Today I used a Crayola Crayon as part of a typewriter restoration project. Anyone have guesses as to how I used it in a typewriter restoration capacity?
Published by
Chris Aldrich
I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history. I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media. View all posts by Chris Aldrich
The scale.
@chrisaldrich To fill him a nick or ding with a matching colour? 
@chrisaldrich Maybe to draw up the letters on the keys with a white color? In any case, nice work!
Not some form of lubrication, I hope!
I would assume it has to do with colour. You fixed a paint chip, maybe? 🙂
@chrisaldrich wax lubricant?
@chrisaldrich
Grease substitute to lubricate a track?
Filling in dents and blemishes on the platten?
Ooh, as a temporary adhesive (like an easily-removed hot-melt glue)
@chrisaldrich writing a quick to-do list? I’m not good at guessing…
@chrisaldrich
Red crayon on the card guide markings?
Key caps? Saw someone mention using a white wax crayon for filling broken lettering on old key caps. Doesn’t sound like a very durable solution though.
Winner, winner. Some of the guesses made by others are also good uses for crayons, just not the one I executed here.
Some of the custom keycaps for mathematics and Greek characters on my Olympia SM3 were originally etched in and then filled with either wax or paint which has since disappeared. (The other keys seem to have been double-shot.) White crayon seems to have not only filled the gaps, but does exceptionally well for a color match. Given the depth of the etching of the glyphs and the wax, I suspect they’ll be good for a few more decades of use, and it has the added benefit of being an easily reversible restoration technique if it doesn’t work out. Wiping off the excess crayon outside of the characters was also a straightforward and easy process.
Here’s the before and after photo:
cc: u/IrmaBecx, u/OalBlunkont, u/guneeyoufix
Syndicated copies:
@the Nice try. I used it to fill in the missing color for some of the keycaps. Photos and more detail here.