The mechanical typewriter clock

I grew up with mechanical typewriters. I learned to type on those machines. While their layout was the same as the keyboard on your computer, they were quite different to use. One important difference is that the keys were touch sensitive: the harder you hit on them, the fatter the letter. They were completely mechanical. By hitting a key, a lever was triggered which would hammer the letter onto the paper.

When Erik van Blokland released the font NCND these memories of mechanical typewriters came back. It’s a so called variable font, which varies along a weight axis: it can emulate harder and softer hammering of the old mechanical typewriters. This clock randomises the power with which you would hit a key. Every minute the new timestamp it typed on a new line, below the previous ones.

The clock, the time is 11:40. A detail of the frame, where you can see the many layers of aquarel paper glued together. The back of the clock, which is made from plywood.

There was no backspace key on these devices. If you wanted to correct an error you could use some sort of white paint, or you could simply type a few letters through each letter to make them unreadable. This clock, before it writes the correct time on a new line, first types a few letters through the previous timestamp. The animation is nice and slow.

The clock, taken straight from the front, taken with a long shutter, during the animation that types through the old timestamp. A closeup of the side of the frame, where the charging cable enters the frame. The many layers of paper can be seen. The back of the clock, which is made from plywood, with four small screws in it.

The frame around the clock is made from high quality aquarel paper, cut into strokes with a laser cutter. And then painstakingly glued together by hand, one stroke at a time, with wood glue. The animation is made with a little bit of HTML, a bit of javascript, and CSS. It all runs on a raspberry pi 3a+ with a waveshare 4.3 inch DSI LCD screen. It needs an active wifi-connection if you want it to show the correct time.

The clock next to an old, blue, rotary phone. On the clock it is 17:09 The clock. There are many unreadable timestamps. The time on the bottom line, which is readable, is 12:03

I make these typewriter clocks to order. They will cost somewhere around four to five times the value of the hardware. If you want one of these clocks, or if you have any questions or comments, just pick up the phone and dial my number send me an email. Don’t worry, I really like getting these kinds of emails.