A Table for All Seasons: A Thanksgiving Tribute

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  I have made good progress on the Voss, but I haven’t had time to finish it up. I am hosting Thanksgiving and have been busy plucking turkeys and polishing silver.  So here is a quick post of gratitude to my dining room table.

My dining room has very good light. It’s no wonder that everyone in the family gravitates to the dining room table when we work on projects.

Whether it’s a little weekend papier-mâché…

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…or cleaning a work of art…

Cleaning products

…or painting a horse…

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…or repairing a Skyriter and an Axe-FX II…

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…or stripping down a Voss…

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…or hosting Thanksgiving dinner…

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I guess I’ll have to set a place for the Century 10

…you have been there for us, Dining Room Table. Thank you. Here’s a haiku I typed on the Voss De Luxe about you:

haiku2

Wishing everyone inside and outside the US a peaceful and relaxing Thanksgiving. Since we have a lot of photographers in the typospherian community, I will close with this beautiful super-long-exposure photo of trees at night that my son recently took. He’s away at college where he is fooling around with cameras and grappling with the big questions such as – “In a fight to the death between every American president, who would win and why?“  (my money is on Teddy Roosevelt).

trees

 

From Stone Age to Space Age: the Blasted Voss

The Voss De Luxe AKA The Venus of Wuppertal AKA Swamp Thing was going to the blasting cabinet at Techshop to remove the lichen-like painted crust from the shell.  But first, we had to get all the painted metal parts off the machine.

The main body casing was easy to remove. There are small clasps inside the shell in the center front and center back.  Once these are undone, the shell splits in half. Nifty. The only sticky part was navigating the ribbon color selector arm on the left half of the casing. I pushed the selector lever toward the back of the machine and shimmied off the left half of the shell with some care.

The paper table and painted metal piece on the paper bail were more challenging.

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I had to remove the platen. First, I removed the platen knobs.  Turning counter-clockwise and holding the platen with hefty pliers, they came off.

Next I had to remove the chrome platen cover plates – two screws on each side.

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I flipped the paper release lever and eased the platen out.

platenOut

I unscrewed the paper table (four screws) and it was off.

part2

I removed a screw on the right holding the paper bail in place and removed the paper bail with its attached metal piece.  I then removed two tiny set screws that held a rod that secured the smaller painted metal piece to the paper bail.

part1

The instructor of my sand blasting and powder coating class said that you should never put greasy parts in the blasting cabinet. It contaminates the blasting media and causes problems for those using the cabinet when the nozzle sprays out greasy gunk instead of clean recirculated media.

I first washed the lower casing parts in warm soapy water to get the worst of the grunge off. I had bought some dollar store degreaser (LA’s Totally Awesome for $1.00) that was recommended in an automotive forum.  I washed the lower shell with it. I  rinsed the shell and then went over the parts with acetone for good measure.

degreaser

The blender (once again) watches with interest from the sidelines.

Degreased, the parts were now ready for the blasting cabinet.

I decided to sand blast just the lower shell halves. Those we are definitely painting.  I haven’t decided whether I will repaint the cover.  It’s in OK shape though it has some scrapes and crazing in the paint. I’d like to retain the original decals, so I may keep the original cream top and cream accent pieces.  If I can get a good match on the cream color, I will sand blast and powder coat just the cover the same cream color and clean the accent pieces with decals thoroughly.

Hello, cabinet, my old friend. I've come to blast with you again.

Hello, cabinet, my old friend. I’ve come to blast with you again.

Here’s what the lower shell pieces looked like before sand blasting.

casing

Here’s the photo after media blasting.

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Very cool – very Area 51

The shell looks decidedly more Space Age now that the crust of centuries has been removed.

It took me 1.5 hours to blast the first half of the lower shell inside and out.  Though it appeared crusty and battered, the hard, baked-on enamel paint was well-adhered.  It was slow going. Unfortunately, there was no pressure regulator on this cabinet. I was using 60-80 grit blasting media, but a little bit more pressure might have sped up the process.

My technique improved and the second half took me about an hour to do. Next time, I will bring ear protection. The compressor and fan are very noisy. I will probably do one more quick pass over the pieces to clean up any residue before I powder coat.

After blasting, I was very careful not to touch the pieces with my bare hands.  Oils from the hands can interfere with powder coated paint adhesion later. Donning gloves, I placed the blasted pieces carefully into a clean plastic box to take home.

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I may run into problems with powder coating the cast aluminum parts.  Cast metals have gasses trapped inside.  When baked to cure after powder coating, outgassing may cause bubbles, “fish-eye”, and pin-holes in the painted surface.  The work-around is to preheat the parts in an oven at a temperature higher than your cure temp for a good long time to allow the parts to outgas. The other issue is that aluminum is notoriously porous and will soak in grease like a sponge.  Pre-heating the part is once again the fix, as it allows the grease to burn off.

I am just so curious to see what kind of results I can get with powder coating.  In the end, I may have to resort to re-blasting the parts and spray painting, but at least I can say, “I tried powder coating”.

I am still carefully cleaning and de-gumming the internal mechanics.  My personal favorite solvent is denatured alcohol. I know other people prefer mineral spirits, but the formulation of denatured alcohol that I use cuts quickly through gum and grease and evaporates almost immediately.  I have to be careful when I use it because it will eat into painted surfaces.

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Mineral spirits is a great degreaser, but the formulation I have takes forever to evaporate.  Sometimes I will clean slugs and segment with mineral spirits and unevaporated droplets will spray everywhere when I test typing. I hate that. Naphtha works pretty good too, but it’s slower to evaporate than denatured alcohol.

We are in a holding pattern until we get the mailed paint samples from the powder coat paint company and decide what we will order. I impatiently await their arrival. I will spend some time with my other project typewriter, the LC Smith No. 8, while I wait for the paint samples.

