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From: mazlack@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Lawrence J. Mazlack)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac,net.wanted
Subject: Re: Re-inking printer ribbons
Message-ID: <13583@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 2-May-86 18:18:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.13583
Posted: Fri May  2 18:18:16 1986
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Reply-To: mazlack@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Lawrence J. Mazlack)
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>I have in my grubby paws a leaflet advertising a device called "The Inker",
>which claims to re-ink your (fabric) printer ribbons for around 5p a time
>(wossat in cents?  about 6.5c perhaps?).  Given the high cost of ribbons,
>this sounds a good deal, especially if it works.  Unfortunately, the device
>costs, in the UK, 195 pounds.  Not cheap, eh?
>
>Does anyone out there in netland have one? Do you know anything about them?
>Do they work, and do they work well?  Is a re-inked ribbon just as good as
>the original?  How much does the device cost in the States?  Is this an
>overpriced piece of plastic and metal?
>

Your price seems a little high.  I am using "MacInker" which has a
manufactur's price of $42.00(US).  Their address:
  Computer Friends
  6415 SW Canyon Ct, #10
  Portland, Oregon 97221
  USA                    

They claim a reinking cost of $0.05, which is the cost of the ink. This is
not entirely accurate as you have to factor in the cost of the device and your
time.

I have used it to reink my pool of ribbons about 5 times/each ribbon.  It does
reink them. However, the negatives are:
(a) The quality is not as good as new ribbons (really not much of a surprize).
    I would estimate that once the ribbon stabilizes (see b), it is about
    80% as good. The results are not as sharp and tend to be a little 
    blurry. I compare this to commericially reinked ribbons at a quality level
    of about 90%.  (Of course, I might not be as effective a user as others and
    I might be pickier than you.)

(b) It takes a while for the reinked ribbon to stabilize or dry enough. If you
    use the ribbon shortly after reinking, the results are very blurry. I try
    to let my reinked ribbons sit around for a few weeks before reuse. About
    three weeks minimally.  Two months for best results. (Again, it might be
    that others have different results with different inks - however, I do 
    use the ink that they supplied.

(c) The motor that they supply tends to overheat and stop. I do several ribbons
    at a time (one after the other) and I guess that it just gets tired. The
    motor is pretty small.

(d) It takes a fair amount of time per ribbon.  

I don't want to leave you with the impression that I don't like the product, I
do. However, it is useful to know a device's limitations.

Larry Mazlack
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