Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

[Giftmacher]

Another one

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Picked this up a couple of weeks ago and I just put it up on eBay.

 

[White_feather]

This is some Dietz lanterns and a Royal typewriter from mid 1936.

Lodge cast iron. I have more. I find all this in the garbage. I am a professional garbage picker. I have many typewriters, cast iron and lanterns.

 

[Shangas]

Damn it, I want that typewriter...

 

[Vampyre Master]

Damn it, I want that typewriter...

Oh we have one of these its a portable!!
VM
just bought a nice desk pics to follow

 

[Happy Jack]

Picked up this Vietnam era Flak Jacket,in a Garage sale ,on a trip to Virginia Beach.

 

[jamespowers]

A Lucky Lager Beer sign, Hamms Beer sign(in need of plenty of repair, a Morriset pen-ink unit, a jewelry box with balerina dancer and music box and a few other things I can't remember. Time to go out and polish them up.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Picked up this Vietnam era Flak Jacket,in a Garage sale ,on a trip to Virginia Beach.

Great find and looks like it's in great condition! According to the label it was made in 1969.

 

[Shangas]

Today, I bought for $50, a very old (Ca. 1910s/20s) transverse-shuttle handcrank sewing-machine at the flea-market. It's branded "A.N.A.".

A bit of digging reveals this to be "All-Native-Australian", a trademark of the Ward Bros. "Australian Sewing Machines Limited", importers of sewing-machines to the Australian colonies (and later, Australian Commonwealth) during the late-Victorian & Edwardian eras.

Photographs coming soon.

I plan to restore it, and possibly, sell it.

Here's the machine:

Here's the case:

This is a long shot, and I apologise, but...

Does anyone here know how to thread a boat-shuttle on these old 1st-generation transverse-machines? I'm at a complete loss!

 

[TackCollector]

Thread a shuttle machine: I have Singers and Nationals, and a New Home, I think they are all pretty much the same.
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFQ6fTVnkT0
winding a bobbin, video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOu4-CG8RMU&feature=relmfu

 

[Shangas]

My latest purchase!:

The Shift-Lock key doesn't work, but otherwise, it's mechanically perfect and ready for action. It's a 1920s Underwood Standard Portable typewriter

I suspect it needs a new ribbon, or something. But otherwise, it's fine. I shall post a typing-sample in the fullness of time.

EDIT - Figured out what the ribbon-problem was! The guy who sold me the typewriter accidentally installed it the wrong way around! Since rectified and typing wonderfully!!

 

[m0nk]

Wow, that's a nice find!

 

[Shangas]

You're tellin' me! I never thought I'd own something like this!

 

[kiwilrdg]

The Shift-Lock key doesn't work,

Many of the old shift locks were just a hook on the key that engaged on the lever for the shift key. If it is because if a little grime a bit of cleaning might fix it.

 

[Shangas]

I'm aware of the mechanics of how shift-lock/floating-shift keys worked. I just don't see how it works in THIS instance...I'm currently cleaning the machine as best I can without pulling it to tiny little pieces. We'll see what happens.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I just don't see how it works in THIS instance...

On both of my machines the hook portion is actually a stamped groove in the metal lever of the key (the shift and shift lock levers move against each other. I cleaned mine by sliding an alcohol soaked piece of paper between the levers. I hope that helps for your machine.

 

[Shangas]

I was told by various sources, not to use OIL to clean my typewriter, but instead, I should use alcohol.

What kind of alcohol are we talking about here? And why use this, instead of oil?

 

[kiwilrdg]

I am not trained in typewriter repair, but I have dabbled in it a bit. I used denatured alcohol to clean the parts but the alcohol will evaporate and any abrasive dist or dirt will not move after that. I would imagine that not using oil is because bits of grit or dust landing in the oil can act as an abrasive and wear out parts as the oil flows when the parts move. I have seen a lot of wear in clocks from too much oil.

Never use WD-40 on it because it will harden between parts. I have seen many clocks that needed major overhauls from WD-40 after a couple of years.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you look closely at the left hand shift key, you'll see a metal hook on the shift lock key right next to it. That hook should be wrapped around the shift key bar -- it'll engage a little pawl on the key bar when pressed. Press the Shift key all the way down to release it. If it's stuck, give it a little squirt of penetrating oil and let it set until you can get it to release. The parts are so close together that they sometimes build up just enough surface rust to stick.

 

[Shangas]

If you look closely at the left hand shift key, you'll see a metal hook on the shift lock key right next to it. That hook should be wrapped around the shift key bar -- it'll engage a little pawl on the key bar when pressed. Press the Shift key all the way down to release it. If it's stuck, give it a little squirt of penetrating oil and let it set until you can get it to release. The parts are so close together that they sometimes build up just enough surface rust to stick.

Hi Lizzie,

I know how it works, but from what I can see, it's not jammed. I'll tell you what happens and see if you can make a diagnosis...

Pressing either the left shift-key, or the shift-lock key, depresses both keys at once and raises the carriage. Releasing either key causes them to spring back, and for the carriage to drop (it's a carriage-shift typewriter).

If my knowledge of typewriters is anything to go by, this action is only supposed to happen with the shift-key on the left side. Pressing shift-LOCK should hold both keys down once you release your finger, and the keys should only jump back up when you press the shift-key to disengage the shift-lock. That's correct, isn't it?

In the typewriters that I've seen, presssing shift-lock engages the shift-key, and then shoves it either left, or right, into a little slot (to literally LOCK the shift-key down). Then pressing the shift-key to release forces the bar out of the slot, and it springs back up again. This typewriter doesn't have that feature, so I'm a bit mystified as to how this works.

The keys are NOT, so far as I can see, stuck together. They will move quite independently of each other (within the constraints of the hooks that keep them together) and aren't jammed up.

Every other key on the typewriter works PERFECTLY. A couple of them do stick, however. I remember someone else mentioned using denatured alcohol to clean typewriter bars as well...