The Venus of Wuppertal: Voss De Luxe

As if one “project typewriter” weren’t enough, I now have two in the works.

My daughter wanted a project typewriter, and I can deny her nothing.  Her requirements:

  • a portable
  • something we could paint
  • something with a case

My requirements:

  • a solid, high quality typewriter – only the best for my little daughter
  • something interesting that I don’t already own
  • something in terrible cosmetic condition that I wouldn’t feel guilty about repainting

We looked around on eBay even though I’d sworn off eBay.

Initially I was leaning towards a very beat-up Olympia SM3, but then this terrible looking “Sad Face”  Voss De Luxe appeared on my screen.  Yes, that will do nicely. The fact that the main shell is easily removed in two pieces sealed the deal. Also, it had a cursive typeface which my daughter loved.  Me, I am pretty meh about cursive and script typefaces because I am an old crabapple. I find cursive and script hard to read. My fantasy typeface is 6 cpi Gigantica.

Like a Voss
196X Voss De Luxe serial number 231065

The typewriter arrived from the eBay seller intact and I breathed a deep sign of relief. The crusty painted surfaces are in TERRIBLE condition. It has the patina of a Stone Age artifact, as if it had been excavated during an archaeologic dig on the banks of the Rhine.

But did I mention that I like junkers?

Superficial cosmetics aside, this thing can type like a son-of-a-gun.  It’s all stiff and gummy now, but I can tell this one will type very, very well once I clean it up. It has a satisfying, tight little *SNICK* when the escapement engages. The solid and classy mechanics remind me of my Torpedo. The carriage shift feels a little heavy to my sensitive lady hands. If it had basket shift, it would be extra perfect.

The weird tabbing mechanism (you push the tab bar in, not down) was all gummed up and stuck, but just playing with it a bit (without cleaning) loosened it up. It has a very classy tab brake system that gently assists the carriage as it whirls to each set tab point.

Despite being stiff and gummy, the machine seems to be in almost perfect typing condition.  The only issue it had is that the carriage return lever hits the ribbon cover as it rolls by – it sits just a wee bit low.  Perhaps some gentle bending will do the trick? This thing probably took some hard knocks to the head in its lifetime and the case – adorable though it is – is just soft plaid fabric with a broken zipper.

case

The robust aesthetic is growing on me.  This typewriter has solid curves – ample hips like a typewriter fertility goddess. It is the Venus of Wuppertal, recently unearthed – the typewriter of good fortune, good harvest, and plenty.

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That Paleolithic patina

The plan is to remove all the painted casing parts, sand blast them and then powder coat them.

To that end, I attended to a two-hour class on sand blasting and powder coating at Techshop in Redwood City.

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Roomy blasting cabinet

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Our instructor demonstrates powder coating technique

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This is the sand blasting / powder coating sample I did – I am very pleased with the result. The enlargement and bright lighting of the photo makes it look like there is more “orange peel” than there actually is.

So now I am certified to use the equipment and can come in any time and sand blast and powder coat to my heart’s content.

casing

My daughter is thinking about colors. She is young, and her Tasteful Design Modulator is not yet fully matured, so we’ll see where this goes. I would like something understated and classy.  At Prismatic Powders, there are 6,500 colors to choose from. Your suggestions are welcome.

My druthers: I would like to try to match the cream of the cover and repaint just the very beat-up cover and gray lower casing.  It would be nice to preserve the “De Luxe” and “Voss” decals of the paper table and cream back panel.

decal1

decal2

The Handy Manual: Olivetti Studio 42 Typewriter

Roia from Moe’s antique shop asked me to take a look at her friend Geoff’s Olivetti Studio 42. I took the typewriter home with me for a couple days.  All it needed was a good cleaning and a new ribbon. What a looker! It came with an instruction manual (in Danish).

1946 Olivetti Studio 42
Serial Number 595459

Olivetti De Luxe (Studio 42) Instruction Manual

The instruction manual calls this machine a “De Luxe” but the machine looks like the Studio 42s that I see at Typewriter Database. The front of the machine says “Karl Randrup – eneforhandler for Danmark  (Karl Randrup – exclusive distributor for Denmark)”

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Throughout the instruction manual, the utterly serene hands of a woodland nymph display the typewriter functions. Those calm, lovely hands would never splash Wite-Out on the Skrivevalsen.

hand

Download Olivetti Studio 42 Instruction Manual in Danish (8 MB .pdf)
I know, 8MB! I tried to optimize the .pdf file, but it became noticeably less readable.

English Translation of Manual

I translated the manual from Danish to English using Google Translate. It’s very rough and I will update as needed. I do appreciate the straightforward descriptiveness of the Danish words – Papirindførselspladen – paper input plate.

If a native speaker of Danish notices an error in translation, please let me know and I will make a correction.

cover

Instructions for Olivetti De Luxe

Instructions for Olivetti De Luxe

Machine Diagram

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click image to view larger

CARRYING CASE FOR MACHINE – When one has opened and removed trunk lid, free the machine from the trunk base by turning the securing hooks (1) (see the image in the brochure center) in the direction towards the keyboard. The machine is freed fully by raising the front part and then pulling the machine forward. The carriage is released by turning the carriage lock (2) on the machine’s right side down. FIG. 1.

fig1

FIG. 1

FEED THE PAPER – pass the paper between paper input plate and platen with the left hand and turn the platen knob with the free right hand, after which the paper bail with paper pressure rollers (3) is raised. To correct paper placement, press on paper release (4), and align the paper so that the edges are flush. The paper bail with pressure rollers (3) is lowered, and paper release (4) turned back into normal position, after which the paper is automatically clamped in the desired position. FIG 2. Press the carriage release lever (5) to release the carriage so that it can be brought back to the desired position.

