/8″D * 9-7/8″W (187mm * 251mm) (1/2″ Radius corners)
Frame stand-offs; 5″ (126mm) (not counting top plate protrusions)
Frame base thickness; 3/8″ (9mm)
Clear base void; 9-1/2″D * 10-1/8″W * 1-3/4″H (241mm * 257mm * 45mm) (exclude 5mm protrusions around feet)
Typeset arch intrudes into main space by 3-3/4″H * 4-3/4″D from top dead centre to middle of arch. Effective as CPU fan vent?
Will need stripping and new Japan-black.
I’ve also been pointed to a mini keyboard that would fit the space, thanks davegodfrey! It’s a membrane board so wouldn’t make a good “clicky” noise, but it’s a strong contender as it has a function-key that gives a full range of keyboard buttons.
