Examples and counterexamples of type I isometric shifts

We provide examples of nonseparable spaces $X$ for which C(X) admits an isometric shift of type I, which solves in the negative a problem proposed by Gutek {\em et al.} (J. Funct. Anal. {\bf 101} (1991), 97-119). We also give two independent methods for obtaining separable examples. The first one allows us in particular to construct examples with infinitely many nonhomeomorphic components in a subset of the Hilbert space $\ell^2$. The second one applies for instance to sequences adjoined to any n-dimensional compact manifold (for $n \ge 2$) or to the Sierpi\'nski curve. The combination of both techniques lead to different examples involving a convergent sequence adjoined to the Cantor set: one method for the case when the sequence converges to a point in the Cantor set, and the other one for the case when it converges outside.