FIG. 2

FIG. 2

MARGIN SETTING – You set the left and right margins by shifting the margin sets (6) on the rack behind paper input plate. The distance between two strokes on the graduated scale corresponds to the space between two words. FIG 3.

FIG. 3

FIG. 3

LINE CHANGING – If starting on a new line, use a left hand finger on the carriage return / line space arm lever (7), and the carriage is passed from left to right, whereby the platen is simultaneously rotated corresponding to the set line spacing and paper moved accordingly up a new line.

LINE SPACING – spacing between lines is determined by the line spacing selector (8) position in relation to the red marks. The De Luxe machine has three line spacings, which is called the line spacing selector (8) with 1, 2 or 3 position. 1 is used by close writing paper sheet (line spacing 5 mm), position 2 corresponds to normal writing distance (7.5 mm), and position 3 is used by writing documents (10 mm). FIG. 4. Position 0 sets roller in coasting. After resetting the line setting button, typed text falls back to the original line.

FIG. 4

FIG. 4

LINE INDENT – The first line of a letter is usually indented as well as the beginnings of  new paragraphs. To do this, press the button (9) at the top left of keyboard with right finger, while at the same time pull the carriage to the right with the left forefinger on the carriage return / line spacing arm lever (7). The carriage will automatically stop 5 letter spaces from the normal left margin and indent the line.

SPACE BAR – To distinguish one word from another, use space bar (10).

CAPITALS – Depressing one of the two shift keys (11) raises the carriage, and this types shifted characters on paper. As soon as you release the keys, the carriage lowers again to the normal position. If you want the carriage to remain in the raised position, press on the small shift lock button (12) just above the left shift key. If you want the carriage then brought back to the normal position, press the left shift key (11). FIG. 5

fig5

FIG. 5

MARGIN RELEASE – Seven letter distances from the right edge, the signal bell calls the writer’s attention to the line’s rapidly approaching end. When the carriage reaches the right edge, typing is blocked. If you still want to write a few letters over the edge, press the key (9) (which before was used for line indent) for margin release. This of course is only possible up to the maximum paper recording width is used.

BACK SPACE KEY – Pressing the key “Back” (13) pulls the carriage one letter space back.

RIBBON COLOR SELECTION – When the  lever (14) is set on “blue”, the typewriter prints from the upper portion of the typewriter ribbon. The “red” setting uses the lower part of the ribbon.

Position “white” means that the ribbon is put out of service (not raised), and the typing occurs without being colored by the ribbon. This is used for stencil writing. FIG. 6

fig6

FIG 6

AUTOMATIC RIBBON SWITCHING
During writing the ink ribbon is wound from one spool to the other.

When the ribbon is wound completely on one spool, direction switching occurs automatically. If you want to change ribbon direction manually, push the switch (15) which switches the direction of spool movement with your fingers.

Pulling switch outward causes movement of the spools in the opposite direction.

ATTACHING NEW RIBBONS –  Raise up the cover of the ribbon. Then wind the ribbon up on the one spool by means of screw (15). Shift carriage to “Capital Letters” and put the ribbon color selector on “red”.  Release the ribbon from the lower hooks (FIG. 7-1)

 

FIG 7-1

FIG 7-1

Allow the ribbon to slide down a bit after (Fig. 7-2), and then release the top hooks (Fig. 7-3). Now remove the screws that secure the spools. Both spools can now be removed. With pointing fingers, press ribbon guides (16) back. Replace the spool with the old ribbon with the new spool and fasten the free ribbon end to the empty spool then spool again; ensure that the ribbon’s red section is down. Secure the spools with spool screws, conduct the ribbon around both the small guide rollers and behind the ribbon fork, the method now is the opposite of that used upon removal. FIG. 8.

FIG 7-2

FIG 7-2

FIG 7-3

FIG 7-3

FIG 8

FIG 8

PLATEN KNOB – This is used when you want to correct a write error or want to write a line spacing that does not match any of the machine’s three line spaces (e.g. of lined paper). Pull out the left knob on platen roller completely. As soon as the paper is in the desired position, release the knob and the roller will lock away again and set to the given line spacing. FIG. 9

FIG 9

FIG. 9

TAB – This is used to create tables or for arranging information in columns.
Setting: stop the carriage at the desired point and press the small lever (17)
in the direction of the “+” character to set a tab. Do the same procedure to set additional tabs. FIG 5-10.

FIF 10

FIG. 10

USE OF TAB – When one has led carriage to the far right, press the red button (18) down. The carriage moves and stops at the desired tab point where you can write the desired number. Re-pressing of the red button causes the carriage to stop at other set tab options. One should note that the carriage always stops one letter after the point fixed by the lever (17). [ I am unsure of the English translation here – it doesn’t make a lot of sense.  The original Danish is “Man bedes bemærke, at Vognen altid standser eet Bogstav efter det ved Grebet (17) fastsatte Punkt.”  Many thanks to Knud Olav Jensen for clarifying the translation ] In order to make figures of different size in columns use backspace key or space bar.

Example: If you set on a number with three digits and need a number to four digits, press once to backspace key after the carriage is stopped at the desired point. If you want to remove a set tab point, use the red button to reach the tab, then press the small lever (17) in the direction towards the character “–” to remove the tab. Remove all tab settings by pressing tab releaser (19) forwards. FIG 11

FIG 11

FIG 11

LINE RING – You put pencil tip into the hole on the alignment triangle just above the ribbon fork on roller. Moving the carriage to the right, you can create horizontal lines; turn the platen to draw vertical lines.

SECURING THE CARRIAGE – Ensure that the machine is on “small letters“, then set the carriage lock (2) up and allow the carriage slipping until it stops at the designated opening in the carriage rail.

