Weapon of Choice: “Starbuck” 1964 Hermes Rocket #6027915
Typewriter Club LIVE 2020-12-27
Weapon of Choice: 1978 Brother Charger 11 #K83712885
One last update to the JP-1 Soundproofing Project – replacing the original foam bottom pad with a denser, colorful blue felt pad.
I used a putty knife to gently pry the foam pad off the little loop of glue. I tried to keep the pad intact, in case I want to put it back.
I have a choice of colors in my pile-o-felt pads (a thrift store find some years ago.
Sketching out a couple bottom pads on the felt sheet by tracing the original pad twice. Remember, when doing this to note which side is the bottom, it’ll be opposite for each one.
You don’t have to glue the new pad in – it’ll be held down by pressure from the frame, but I rubber cemented it in because rubber cement is easily reversed, but is a good sticky stuff.
Oooh, new blue under the keyboard!
My little $5 JP-1 is really sounding great now.
Weapon of Choice: 1962 Triumph Perfekt #3061978
Typewriter Club LIVE 2021-01-03
More TRB Luv! :D
Nice work on the JP-1. I need to do mine also.
I agree on how nice it is to use a 60’s era Rocket. I have one from 1966. It has a great touch for a flat machine, and the touch is quite light minus the squishy you mention. I really like mine, but it needs a recovered platen.
Yeah, might be one ultra-portable that I’d spring for a pro re-covering job on.
I have a Royal Century, which I believe is essentially the same machine. I have never thought of soundproofing it and now I’m intrigued.
Here’s an unrelated question, though it applies to the same machine. The ribbon cover on mine has a weird dent in it that causes the key slugs to hang up. I generally remove the cover to type, but then it gets really noisy. Any suggestions on ironing out this wrinkle? Maybe I should bring it to Gregory’s party on Sunday and see what the collective have to say. :)
-Mike in Suquamish
well, I would guess that a hammer, a wood block and some thick cloth to keep from chipping the paint is the answer to a lid dent, especially if it causes interference. Royal Century I think is a Silver Seiko 700 series – similar to the Brother JP-1 but different company and mechanics. Nakajima ALL was another Japanese company that also made a very similar machine, but those are more often found outside the US. The soundproofing advice here will be relevant to those as well, but Ring & Cylinder adjustment will be different.
To type or not to type‽ It is better to have Munk on screen typing than no Munk at all! I’m still blown away that you attend every single meeting, despite the fact that each is longer then the last. At 3½ hours, there is plenty of time to step (or roll) away for coffee or even a little typing. Type away, sir!
You may recall the Brother Charger 11 Correction was the first typewriter in my collection. It’s notable as the only manual typewriter I’ve ever found in a thrift store. The sound of it doesn’t bother me, but the unspooling you write of is a minor nuisance. If I liked typing on it more, I might actually make the effort to do something about it.
Thank you for the gift of the interrobang. I first looked up the definition. Then I looked up the alt code for it. Sadly, I’m typing this on a Chromebook, so alt codes are impossible. But copy and paste always works! See my example in the first sentence of this comment. Needless to say, I am happy to no longer resort to ?! again.
Yeah, we tend to gab, don’t we? I suppose that’s what you get when you invite a bunch of typewriter people over to talk about their machines. :D
Hey, We might get a Polt dropping in soon (see below)
Fun stuff … I should stop by TW Club sometime. Is there a standard link and time?
Sunday mornings, 8am Pacific (9am Arizona time) link is “launch.typepals.com” gets you right into the Zoom meeting. More info here: http://typepals.com
We would be excited to have you aboard sometime! Be prepared for effusive praise for your book – everyone loves it – :D
Ted, I’m of the opinion that whether we are talking about Typewriter Club LIVE, or any other situation where conversation is involved, quality always trumps quantity. In which case you are definitely good in my book!
By the way, I happen to be guilty of lobbying for Mr. Polt’s attendance at Typewriter Club LIVE over the course of an exchange of emails between the two of usjust recently. I wouldn’t have done so if I didn’t happen to believe that were Richard to join us, all involved would enjoy themselves greatly. (Note that I say “us” even though I’m a relative newcomer to the group. It is in part this groups incredibly accommodating attitude that makes spending time with you all so much fun.)
For what it’s worth, I’d like to learn a lot more about Adler and Triumph typewriters both. I’ve been able to get my hands on approximately just one of each and enjoyed both of them very much. I believe that like the Voss machines, the only thing that they have working against them is that they just aren’t all that well known by many newcomers like myself. This is where I come back full circle to my gratitude for yourself, Richard, Joe and many others who make it your mission to share the knowledge that you’ve gained over the years with the rest of us. Getting to see the Triumph this last Sunday was awesome.
Agree on quality over quantity, when it comes to conversation. Thanks also for lobbying the Poltboro – I’m looking forward to his participation. :D
Re: Adler/Triumph – what you’ll find in the US are imports from the mid-50’s on forward, all of which are delightful. after this round-top variation that I have, they switched to a new segment-shift design (this and all earlier variations are inclined-plane carriage-shifted), and these are also great. Like Olympias from the 1970’s, Adler/Triumph portables from the 70’s are just as good as their 60’s versions.
Hi Ted,
This may be a dumb question, but would your “Brother JP-1 Typewriter Repair Bible” be applicable to ’67 XL-500? I know the text is from ’75 and the XL-500 is not listed in the contents, but I was hoping that perhaps the variants were similar enough to offer some guidance.
Sincere thanks
Yes, it covers all JP-1’s and the Webster XL-500 is a JP-1. (:
Back in college I used an aqua 1960s Kmart Deluxe 100. It was a real rattletrap, a very jangly experience, but I loved it so. A very hardy typewriter – survived all sorts of neglect and abuse. It Just Typed. If I ever pick up one on eBay, I may try some felt insulation. Or just nostalgically enjoy the clanging and rattling.
Slightly off-topic, but thank you for the nice Brother page at Typewriter Database. I was recently helping someone date a Remington 333 and the serial number rule set is very good. Thank you again for all you do.
You’re very welcome! (: