Typewriters

[Shangas]

I have officially ascended to the level of a vintage typewriter owner. Meet my new baby:

Its first words. My apologies, it's still finding its voice!

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's the same portable I have, except mine is in a green fake-woodgrain finish. Keep it clean and use it often, and it won't let you down. Congratulations!

 

[Shangas]

Hi Lizzie,

It's a beautiful machine. I love it! I just wish the shift-lock would work.

 

[splintercellsz]

I believe there is a 1927 German Typewriter at one of the thrift stores down here. If I get enough $ on the side, I may just go pick it up. Case & all. Such a beauty!

 

[Shangas]

I had an opportunity to buy a German "OLYMPIA" typewriter in London for a rather decent price. But I turned it down because I couldn't see myself using a German typewriter, what with all the umlauts and everything else that went with it.

Handy for someone doing a short film about Germany in the Weimar Republic Era, but not for me.

 

[splintercellsz]

I prefer American myself (I am kind-of biased, living here and all), but to me if it's old, I love it regardless!

 

[Shangas]

I found a shop in town that sells typewriter ribbons! I dropped by and purchased a pair of twin-spool packs today. They stock them, and the guy at the counter said, if they don't stock them, they can order it in. They're pretty cheap; $5 a spool.

For any Melbournians wanting to know where this is, it's 53, Queen Street, in the C.B.D. "Industrial Stationer's" is the name. It's a printing and office-supplies shop.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I had an opportunity to buy a German "OLYMPIA" typewriter in London for a rather decent price. But I turned it down because I couldn't see myself using a German typewriter, what with all the umlauts and everything else that went with it.

Handy for someone doing a short film about Germany in the Weimar Republic Era, but not for me.

An unusual variant was the model made for the SS. It even had a key for the SS "Sigrunen".

 

[Shangas]

That's an interesting, if rather morbid fact...

I don't wanna know what kinda documents went through THAT typewriter!

 

[Shangas]

EDIT - Double post?? Ah crap...

Anyway, I've printed out a copy of the typewriter-manual from the excellent website: "Machines of Loving Grace".

My typewriter keys are sticking. Particularly the E (no surprise there), B, V, and J.

I've been following a tip I found online, and I've been brushing methylated spirits in between the typebars to flush out the dust and grime within.

Boy...oh...boy...oh...boy.

The amount of GUNK!!!!...which that exercise has produced is just mind-boggling. I've been at it now for...an hour...and it's STILL coming out! No wonder these keys are jamming up! But there is already a marked improvement. E is working, B & V are just about cleaned up, J is still posing a few problems, but is showing promise and progress.

This is easily the cheapest and best method for cleaning sticky typewriter keys ever! It's messy, but it seems to work!

 

[Shangas]

My typewriter is in functioning order!

It took me all of last night (about eight hours) and about three hours this morning, to clean this machine to the level where it would function flawlessly. Keys kept sticking and jamming, and I wasn't prepared to put up with it.

Using a tip I saw online, I got myself a SOFT-BRISTLED BRUSH (like a paintbrush), a bottle of methylated spirits, a small bowl and a whole lotta paper-towels.

I put the towels under the machine (about 3-4 sheets at a time) and brushed the meths vigorously through the type-basket to flush out the gunk inside the keys. Meths loosens up the debris, dissolves it, and then the gunk-filled meths just drips out of the bottom of the typewriter, onto the paper below. The leftover meths in the machine just evaporates. No oil required, or indeed, recommended.

It was a LONG cleaning process. Every time I thought the job was done, another key would stick. And I'd have to start all over again. I took out the ribbon to save ink, and just kept working at it, over and over and over again. I nearly gave up, once or twice because I couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. That was at 11:00pm at night.

In the light of day, I examined the paper-towels under the machine (this was like, the ninth change of paper!) and I saw that there was still greyish staining on the paper (from the crud in the machine).

So...more scrubbing!

I just finished cleaning and testing EVERY single KEY on the typewriter and it's now working perfectly*. So I took the opportunity to have a little photo-shoot...

Next to the typewriter, you can see a printout-copy of its original instruction-manual. Not having staples strong or large enough to hold it together, I utilised the strength of my grandmother's Singer sewing-machine to sew the pages up along one side, to bind it into a book. Not bad. It's 20 sheets of paper there and the Singer went through it like a hot knife through butter.

That little yellow packet on the right is a spare typewriter-ribbon which I bought from a shop in town.

