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 Repair 101
Mail Call and a Howe Industries Double Pallet Attache Tool Case
Weapon of Choice: “Tex” 1957 Underwood De Luxe #AG2859328
1949: Who is Byron L. Wolfe, Author of OAMI Noiseless Typewriter Mechanical Training Manual?
1949: Who is Byron L. Wolfe, Author of the OAMI Noiseless Typewriter Mechanical Training Manual? From the collection of Kirk Jackson, Rocky’s OAMI Newsletter, 1949.
Pretty Pictures & Scanners All In A Row! :D
From the collection of Kirk at Nashville Typewriter.
1938 Corona Zephyr Typewriter Service Adjustment Methods
There is a clear delineation between pre-WWII service instructions for typewriters and Post WWII service manuals. Prior to WWII, it was expected that the typewriter mechanic would be an apprentice to an experienced mechanic, or would have come out of factory training or even working for a time for a typewriter manufacturer before striking off […]
Workin’ on the Lettera 22…
Weapon of Choice: “Tony” 1960 Olivetti Lettera 22 #749402 Gerren’s Lettera 22 Video: UPDATE: Currently Gerren is re-editing his video to fix some technical issues – I’ll re-link to the new one when he’s finished. In the meantime, here’s some pics of that escapement adjustment: What you will be doing is loosening the locknut that […]
Thoughts on Typewriter Parts Supplies and Trading
Weapon of Choice: 1946 Royal Quiet De Luxe #A-1218244 Goodies from The Type Space! :D A Quiet De Luxe differs from an Aristocrat mainly by the amount of sound padding panels it has. For some reason, this QDL had lost all of it’s panels, so I’ll replace them with fun red felt. Weapon of Choice: […]
Adjusting Ring & Cylinder on a Brother JP-1
Weapon of Choice: 1978 Brother Charger 11 #K83712885 Typewriter Club LIVE: 2022-01-23 Time to make some notes in your JP-1 Repair Bible. You make notes in your Bible, right? The following pages are from the Silver-Seiko 700 Series Repair Bible, and they have a clearer explanation of the process of Ring & Cylinder/Platen Parallel and […]
30% Off Typewriter Repair Bibles!
I found a 30% coupon code on orders of print products at Lulu, including Typewriter Repair Bibles! Use Coupon Code: “SAVE30“. Coupon codes are case-sensitive. Ends November 29th 30th at Midnight. Stock up now! :D
Fresh Feets for My 1940’s Royal Portables!
Weapon of Choice: “Moneypenny” 1948 Royal Quiet De Luxe #A-1551567 The old ones were so squished that it was hard to get the machine out of its case – the feet would get stuck in the lid detatchment mechanism. Weapon of Choice: 1940 Royal Aristocrat #B-957437 Gettin’ good use out of the tool we made […]
An OCR-A Typeface Adler and Let’s Make Our Own Royal Portable Foot Screwdriver!
Weapon of Choice: “Moroni” 1975 Adler Universal 200 #9668314 Another identical LDS-owned OCR-A Adler U200 is in the TWDB, 18,818 serials off from mine – apparently the Mormons bought a bunch of these data entry typers in 1975. 1975 Adler Universal 200 #9649496 My original purpose for going to MTE was to borrow Bill’s Royal […]
Adjusting Ribbon Lift on Hermes Rocket & Baby & Empire Aristocrat
Weapon of Choice: “Monster Scouts Field Typewriter Mark 1” 1956 Empire Aristocrat #S2/268670 Typewriter Club LIVE – Sep 26, 2021 The Hermes Baby and Rocket Typewriter Repair Bible [Printed, Coil-Bound Book] [PDF] The Service Manual covers the Left-Hand lift Bichrome mechanism, but my Aristocrat is a Right-hand single-color lift mechanism. Arrows point to the relevant […]
How to Remove the Left Platen Knob on a Smith-Corona 5-Series Floating Shift
How to Remove the Left Platen Knob on a Smith-Corona 5-Series Floating Shift A TCL friend asked if I had a left platen knob for an SCM 5-Series in my spare parts, and it happened I did, but it was not especially clear to me how to remove it from my parts machine – even […]
Monster Scouts Field Typewriter Mark 1 With Tripod
Weapon of Choice: “Nick Charles” 1956 Empire Aristocrat #S2/268670 Redubbed: “Monster Scouts Field Typewriter Mark 1 With Tripod” Previously known as the Empire Aristocrat Tripod Field Typewriter. Tripod Mount project Part 1 – Part 2 Be sure to tape off the buttons! (: Cleaning the machine with white gas (Coleman Fuel), then blow it out, […]
New Rubber for the Corona 4 Case Lid and Snapshots from a Letter-Writing Session
There are 3 little clippy brackets installed in the case lid of the Corona 4 that originally held little rubber bumpers that clamp onto the platen when the case is closed, and serve as part of securing the carriage while the machine is in the case. On El Diablo‘s case these bumpers were somewhat intact, […]
Hookey with a Typewriter on International Typewriter Day!
