Typewriter repair the high-tech way.

JOEL VOLK USES THE INTERNET TO TOUT HIS VINTAGE FIX-IT SERVICE

Joel Volk does business for a high-tech world - but in the midst of old-fashioned typewriters.

Volk, who owns Mercury Office Machines, is using the Internet to find customers looking to repair their vintage machines, some dating back as far as the 1800s.

"I found all the sites that had 'vintage typewriters' and began posting messages saying we do repair service," said Volk, who has received dozens of responses. "It was a powerful and simple way to get new business. I was surprised myself at the response."

It was also a good way to mix business with a hobby, he said.

Inside Mercury's Van Nuy's service center, a trophy case is packed with different models of typewriters that span from the 1860s to the early-1900s.

While technology continues to forge ahead, Volk notes that many people hold a special value on their old typewriters.

"There is a lot of history, a lot of sentimental value, on these old heavy black metal typewriters," he said. "And what is amazing is that the technology of today is revitalizing the oldest of technology."

Unlike owners of modern machines, customers who want their typewriters repaired are often more patient with service time. Many are willing to wait months for a restoration job simply because there aren't that many places that still do the work, he said.

Volk figures that word-of-mouth helps set customers at ease about sending in their machines. But how do you find parts for machines build in the 1800s?

"I've had to be really creative and make things up as I go along," said Volk, who charges about $60 an hour for repairs. "It can be expensive, but it really is a labor of love."

Volk, for example, uses dental equipment to get into hard to reach places. Many times parts must be hand-made or improvised. And with no way to purchase vintage typewriter ribbon, modern-day ribbon must be rewound onto old spools.

For customers, it's well worth the effort.

John Blowitz, publisher of the Grunion Gazette in Long Beach, used his Underwood typewriter to get through journalism school. The typewriter, about 70 years old, was previously owned by his father - who was also a reporter.

"Over the years it had been replaced by a few IBM typewriters and a series of Macintosh's," said Blowitz, who found out about Mercury through the Internet. "This was something that I had all through college, and it had just become neglected. It looks like brand new" - and ran about $150, Blowitz said.

Volk points out that one of his hardest assignments involved a dusty typewriter with a badly damaged key pad. With no way to purchase replacement keys, Volk had to start from scratch.

He contacted a dentist who used equipment that makes plaster teeth impressions to create an entire new mold for the individual keys.

"You work on these older machines and something comes over you," he said. "Many of these will come in with repair stickers from Europe - and you wonder if it was a typewriter used by a journalist in World War I, or Winston Churchill's speech writer, or even a soldier writing a letter home from the war."

He looks at the machines as antiques, not writing instruments. "Personal computers were designed to be disregarded, not looked at," he said. "These typewriters were designed to last."

At the same time, Volk realizes that a large portion of his revenue involves new office machines.

The company, which also has offices in Long Beach, leases and rents office equipment like fax machines, copiers, paper shredders, printers and computers.

Volk attributes his firm's success to his insistence on staying on top of new technology in the industry. He remembers back to 1986 when he wanted to list his company in the yellow pages under the "facsimile machines" heading.

"They had no idea what I was talking about," said Volk. "I had to beg them, and they finally created a category for fax machines just for me. We were the only dealership listed under it, and it proved to be quite a boon."

Spotlight

Mercury Office Machines

Year founded: 1982 Core business: Sales/Service of business machines. Sales in 1987: $120,000 Sales in 1996: $1.2 million Employees in 1987: 3 Employees in 1997: 17 Goal: To stay on the forefront of new technology in office products.