INSTALLATION OF MACHINE IN  CARRY CASE – After having loaded the carry case and checked that the securing hooks (1) are rotated forward, lift the machine with both hands so that the two on the machine’s rear feet slide into the corresponding holes in the carry case base, then it shall ensure that the machine is secured by its four rubber feet stands in the corresponding holes in the trunk bottom. Use thumbs to press the securing hooks (1) backwards until you feel that the securing hooks are locked. The placement of the case lid is carried out very easily. One just needs to make sure that the lock really locks the machine.

CLEANING THE MACHINE – An easy cleaning can very well be done by the customers themselves, since the type face is cleaned with the included brush and machine swept with the supplied brush. For a thorough cleaning and lubrication of the machine, however, we would counsel you to let us do this for you, as this is done for an affordable price. If the machine is used heavily, it will certainly be worthwhile for you to draw a cleaning subscription, which means that the machine with regular usage is thoroughly cleaned and inspected in our workshop for a specified affordable price.

 

Ye Olde Twins: L.C. Smith No. 8 Typewriters

I have the strange feeling that I seen one of these before…

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Oh, yes! This reminds me of my L.C. Smith No. 8 with smoking hot ball bearing action that I brought home in honor of Typewriter Day last June.

Cleaned up nicely

This one cleaned up nicely

Moe at the shop had an L.C. Smith No. 8 that had recently arrived.  It was in bad shape, so she let me take it home with me for a few days of typewriter spa treatment – draw strap repair, massage, waxing, hot yoga, and more.

I love these ginormous old cast iron standards. I love to watch their weird old innards through the open frames as they type. They are exposed and accessible and super old-timey. They remind me of Prohibition and F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Model T and lead paint and cigars and silent pictures – they bring to mind a simpler time in B&W.

I think Moe’s No. 8 is a 1922 just like mine! My No. 8’s serial number is #460128-8 and the No. 8 from Moe’s has a serial number of #446440-8.

Moe’s No. 8 is in terrible shape.

The draw strap was snapped and mainspring felt stiff and rusty.

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Rusty rusty rusty guts. Fortunately, my tetanus shot is up-to-date.

I first blew out cobwebs and dust with the DataVac Duster:

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I found the requisite stray object in the machine guts:

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It’s part of a paint brush.

Ball bearings at all frictional points

Now this is sad: the letter “F” typebar is broken! I popped it out to examine it more closely. I can see the tiny ball bearings inside the typebar – amazing!

ball bearings in typebar

“Ball Bearing – Long Wearing”

Robert Messenger has a great post on a rebuilt L.C. Smith No. 8, and you can read all about those amazing L.C. Smith ball bearings.

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I am sad to see that this typebar has broken from its attachment to the segment.

This poor old thing has a lot problems, some serious, some not:

  1. broken draw strap – that’s OK, I fixed that right off the bat
  2. broken “F” typebar – that’s NOT OK
  3. flattened and frozen feed rollers – blug
  4. rusted ribbon feed mechanism on right side – meh
  5. no dinging bell and dangling spring in back – meh
  6. broken ribbon spool – meh
  7. shifting sluggish and lacking bounce – meh
  8. ribbon color selector key lever frozen with rust – meh

A seed of a thought began to grow and take shape in my brain.  Slowly, slowly the wheels began to turn and gain momentum. In yet another metaphor, my feverish thoughts caught fire!

What if…I make this a project machine? This typewriter is so bad that there is no way, no how that I could do this typewriter justice in just two days.  Sure, I could get it to type, but couldn’t it be better?

I could give Moe my functional L.C. Smith No. 8 and I take this poor decrepit hunk of rusty iron and make it mine. I could take it apart and clean it properly. I could go to the blasting cabinet at Tech Shop, strip it, re-paint it, and finally get to play with those wonderful typewriter decals I hear so much about.

I put both typewriters into the trunk of my car and went to Moe’s to pitch the idea.

trunk

Moe was all for a typewriter swap – especially since my L.C. Smith looks good and types better. I was trading the looks and performance of one typewriter for the fun and entertainment of the other.

I felt a strange little tug when I left my L.C. Smith at Moe’s.  I sent the No. 8 out with care and feeding instructions as well as the cigar cutter I had found inside her.

mozos2

As soon as I got home I started stripping down the other machine. I removed the side cover plates, front cover plate and key lever comb.

The machine had been badly repainted at some point, and whoever did it had painted over all the screws. I had to soften the paint with paint remover to get the rusty old screws out.  It was a struggle.

Enough of this rust porn – time to get that carriage off.

The Arduino Kid and the Ivrea Connection

Long story short: Roia works at Moe’s antique shop where I find a lot of typewriterly inspiration.  Roia is a super nice person and she’s got a couple kids. I recently fixed her daughter’s Royal Quiet De Luxe.

Anyhoo, Roia’s 17 year-old son is into Arduino electronics and 3D printing. He has a blog called Progress by Chance where he documents his projects.

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photo courtesy of Progress by Chance

Roia mentioned that her son had happened upon my typewriter blog and fell in love with my Olivetti Praxis 48 (and really, who wouldn’t?). I told Roia that in the interests of encouraging the next generation of typospherians, I would happily give the Praxis 48 to her son.

keyboard2

Giving Roia’s Arduino-loving kid an Olivetti seemed like karmic destiny. Per the Wikipedia entry on Arduino electronics:

Arduino started in 2005 as a project for students at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Ivrea, Italy… The name “Arduino” comes from a bar in Ivrea, where some of the founders of the project used to meet. The bar, in turn, has been named after Arduin of Ivrea, who was the margrave of Ivrea and king of Italy from 1002 to 1014.

Yes, that Ivrea, Italy.

