Typewriter Plotters (2022)

Summary

Did you know there were typewriters that used ball point pens to draw not just text but also graphics? I’ve collected several of these over the years. Read on to discover a world that you didn’t know existed. Typewriter plotters could act as a normal typewriter in that you could type on the keys and have the text printed on the page. The difference is it would use a tiny ball point pen to “draw” the text, character by character, onto the page. It’s mesmerizing to watch! Many also included the ability to print graphs and bar charts, although in practice is was likely cumbersome. In addition, some models had the ability to connect to a computer to print text or even custom graphics. Panasonic RK-P400C Penwriter Panasonic made three models. The top shelf was the RK-P400C Penwriter which included the RS-232 port built in for computer control. They also came with a white pen for error correcting. Here’s a video of the Panasonic RK-P400C Penwriter typewritter plotter drawing a design under computer control via RS-232. The manual is available from Archive.org. VIDEO Mona Triangles on a Panasonic RK-P400C typewriter plotter. Panasonic RK-P440 Penwriter A lower end model was the Panasonic RK-P440 Penwriter. It had a computer input but required the K100 external interface. Otherwise functionally the same: draws texts as well as business graphics with 4 color ballpoint pens. Portable using 6 C batteries. The Panasonic K-100 interface box connected to the typewriter via a DE-9 port on the side and connected to your computer via either DB-25 RS-232 or Centronics parallel. Here’s a video of the Panasonic RK-P400 Penwriter plotting the demo page using four ballpoint pens. VIDEO Panasonic RK-P200C Penwriter Panasonic also had the basic RK-P200C Penwriter which removed any computer control but kept the ability to do standalone business graphics. Pic from eBay. Silver Reed EB50 There were other ballpoint pen based typewriters, such as this Silver Reed EB50. It draws text and business...