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WTB: Punch Card Hole Puncher...

mchicago

New Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
4
Hello,
I'm looking to acquire a single handed hole punch type as a present for my father. I have a photo of one, shown below, but I've really been struggling to find one.

3827323721_0971187863.jpg

If anyone has one or similar (but one handed!) please let me know,

Best Regards
 
Hello,
I'm looking to acquire a single handed hole punch type as a present for my father. I have a photo of one, shown below, but I've really been struggling to find one.


If anyone has one or similar (but one handed!) please let me know,

Best Regards
---
An odd request/present; care to tell us what's behind it?
And how much do you think you'll have to spend?
 
Basically, (and to repeat history you all know...) long before I was around, programmers would write their programs by hand. If they worked in private companies, they would then probably program it themselves, but if they where lucky to work at one of the larger programming institutions, then they would probably have a typing pool.

The typing pool consisted generally of ladies who where paid not a lot to just type - the advantage of the typing pool was that as you typed in (two handed) it would actually print the program on the card as well. Unfortunately, the disadvantage was that they often made mistakes in their typing.

So a skilled programmer would have one of these on their desk, and either hand punch the few cards which had been mistyped, or just punch the entire program using one of these.

I believe it works by you pressing combinations of buttons to make it punch the correct hole, then it moves the card on one slot.

I'm afraid that I don't know how much its worth - the problem is that these where actually very very common devices in the 60's and 70's, and as such, everyone threw them away - if it had been rare then more people would have saved them. I hadn't ever seen one, until I visited Bletchley park where I took this photo, and they had two! Surely they wouldn't miss one if it fell into my bag .... (joke: that would be very wrong)

The reason he want's one is that he's now fast aproaching retirment age, and he has a small collection of "training materials" through the ages of him working in computing - old 8 meg hard drives, punch tape, mag tape etc, and for several years he's been asking us to keep an eye out for one at car boots etc.

I don't know exactly how hjgh I would go to get one, but I'm not wasting anyone's time here, as I know it would mean a lot to him.
 
Ah LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!!!!

if you'd put your location in I would have pointed you to the very very scruffy one on ebay UK that has just expired with no bids. £99 seems to be a very reasonable price for one with all it's buttons intact, less reasonable for a scruffy one like that.

Item number: 250502850323

We used to use them as doorstops.:eek:
 
Ahaar! Thank you so much! I wouldn't ever have thought to search for that. /bid /bid /bid

shame its not slightly better quality but beggars can't be choosers.

(he's actually reposted the item for £89 so I can't complain)

Thank you so much :D
 
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I've got a newer model by Wright Line, sort of like a big Dymo writer; dial a character and press a bar to punch (and print!).
I'll try to take a picture.
 
As promised. Easier with two hands though...
 

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I guess that would be a lot slower to use though - easier, but slower.

Does it also print the letter you're punching?
 
I guess that would be a lot slower to use though - easier, but slower.

Does it also print the letter you're punching?
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Yeah, I suppose once you've got the codes burned into your brain you could be a little faster but I don't think speed-typing is a big issue with these things ;-)

Using two hands it actually isn't too bad, and yes, the ribbon's a little dried out so you can't see it in the picture but it does print the punched characters across the top just like the printing keypunches.
 
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