IBM Selectric Type Elements

In a nutshell, they’re a pain in the ass.

They never used to be, of course, but in 2022, some decades after most were manufactured and, while the metal is still viable, the plastic pieces have given up the ghost and they are brittle and unreliable.

Ask me! I just bought a batch and every single one (the ones with chrome and black plastic) have lost their “spring” and the black tabs, at the joints, have snapped off.

What does this mean? It means I have to try to salvage each one and remove the black plastic tops, keep track of which typestyle each of them are, mark them, and twist the spring underneath to a butterfly/rabbit ears' shape, just like the original IBM type elements that actually worked perfectly.

I keep bringing this up with my husband, hoping he’ll say, “Here, I’ll tackle that,” but he looks at it, realizes how much work it entails, puts the element down and… that’s the end of it.

They never used to be this brittle. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s when I used Selectrics day in and day out, it’s a wonder they survived at all, considering how roughly we handled them in day to day use. But they were new and they worked. Today, it’s another story altogether.

IBM, it might be worth your time to produce some brand new ones, given the numbers of individuals restoring and using Selectrics.

And that, my friend, is the definition of a pipe dream.

If you’d like further information on fixing these issues, take a look at the Reverend Munk’s informative page HERE.