Both the phone and the typewriter arrived today. The phone, as can be seen, seems to fit just about perfectly, indicating that the Samsonite briefcase is the correct one (though a number of virtually trivial details are different). The phone has a cord that seems to be pretty permanently attached, but I am loathe to just lop it off. My goal is to keep all the vintage bits as intact as possible, so I’ll either disassemble the phone or go straight to making a silicone mold of it and casting it in fiberglass. I hope to remove only a few keys from the typewriter, assuming I can figure out how to remove them without damaging them, then mold/cast resin copies. Other than a cracked frame the typewriter seems intact and functional. And while there is about zero chance I’ll ever use a typewriter again… I cringe at the idea of wrecking such a nifty bit of functional analog mechanical genius.
The phone and the keys are the wrong color, so casting copies seems to be the correct way to go in any event. This would also open the door for a very limited run “kit” for those vanishingly few who want this. I plan on making the parts out of a combination of cast resin and fiberglass; hand laid up fiberglass cloth components would be strong, light and *hollow,* allowing those with a mind to to install electronics. A functioning keyboard and monitor would be spectacular, though a functional fiberglass phone seems maybe a bit dubious.
Note the obligatory feline photobomb.