The Praxis has a couple issues that might be fun for Roia’s son to tackle.  One is that the plastic on/off switch is broken in two.  Perhaps he could 3D print a new one?

In addition, the Olivetti’s carriage return clutch still needs work – I have to degrease it each time I use the typewriter or line spacing doesn’t work. I had ordered a thin sheet of cork and was planning to resurface the clutch, but I may end up passing that project along to Roia’s son.

wheel

Hail and Farewell, Praxis

I feel that I just got to know this Olivetti, and now it leaves me. This is good though.  I know that the Praxis will go to a home when it will be loved and appreciated and perhaps inspire the next generation’s Christopher Sholes.

praxisMozos2

I sent the Praxis off to the Arduino Kid with care and feeding instructions and a can of denatured alcohol for the clutch.

Roia had another typewriter she was wondering if I could look at.  It belonged to her friend Geoff and wasn’t working too well.

praxisMozos

Oh. My.

Another native of Ivrea.

A Herd of Wild Typewriters

I really love Moe’s shop. She has such a superb eye for great junk.

I haven’t been in a couple weeks and Whoa, Nellie!  Moe has a new bevy of beauties to check out. Many have small fixable problems.  I’ll take at least a couple home to work on and then bring them back to Moe’s.

1949 Smith-Corona Silent

S/N: 5S101645
Works great. Comes with a case. A little stinky, but what a sweetie.

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1920 Oliver No. 9

$150.00
S/N: 852922
This Oliver has obviously lived a hard life. Dirty, rusty and corroded.  Drawband broken. Worst of all, it has been dropped on its head so it’s very squashed and typebars won’t move. Of course I want to take it home and clean it. Moe really liked the suggestion.  I think Moe is more likely to sell it if it looked better and actually typed.  However, people stopping in at the shop have been going nuts over this Oliver. We don’t see Olivers often here in California – people are quite struck by its strangeness.

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L.C. Smith No. 8

Very rusty, corroded, very dirty. Drawband broken. Pieces in a bag are never a good sign. It should be fine though. Bonus: insane horse decal.

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Underwood Noiseless

$150
Love this thing. I want to take it home and play with it and look at its insides.

9

196x SCM Galaxie

$60.00
S/N: 6T 540518
The typebars are glued to the segment as if someone poured cement or super glue all over the segment. Perhaps WD-40? Otherwise fine. Looks like a fun clean-up. UPDATE: I took it home for a couple hours yesterday and worked on the Galaxie’s frozen segment with denatured alcohol, gently loosening the keys. One of the key lever linkages had popped off when its typebar was in a frozen state.  Semi-pro tip: move the slug all the way to the platen, grab the linkage with a dental tool and re-attach in this position. Don’t try to re-attach from below; it will only end in tears.  Anyhow, the Galaxie is typing great now. So fun. Sorry, TWDB, no SCM datecode to be found.

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1956 Royal Quiet De Luxe

S/N: B317581
Carriage not moving- ooops carriage lock on!  OK – all fine, just a little dirty.  Attractive color. This one will move fast. Has a cute tweedy case.

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1940 Royal KMM

S/N: KMM-2590373
Dusty but functional.  Love the greenish-blue keys.  Must take home and clean. I want to compare it to my Remington KMC and see who comes out on top.

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Home Dreyfuss Repair

Roia works at Mozo’s, and she is a super nice person.  She caught me on my way in and asked me if I could look at her daughter’s typewriter.  It’s a beautiful Dreyfuss Quiet De Luxe that had been working and then suddenly wasn’t.  I examined the machine. The keys weren’t making it to the platen and the space bar was nonfunctional. It was almost as if I were hitting up against a line lock or a mechanical obstruction.  There was an earring caught under the keys – perhaps something had fallen into the guts?

I told Roia that I wasn’t sure I could fix it, but I would look at it at home.

outside

I brought it home, but I was a little nervous.  I like tinkering with my old junkers, but I have never worked on anyone else’s typewriter.

Amazingly, the internal mechanics of the 1948 QDL are virtually identical to my 1939 Royal Aristocrat with the exception of the margin release mechanism. Time for some comparisons.

sidebyside

click image to vewi larger

click image to view larger

After giving the QDL a quick blow-out to remove animal hair and dust bunnies, I set up the two machines on the dining room table and watched the escapement on key strike side-by-side.

What I noticed was that in the QDL, a pawl (?) or dog(?) in the escapement’s workings wasn’t darting in and out to engage the escapement wheel like it did on the Aristocrat.

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I spent the evening pondering this and leafing through the D.E. Fox manual’s repair section on Royal portables.

I have a set of dental-like tools that I picked up at the hardware store for about $5. They are great for spring re-attachment and typewriter investigation.

tools

I very carefully but very unscientifically probed with one of my dental tools around the escapement wheel and dog and then *BOING* the little pawl bounced into sight.  Suddenly the escapement was tripping and the wheel was turning and the typewriter was typing. Dumb luck. I threw a new ribbon in her and went to town:

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I want to thank my 1939 Royal Aristocrat for helping me get the QDL running again:

two

This Dreyfuss QDL is quite a looker in her gray flannel suitiness.  I took some pictures before I returned the QDL to Roia.

Roia was really happy that the QDL made a comeback.  I sent the QDL home to Roia’s with instructions for proper care and feeding à la Type the Clouds.

I then spent a couple hours cleaning the Galaxie and when I dropped off the clean Galaxie at Moe’s, I brought the Oliver home with me for cleaning and repair.  Moe’s shop is closed on Monday and Tuesday so I have a couple days to get this thing sort of clean and mostly running.

