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IBM Selectric Typewriter & its digital to analogue converter

engineerguy · 1.1M views · 2010-11-07 · 3:05

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Overview

Bill Hammack of engineerguy uses slow motion video to show how the IBM Selectric typewriter works. He focuses on its fully mechanical digital-to-analog converter, which turns key presses into rotation of the type ball.

On Hacker News

HN commenters recommend it whenever the Selectric comes up, as a short, excellent explanation of its internals.

Recommended by 4 HN people across 5 months · HN mentions 2016–2025

Topics

Mechanical & precision engineeringHistory of computing
Search by tags
ibm selectrictypewritermechanical computingwhiffletreedigital-to-analog

What people said

voxadam · 2023-04 · Strong recommendation

The Selectric is a fascinating machine. I highly recommend watching "IBM Selectric Typewriter & its digital to analogue converter"[0] by The Engineer Guy. [0] [VIDEO]

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voxadam · 2025-09 · Recommendation

Bill Hammack (engineerguy) has an excellent video on the IBM Selectric titled IBM Selectric Typewriter & its digital to analogue converter .[1] [1] [VIDEO]

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golem14 · 2023-06 · Recommendation

To deepen the wonder, I'd be interested to see the longevity per material (PLA/Nylon/metal/...). I'd expect a lot of trial and error to deal with shrinkage and the probably high precision needed by the Selectric. But this is a great repository, thanks a lot! P.S. excellent short video by Bill Hammack on the Selectric internals: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by engineerguy, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

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