Weapon of Choice: “Thunderbird 3” 1966 Montgomery Ward Signature 440T #D6216161 Installing the silencer spring (thanks Typewriter Minutes!) – this is the “twisty” spring, and it goes pointy end down into the bottom ratchet wheel groove, so its travel back and forth is limited in the cutout below the loose dog. This is the disengaged […]
UJTU: Three Typewriters Improved In One Evening!
Weapon of Choice: “Starbuck” 1964 Hermes Rocket #6027915 Mmmmmmm, the fresh-baked smell of new typewriter feets! Installation Instructions: Hermes HD2-64 Feets. The original feet? Hard as rocks, crumbly and downright crispy, and still had to be pried off with a screwdriver. Oh, glorious, fresh grippy feets! Weapon of Choice: “Thunderbird 2” 1968 Montgomery Ward Signature […]
A Silenced 747, New Boots for the Paymaster & Mr. Whittles’ typewriter.
Weapon of Choice: 1978 Brother Charger 11 #K83712885 Weapon of Choice: 1970 Webster XL-747 #L0944386 Don’t forget to replace the bumper pads for the space bar and autospacer keys! 1963 Royal Century #RTP 5440198 The original feet were riveted in, so I drilled those out, then realized I had no fasteners suitable for the feet. […]
Brothers, Books, Administrators and Feets!
Weapon of Choice: 1978 Brother Charger 11 #K83712885 Some other books I picked up cheap this month. I really like the looks of the Administrator – all sorts of beveled edges like a diamond. Fascinating mechanical design as well. Almost all of the important bits are built into the bottom of the carriage *in between […]
The most essential tool for typewriter repair…
Weapon of Choice: 1970 Royal (Silver-Seiko) Sprite #NM 1113791 Tiki mug (From the country’s second-oldest Tiki Bar – the Alibi in Portland) is a gift from Bill, typecaster and fellow TCL member – Thank you, Bill! Used in this week’s TCL meetup for a nice Mimosa, yum! Typewriter Club LIVE 2021-04-25 Here’s a thing I […]
The Mystery of the Hermes 3000 Reversed Backspace and Tab keys and New Stuff To Read!
Weapon of Choice: “Easy” 1964 Hermes 3000 #3246817 https://typewriterdatabase.com/Hermes.3000.82.bmys 1959–David_Scadden-Approved_Home_Study_Course_in_Typewriter_Repair_and_Service-V1 https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/homestudycourse.pdf 1971-Royal-Type_Character_Combination_Catalog https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ri4DXbE1U8lzdnXmiCraTen6-4iBfUX8/view?usp=sharing 1966-1975-NOMDA_Blue_Book https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BvD8_msG7TLvs8eBtua9Y0-KHLKrt3gg/view?usp=sharing 195x-Remington-Standard-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonStandard19.pdf 1959-Remington-Standard-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonStandardSuper-Riter.pdf 1952-Remington-Noiseless_Standard-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonNoiseless10-1952.pdf 194x-Remington-Noiseless_Standard-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonNoiseless10-1950.pdf 195x-Remington-Fleetwing-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonFleetwing-manual.pdf 1953-Remington-Quiet_Riter-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/quietriter.pdf 1958-RC_Allen-Visomatic-UserManual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RCAllenVisOmatic.pdf 1976-Olivetti-Lexikon_83DL-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/OlivettiLexikon83DL.pdf 1970-Facit-1620-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/Facit1620.pdf 1920-Corona_3-User_Manual https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/Corona3-1920.pdf 196x-Olympia-Electric_50-Userman https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/OlympiaElectric50.pdf 196x-Olympia-SG3n-UserMan https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/OlympiaElectric50.pdf [Printed & Coil-Bound] [PDF] The Smith-Corona Series 6-7-88 Standard Typewriter Repair Bible is now available in […]
Molding and Pouring new Typewriter Feet (Complete Video How-To Series)
Weapon of Choice: “Einstein”, 1956 Smith Corona Silent #5S 529594 Typewriter Club LIVE [Mar 7, 2021]: See below how much people like getting fresh-baked Typewriter feet in the mail! Typewriter Video Series – Episode 257: Replacement Feets! Fountain Pens & Typewriters got some too: Hermes 3000 Replacement Feets by Ted Munk TTSSASTT 0.6 – Making […]
Mo’ Feets & Mo’ Media – What I Typed During TCL
Weapon of Choice: “Doris Day”, 1966 Olympia SM9 #3098142 Perhaps the last set of Olympia SM-7 feet 3D printed in PLA by Steve Dade (RIP, friend). Raymond’s over in Colorado sent them over so I could replicate them in rubber, because PLA is stiff and not very grippy at all. First step: make a box […]
Excitement and Delight! Fresh Rubber! Musty Books!