I do have my work cut out for me. Look at how rusty and mashed this poor thing is:

back

Follow the Stars, Venus and Mars

It was time to put the Olivetti Praxis 48 back together, so I returned the carriage to its shell, inserted the platen and did some testing.  Everything seemed functional except that the platen did not move to the next line on carriage return. Hmmm.

Houston, We Have a Problem

Perhaps the carriage return cord needed more tension? I shortened the carriage return cord to produce a bit more *zing*. That didn’t work. In a fit of pique, I ended up dousing everything in PB B’laster.

Doing things in a fit of pique is never a good idea. My carriage stopped returning.

The cork clutch mechanism for carriage return was so slippery from excess PB B’laster that it wasn’t gripping and the carriage was not returning. The carriage return clutch is a cork-faced disk that comes in contact with a spinning metal plate.  It was so oily, it couldn’t grab and my carriage couldn’t return. I could see the oil glistening, mocking me from the cork clutch.

I peeled off the carriage shell and was back at Square -1. Look at that greasy cork disc. I decided to take the return wheel off and clean the cork clutch.

wheel

The Reverend Mother always says, “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.” Yeah, and then the spring flies out.

sprung

The spring inside the carriage return wheel popped out as I was removing the wheel from the typewriter.  It scared the heck out of me. I have had experience with Slinky Monsters before, but gosh, darn it.

After some careful swearing, I cleaned the metal carriage return plate and cork clutch with denatured alcohol and scrubbed it dry. It was squeaky clean.

I wound up the spring and secured it in its little case and reattached it to the machine.

spring

Relief: the carriage was once again returning after the cleaning. However, the platen still didn’t space to the next line on return.

I flushed all the greasy metal parts of the return wheel mechanism and clutch with denatured alcohol, and suddenly – it was spacing properly on return. Or pretty much.  I have some more degreasing to do, but it’s finally line spacing. I put the shell back on and did some typing for funzies:

Surprise, surprise: the ¼ and ½ key did not have ¼ and ½  slugs.  Instead, hitting the ½ key and shift ¼ key gave me this:

symbols

Oh, funny! Oh, you Space Age Olivetti and your sex symbols. You are a delight!

I feel some heavy Space Age nostalgia when I look at my Olivetti Praxis 48. I was a little kid at the time of the the first moon landing, and I remember a retro future that still hums to me with wondrous possibility. The Praxis 48 hums: I am the future.

praxisStars

The Praxis 48 is the sort of typewriter you’d want to typecast from when you retire to your living module on a long-haul nuclear-powered interplanetary spaceship during the 36 lonely months en route to Saturn.

praxisStars2

While I am ruminating on the future that is and was and ever shall be, my practical Praxis types out her thoughts on her future:

type1A

 

 

 

Many Happy Returns: Olivetti Praxis 48

Last weekend I brought home a nonfunctional Olivetti Praxis 48. I was able to make some progress on the machine, but I needed to get the carriage shell off to find out more about this mysterious piece of cord that was bunched up under the carriage:

cord

This was the point where I had left off with the carriage housing still attached:

dis4

Removing the Carriage Housing from My Olivetti Praxis 48

This past week, I worked on getting the shell off the Praxis carriage. To get the housing off, I first popped the small covers on each side of the platen off with the aid of a large screwdriver as lever.

wheel

First the right side…

cover

…then the left side.

I popped out the platen by raising the retaining bars on each side.

platen

I lifted out the metal paper pan. The blender watches with interest from the sidelines:

paperPan2

paperPan

I removed a underside screw on either end of the carriage housing:

screw2

and popped the main housing off:

parts

Ah-ha.  The housing finally off, I saw what my problem was. The Praxis has two cords: a draw string attached to a mainspring and a carriage return string attached to a return wheel apparatus.  The carriage return cord was bunching up and not winding onto its wheel because the carriage return wheel was stiff with gunk.

wheel2

Return wheel on right side of machine

Once I saw what was happening under the carriage housing, I was able to straighten things out. I applied degreaser to the carriage return wheel and gently moved it with my hands until it felt looser. I depressed the carriage release button and moved the carriage back and forth until the carriage return cord began to wind smoothly onto the wheel.

I used Lectra-Motive to loosen things up. I read (after the fact) that while Lectra-Motive is a wonderful electric parts cleaner, it will eat plastic.  I ran out to the garage in a panic and wiped all the internal plastic pieces down carefully. There is a surprising amount of plastic inside the machine guts of the Praxis.  No harm done, but I will be more careful next time.

lectra motve

I was struck by how similar the electric 196X Olivetti’s problems were to the problems faced by my Foster Typewriter, the 1938 Royal KHM.  Disuse and congealed gunk are the bane of typewriters no matter the vintage. The KHM came to me with a stuck carriage.  Its draw string was tangled up under the carriage, and the mainspring was frozen with congealed grease. Once the draw cord was straightened out and the mainspring coaxed back into springy life with PB B’laster, the KHM’s problems receded.

The Praxis had a very similar story: a tangled cord and a stuck carriage.  Once the carriage return was loosened and winding properly, the return cord behaved itself. I plugged in the machine and tested it. Wonderful. All the keys were responsive, the carriage was advancing, and the carriage returned beautifully.

2

Malfunctioning Tabulator Brake on My Olivetti Praxis 48

The major remaining problem was tab operation. When I hit the tab bar, the machine locked up and the carriage froze.

To release the carriage, I wiggled the plastic piece in the back and the machine resumed happy function.

wiggling this platic part frees the carriage

Wiggling the plastic tab brake drum freed the carriage.

I identified the round plastic piece as the tabulator brake drum. Inside the drum is a set of plastic gears.

brakeDrum

The tab brake slows the carriage down during tabbing so that the machine doesn’t slam into tab stops.

gearBrake

When the tab bar on the keyboard is depressed, the top pinion gear engages with the rack:

gears2

Once the tab stop is reached, the pinion should pop up free of the rack.