It's important to keep the typewriter covered when not in use, to prevent dust getting into the mechanism. If you don't like having to keep taking it in and out of its carrying-case all the time, you can do what I did...

Curl the paper down over the front, and hold it in place by tucking it under the ribbon-reverse switch (that little knob on the right). This stops dust from getting into the type-basket and rest of the machine mechanism. Of course, it's just a temporary cover. Any long-term storage should be done in the actual case.

If you're wondering what's written on the machine in the majority of these photos, it's a transcription of the first part of Neville Chamberlain's speech announcing the start of WWII on the 3rd of September, 1939. It was a speed-typing test I undertook to test the reactions of the keys and satisfy myself that everything was functioning properly. The only time the keys jammed was when I accidentally hit two keys at once! Thank goodness! I type pretty fast (I can manage about 70-85WPM), and this machine kept up with me all the way.

Here's the transcript I typed out, if you want to see what kind of print the typewriter produces with a fresh ribbon inside of it. As you can see, it's nice and clear and quite legible:

Please excuse the fountain pen and the pocketwatch, but I needed paperweights to stop the page from curling up while I took the photograph.

*Perfectly? Hmm...The shift-lock key still doesn't work. But otherwise, everything's hunky dory.

 

[Brinybay]

My typewriter is in functioning order!

It took me all of last night (about eight hours) and about three hours this morning, to clean this machine to the level where it would function flawlessly. Keys kept sticking and jamming, and I wasn't prepared to put up with it.

Using a tip I saw online, I got myself a SOFT-BRISTLED BRUSH (like a paintbrush), a bottle of methylated spirits, a small bowl and a whole lotta paper-towels.

I put the towels under the machine (about 3-4 sheets at a time) and brushed the meths vigorously through the type-basket to flush out the gunk inside the keys. Meths loosens up the debris, dissolves it, and then the gunk-filled meths just drips out of the bottom of the typewriter, onto the paper below. The leftover meths in the machine just evaporates. No oil required, or indeed, recommended.

It was a LONG cleaning process. Every time I thought the job was done, another key would stick. And I'd have to start all over again. I took out the ribbon to save ink, and just kept working at it, over and over and over again. I nearly gave up, once or twice because I couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. That was at 11:00pm at night.

In the light of day, I examined the paper-towels under the machine (this was like, the ninth change of paper!) and I saw that there was still greyish staining on the paper (from the crud in the machine).

So...more scrubbing!

I just finished cleaning and testing EVERY single KEY on the typewriter and it's now working perfectly*.

You did a good job, and I learned something. I thought a good cleaning would mean dismantling it, something that seemed like a nightmare with all those little parts. I'm in the market for one similar to yours, 30s-era, functioning, preferably a portable because I have limited space. I've been browsing thrift-stores, so far all I've seen are those huge modern business machines, but I'll keep looking. Craigslist and Ebay have a few in my area.

 

[StudioCB]

I love my Blickensderfer!

 

[Shangas]

You did a good job, and I learned something. I thought a good cleaning would mean dismantling it, something that seemed like a nightmare with all those little parts. I'm in the market for one similar to yours, 30s-era, functioning, preferably a portable because I have limited space. I've been browsing thrift-stores, so far all I've seen are those huge modern business machines, but I'll keep looking. Craigslist and Ebay have a few in my area.

In Australia, at least, pre-war FUNCTIONAL typewriters sell for two arms, a leg and your right testicle. What I paid for mine was in the higher range of the price-scale (but still not the most expensive I've seen).

If you want help with advice and such, you can message me, or you can PM. LizzieMaine, she should be able to give some insight.

I wanted a portable typewriter because...

1. They're PORTABLE!
2. They don't weigh nearly as much as a standard. A standard typewriter starts at about 30lbs, and goes up to about 50lbs or more. I remember trying to lift a Remington No. 16, once, and I nearly ripped my arms out of my sockets!

Cleaning the typewriter is not especially difficult. It certainly doesn't require FULL disassembly (You can if you want, of course, but don't blame me if you can't put it back together!!).

To clean my typewriter, I used...

- Rubber squeeze-bulb air-blower.

- Q-tips.

- Tissue-paper.

- Needle-nose tweezers.

- A steady hand.

- Windex + tissues (for polishing the body).

- Meth/Spirits (also called Denatured Alcohol) for flushing out the typebars.

- Paper-towels.