Weapon of Choice: “Cadwallader”, 1963 Olympia SM7 #2335640 A Typer’s Dozen: Ted Munk @ The Typewritemosphere AUSTIN TYPEWRITER, INK. Casting Urethane Typewriter Feet: Joe shows off his Goody Package from Bill M. in a recent Typewriter Club Live! Little library of Typewriter Care & Repair. Wait.. are those SM-7 feet in that little baggie??
One last update on soundproofing my JP-1, and a week’s worth of typing
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 […]
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 […]
1956 – On Feet and Motion (Remington Super-Riter)
Need more help repairing a Remington Standard Manual Typewriter? Try out The Remington Standard Manual Typewriter Repair Bible!
Wizard Smoke feet for Ghost Chocolate and a Bible for the 6-7-88’s
Weapon of Choice “Ghost Chocolate”, 1957 Olympia SM3 #998587 Swappin’ out the mint-green test feet with a custom-mixed set of translucent silver feet that have a maroon sheen when lit up, to match the colors of the typewriter. Typewriter Club LIVE! (2020-11-29). There’s a little bit of <3 in every Smith-Corona Standard of the 1950’s […]
Soldering Typeface to Typebar & Use of Type Gauge S-221
The More You Know: Using typeface alignment tool and repairing or replacing typeface slugs. From: The Royal FP, MC Empress, 440 & 470 Typewriter Repair Shop Manual – 426 Pages.
Fresh Minty Green Feets for Hermes 3000 and Olympia SM3&4 and Corona 4
Weapon of Choice: “Easy” 1964 Hermes 3000. Less than half that, actually. ‘Cept maybe certain models that will likely require extra parts (A sort of “kit” including all the bits you should replace while you’ve got it skinned, IYKWIM).The H3k ones are pretty straightforward, though and will be on the cheaper side.. Early set of […]
Keeping Busy and Productive
Weapon of Choice: “Joanie” 1964 Hermes 3000. First casts in plastic resin, transparent because I haven’t yet gotten my mica powders in the mail. This resin is actually quite tough, and I think it’ll work perfectly. Some more TRB luv. Can’t tell you how much it warms my cockles to see people getting good use […]
Levers, Nameplates and Feets, Oh, My!
Got my bake-set clay, liquid plastic and silicon mold-making stuff today, so I decided to replicate the feet for the “Silver Bullet” Olympia SM case and build my first molds. I’ve built the masters for my Corona 4 feets, tested for perfect fit, correct height and superior desk grip. I’ll likely be doing even more […]
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 […]
One life for yourself, and one for your dreams…
Weapon of Choice: 1978 Brother Charger 11. August, 2016 was the last Quiet-Riter pickup – and I was practically tripping over ’em then.. Don’t wanna wait? Want to do all the cleanup and compiling yourself and print it out for free? Knock yerself out! (: Getting accustomed to a new workflow. I spent a lot […]
Typewriter TV Episode 001 2020/01/10
Typewriter TV – Episode One ########################################## Typewriter Books for Collectors By: Will Davis, the author of the Typewriters by Will Davis page and the co-author of The Davis Typewriter Works blog. http://willdavis.org https://davistypewriters.blogspot.com/ Bonus Youtube content from the Davis Bros. who are basically the Click & Clack of typewriters: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoFvwDFlV9HxlBxL3Yilag/videos ########################################## A Quick Lesson on […]