My tab brake was engaging but the gears inside the drum were not turning and the top pinion wasn’t popping up once it hit the stop.

My feeling was that I had a dirt and gunk problem in the tab mechanism. I carefully applied PB B’laster to the metal tab brake parts and worked them with my hands.  The gears were initially stiff, but loosened enough so the the brake gears turned and the tab mechanism moved freely. The tab mechanism finally worked as it should, braking gently with tabbing but not locking up.

4

I made good progress on the Praxis this past weekend.  Now it is time to put the shell back on the machine.  But first, lunch.

It was a pleasant afternoon so the Praxis had lunch outside with friends:

lunch2

Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe AKA Neked Lunch after Manet. You’re welcome, Art History Majors.

Stay tuned for the electrifying conclusion of the Olivetti Praxis 48 story.

Electric Ladyland: The Olivetti Praxis Experience

I got it into my head that I really should bring home an electric or electronic typewriter.  I suppose the hysteria of Baby Wedge Week got to me, but what really tipped me over the edge was the family blender repair.

Our Osterizer gave up the ghost a couple weeks ago after 20+ years of hard service and instead of chucking it and picking up a new blender, my husband and I decided to repair it. A coupling attached to the motor had broken in two, so we ordered a new one and installed it.

blender2

Watch your fingers.

All fixed and cleaner than it has been in years :

blender1

This past week I spotted a broken Olivetti Praxis 48 electric typewriter on Craig’s List for $10. I thought, “This will be sort of like the blender, right?”

I just love the look of the Olivetti Praxis 48 – the touchable fungal key tops, the mod cantilevered keyboard, bright green accents, and the corrugated side panels – it’s all good. The only problem / great thing is that this Praxis 48 doesn’t work.

I picked up the Praxis in San Francisco. The seller was a super nice guy. He’d had it for a while, but he never was able to get the machine to turn on.  He thought perhaps it had a motor problem.

box

I brought the machine home and took a good look at it. The serial number is located underneath the machine by the left front foot: #5060685. It appears to be a 196X Olivetti Praxis 48.

serial

The machine was made by Olivetti Underwood Limited at Don Mills in Canada:

label

It’s a very cool looking 60s time machine.  It takes me to days of future passed.

sideView

Oh, those wonderful, weird, squishy keys:

keyboard

praxis3

The Fallingwater of typewriters

praxis5

The guy I bought it from said that it just wouldn’t turn on.  The motor switch felt strangely loose.  I popped the hood and saw a broken piece of plastic:

broken2

I manually flipped the switch inside the machine and plugged her in. Hallelujah! The motor started. I will repair the plastic switch with a patch of JB-Weld epoxy. At least the motor works.

Unfortunately, the carriage wouldn’t move.  It was stuck in the dead center of the machine. It moved a single space backward or forward, but that was all.  The carriage release buttons wouldn’t free it.

All the keys worked and the platen rotated when I hit the carriage return button.

I removed the shell from the machine so I could clean and get a better look.  I removed four screws from the bottom:

bottom2

I then tried to lift off the shell. No good. I then removed a couple screws from the sliding ribbon cover that seemed to be holding the shell on:

dis5

There are hex-headed screws that hold the ribbon cover on each side. I used a small wrench.

Not yet. I loosened a couple screws under the keyboard and and slid the keyboard cover off.

bottomScrews

It had foam padding that disintegrated into a fine dust when touched lightly:

foam

I removed two screws in front that held the ribbon cover on and took off the ribbon cover:

frontScrews

I was then able to lift the machine guts out of the shell.

dis4

I plugged it in to make sure everything still worked. Even in this basic nonfunctional state, I sort of love this thing already.  The motor is very quiet and the keys are so sweetly responsive. I love the *splack* *splack* *splack-splack-splack* electric typing sound.

The carriage was stuck in dead center and the carriage release buttons were not freeing it.  I carefully blew out the insides of the machine. There was plenty of disintegrated foam padding debris and dust inside, but it cleaned up nicely.

Around back, I poked and prodded as I depressed the carriage release button. I jiggled the plastic piece noted below and suddenly the carriage was free:

piece

I do not know the name of this piece, but jiggling it freed the carriage. Lucky.

I had a new problem, though, once the carriage was able to move:

cord

This piece of cord attached to a spring seems to be part of a very elaborate draw string set up – it’s probably all tangled up under the carriage.  I need to figure out how to get the carriage housing off so I can get a better look.

I feel like I made good progress today. If I can straighten out the spring + cord situation, I think I might have a completely functional Praxis 48.

praxis2

The Shapes of Stories, or Why I Love Junker Typewriters

I tend to drag home some really sorry-looking typewriters, so people ask me, “Why do you love junker typewriters so much?” And I tell them, “Because a junker typewriter is usually the beginning of a great story.”

I love junkers*.  When I am out hunting, I will always prefer a dirty or broken typewriter to a clean and functional one.  I will pay what I need to for a nonfunctional typewriter because a junker will always give me more than my money’s worth in entertainment. And they’re generally a whole lot cheaper. Sure, there are set-backs and frustrations and sometimes tears and curse-words, but at the end of the day, there’s a good story in that. And I always learn something new.

I find typewriter clean-up and repair stories endlessly fascinating. I know that they are not everyone’s cup of tea, but for a person interested in small machines, they provide wholesome entertainment and useful knowledge in large doses.

In fact, I love any type of machine clean-up / repair story. My husband and I are replacing a broken motor coupling on our 20+ year old Oster blender, and that story is GREAT. However, I will save it for a more appropriate forum like my blender blog, My Old Blender. 🙂

blender

I love cleaning stories too. I find this video about cleaning a guitar with naphtha so compelling:

I could listen to that gentleman’s soft and pleasant voice ALL DAY.