- A SMALL amount of sewing-machine oil. Typewriters work mostly by GRAVITY, so no lubrication should be required at all. But if there are any squeaks, then a DROP of oil on each affected area, is sufficient to stop it. I applied ONE drop to the E-bar on my typewriter, because it kept squeaking when I was typing and it got really annoying.

In my experience, mostly gleamed from sewing-machines, if something doesn't work, it's MOSTLY because it just needs cleaning. And cleaning need not entail the complete disembowelment of a machine. Just manipulate the typewriter and work around it.

 

[Marla]

Shangas, I've been closely following your progress. Recently I purchased a typewriter of my own. It's a portable Remington Rand with the original instruction manual. It seems to be in good shape; none of the keys are sticking. Regarding your advice to use methylated spirits to clean the keys: would rubbing alcohol or windex work just as well?

 

[Shangas]

Windex is excellent for polishing the body, and cleaning the metal, but for cleaning the key-linkages and the type-basket, you NEED methylated spirits (also called denatured alcohol in the 'States).

The meths dissolves the dust and gunk inside the typewriter and drips it out the bottom, and then it just dries up and evaporates. That way, there's no mess left behind.

If you use something else, the same result won't be achieved, and you'll end up in big strife.

If the keys are squeaking, then you can use a TINY drop of sewing-machine oil on each offending part, to give it some lubrication. No more than a drop each.

If your typewriter is covered in tobacco and nicotine stains (mine came with a layer so thick, it took two days to scrub it off!), then windex, and lot of elbow-grease, is ideal for removing it. Just be careful around the decals. If you scrub too hard, you'll scrape the paintwork off the letters!

Using Windex to clean the typewriter body should be done like this:

1. Fill a shallow bowl with windex.

2. Dip cotton-bud (Q-tip) into windex.

3. 'paint' the windex all over the area of the body to be cleaned (only do a small area at a time, don't do the whole typewriter all at once, otherwise the windex dries out before you finish).

4. Using tissues, scrub firmly, but carefully.

You'll need a lot of elbow-grease to do this. Tobacco stains stick like GLUE to typewriter bodies and you really have to scrub HARD. But DO NOT use any abrasives, otherwise, you'll damage the paint-finish on your typewriter. You'll know that the polishing is working when the tissue wipes smoothly over the typewriter body. If it's still rough and there's friction in a swipe, then it means that there's still tobacco there that has to be scrubbed off. The tobacco comes off on the tissue, and you'll see it in big, ugly, brown yucky stains.

 

[Shangas]

It occurred to me that I never showed off any photographs of my typewriter's carry-case. So here's a few shots.

A bit of a backstory here. The typewriter case works in the following way: The typewriter hooks onto the base, and then the lid closes over the top. The lid is held onto the base by a catch at the front, and two hooks at the back.

When I bought the typewriter and we (seller and I) were packing it up, one of the hooks broke off!!

Today, my dad and I managed to repair the broken hook. So now I can use the case without fear of the typewriter falling out of it!

The case's lining-cloth was also beginning to peel off. I glued most of it back using some contact-cement. Structurally, the case is fine, now. But aesthetically...Well I don't want to restore it completely. I want it to show some age. Here's the photos:

Typewriter on its own:

The case:

Case opened:

You may notice the two felt cushioning pads (the little white rectangles). The original pads (I think they were rubber or something) were petrified and useless. I ripped them out, and replaced them with a few layers of sticky-back felt, to stop the typewriter from bumping around.

The warranty:

Serial-number:

 

[Shangas]

These are the two hooks that hold on the base when the lid is locked over the top of the typewriter. This first one is the intact one:

This is the broken one. We drilled a hole through it, and then screwed it down:

The catch on the front:

"Underwood Typewriter Co.".

A bit hard to read, but:

"MADE IN U.S.A."

 

[CSG]

After seeing this thread the other day, I went into my library and took another look at the old Woodstock I'd bought as an object d' art to display. I found it 15 or so years ago at a local used furniture store and paid maybe $10-15 for it. I set in on a table and other than occasionally dusting it never paid much attention. I went online a couple days ago to see if I could learn anything about the brand (as a boomer, I liked the Woodstock name). Found a site that told me where I'd likely find the serial number and after a couple more clicks found that it is a Model 5 from 1937. The ribbon is long dried out (I know I can replace) but it functions fine.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Woodstock was widely sold by Sears and Roebuck -- they're good, reliable machines. Before 1969 the word "Woodstock" brought to mind one image for most Americans over 30: Alger Hiss, undoubtedly the most famous Woodstock owner ever.