An example of the sort of clarity that I think would be useful when refurbishers are “Reconditioning” typewriters is the issue of platens. I’ll say straight up that a typewriter is not “rebuilt” unless all the rubber bits have been replaced and the platen recovered. By “recovered” I mean the rubber covering of the platen […]
Category: Typewriter Platen Recovering
Taming The Tinny Typing Sound of a Brother JP-1 Typewriter (Part 3 – the Finale?)
Weapon of Choice: 1978 Brother Charger 11 #K83712885 It was back in 2015 that I started pondering the problem of silencing the tinny sound of the Brother JP-1. In 2017, I shrinktubed the platen, along with a couple others. To adjust ring & cylinder on a JP-1 is done by loosening these two screws on […]
UJTU: SCM Carriage Levers, Corona Feets, A Gift For a Patron and Scannin’
Weapon of Choice: 1936 Corona Junior Model S. The Carriage Release Levers on 1959-1980’s SCM portables are prone to breakage and getting more so as they age. These, from Bubbles, my own 1960 Galaxie are brittle and developing hairline cracks despite being in quite good shape. They also aren’t white anymore. I pondered how I […]
The Joys of Fresh Platen Rubber on Old Writing Iron
Weapon of Choice: “Richard The Deep Breather” 1925 Corona 4. Soft Left Margin happens when there’s too much play between the margin stops and the protrusion on the carriage that stops against them – ie: if you return the carriage and notice that there is either a lot of bounceback when returning softly or no […]
Drago’s gettin’ New Rubber!
Last Bit of fresh rubber for Little Jake
Heh, the cloth-ribbon IBM Selectric doesn’t like to type on a Matte-finish paper. It’s almost like the ink gets squeezed out of the impact point and leaves something that almost passes as an outline font.
Typewriter Platen Recovering: UPDATE – New JJ Short services unveiled!
I got a note this morning from Peter Short of J.J. Short Company – they’ve put up a new page on their website dedicated to the services they provide for typewriter platen and feed roller replacement. That’s right, they now are beginning to offer replacement of old, worn feed rollers! I’ve had the platen recovered […]
The Return of El Diablo – New JJ Short Platen!
UPDATE: Typewriter Platen refurbishing by J.J. Short
A new update I received from Peter Short this morning: Ted–just wanted to drop you a quick note on our progress. Things seem to be moving along especially with the older style platens–we have seen a number of makes and models including Underwoods, Royals, Smith Corona, Olivetti, Oliver, LC Smith, Hermes, KMM and Remingtons. The […]
El Diablo Takes One For The Team…
Further Update From JJ Short on Typewriter Platen Recovering
Got this email from Mr. Peter Short today: Ted we have sent out about a dozen platens to folks who very graciously sent them to us to evaluate. We think we are spot on with the material and hardness at least for the older models and are awaiting material in after the holiday to start looking […]
Platen Recovering Update: Houston, we have rubber!
Another email in the box this morning from Peter Short of JJ Short, with positive news about their rubber formulation: Ted—thanks for posting the update since then we have had positive reviews on the material we just we off a little on the OD which we were guessing on based on some very worn platens. […]
Update: Platen Recovering by JJ Short
I had an email in my box today from Peter Short with an update regarding their tooling up for providing typewriter platen recovering services: Wanted to give you an update on our progress with typewriter platen recovery. We have spoken to many folks across the country who have been very kind in sharing their advice […]
Update on Typewriter Platen Recovering services!
It’s been awhile since I checked my Spam folder in WordPress, so I was surprised to see 3 comments on my article on Ames going out of business that had ended up in my spam list, but were legit replies (probably because they were new posters who put links in the post). “Peter Short says: […]
Where will we get our Typewriter Platens re-covered now?
Several people who have recently sent their typewriter platens for re-covering by Ames Supply have received this letter, along with the platens and feed rollers they’ve sent in (sometimes, luckily, already re-done!) Ames Supply Company Since 1902 May 1st, 2012 To our Valued Customer: We regret to inform you that after 110 years in business, […]