Back to typewriters: sometimes typewriter repair is like a good detective story: you do your research, follow the clues and fix the typewriter (or catch the murderer). Typewriter repair stories have lots of twists and turns that keep me on the edge of my seat.

I love me some Vonnegut. Some people find his quirky rambles fatiguing, but he reminds me of some of my quirky, rambling family members, so I think of Vonnegut in an affectionately familial way.  Anyhoo: Kurt Vonnegut was very interested in stories and the different forms that they take.  In the 1940s, he tried to get his masters degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago. Unfortunately, they rejected his thesis.  He described it as follows:

“The fundamental idea is that stories have shapes which can be drawn on graph paper, and that the shape of a given society’s stories is at least as interesting as the shape of its pots or spearheads.”

– Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday

 

Here is Kurt Vonnegut describing some of those shapes:

 

I am a sucker for a good Cinderella story or Man in Hole story or Boy Meets Girl story. Who doesn’t love that uncomplicated rush of happy sentiment when the setbacks are overcome and the main character emerges victorious? Many typewriter repair and cleaning stories have happy endings though some do end ambiguously. Corona Four McDraggle: I am looking at you and your horrible, unresolved ribbon feed problem.

OK. So here’s the shape of my Fox No. 24’s story. The Y axis is typewriter condition (ranging from scrap metal up to pristine condition) and the X axis is progression through the story, the passage of time.

graph

Here’s the story of the Fox No. 24:

A. I spot the Fox No. 24 on eBay. It looks bad, a bit of a rust-bucket, but most of the pieces seem to be there, so I buy it. I nervously await its arrival.

B. The Fox arrives, and I am over the moon.  It’s in a rough, nonfunctional condition, but it’s more beautiful and strange in person than in pictures.

C. I notice that the back corner is broken off the machine.

D. The drawband snaps as I remove the carriage from the machine.

E. Inside the machine, I see two broken shifting arms. The broken front frame bar falls off. This is rock bottom. I cry a little (a rasping Snoopy cry).

F. After cleaning and lubrication, the carriage, typebars, ribbon vibrator, escapement begin to move.

G. The drawband re-attached, the machine begins to type.

H. Further cleaning and light repairs yield a beautiful, functional machine.

 

Compare that to the story of Posh Spice, the 1938 Corona Sterling:

graphCorona

A. I spot the Corona Sterling at a junk store. She’s absolutely beautiful and in perfect working order.

B. I bring her home, dust her off and she is absolutely beautiful and in perfect working order.

See? Not much of a story there.

IMG_3398

The Corona Sterling has never really fit into my rough crowd of merry junkers. She lays about the house, bored, flipping through Vogue magazine, acting like she’s above it all. She has the aura of a sulky teenager (and she’s no teenager, that’s for sure). I will probably trade her for a special broken typewriter – to a person who can appreciate her.

I will continue to hunt and acquire junkers. They provide me with solid entertainment for the money and grist for the story mill.

 

*I use the word “junker” in a nicest way possible to mean any typewriter that is dirty, beaten-up and/or in less-than-functional condition. This is usually the result of being over-loved, under-loved, or both.

 

20th Century Fox: Fox No. 24 Typewriter Reassembled

I have been cleaning and tinkering with my Fox No. 24 typewriter for the past few weeks.

Sugru for Key Letters

It look like someone – in a fit of boredom – took a ballpoint and scratched out a couple of the letters on the Fox’s keys. I got some white Sugru at Target for the key tops where the lettering has worn off.  Sugru is a self-setting rubber product that is removable. I pressed it into the key letter depressions and scrapped away the excess.  It sets in about 24 hours.  If I change my mind about the letters later on down the road, I can peel it off.

letters1

letters2

Not too shabby; now the letters are readable. The letters are a bit white; I may tone them down a bit with a yellowish glaze.

Gluing

A testament to her true grit, the Fox was able to type with two broken shifting arms. The broken arms were causing typebar alignment problems though, so they needed to be re-secured. I initially tried to re-attach the broken back corner, front frame section and broken shifting arms with J-B Weld SteelStik. Unfortunately the SteelStik was not “tacky” enough and wasn’t adhering to the pieces of broken cast iron (despite sanding and cleaning), so I used J-B KwikWeld metal epoxy adhesive which is a bit stickier.

kwikweld

Foxini supervises the work

I had to remove the shifting arms to glue them because there was considerable sag in the adhesive – the pieces needed support while the adhesive dried.

brokenArm

Done broke

gluing

Broken ends sanded with rough sand paper and cleaned with denatured alcohol before the epoxy applied – it’s a little gloppy.

The rear left corner was a crumbled mess – it’s a bit better now after some J-B Weld, but it could use a good sanding to smooth out irregularities.

corner

The Rust Blackened

There are many areas of bare metal on the painted surfaces.  I was torn.  Should I use Testor’s model paint which is a great match and very permanent, or should I go with India ink (encre de Chine) which is a great match and less permanent?  I went with the India ink and a light coat of Renaissance Wax.  Some future owner may want to undo what I have done.  I want to be sensitive to the history of the machine and preserve as much vintage authenticity as possible.

inked

Finally, I flushed out the metal internal guts with mineral spirits and compressed air. I was worried about excess PB B’laster attracting dirt and gumming up things down the line.

I mixed myself a stiff drink, fired up a cigar, leaned back, and drank in the physical beauty of this 100-year-old vixen. Make no mistake: this is a 100-year-old typewriter that has suffered catastrophic neglect and damage. However.  She is still very fine indeed.

leftThreeQuarterSans_2

American Fox-es! (spoken with Festrunk brothers’ emphasis)

leftThreeQuarter2

Model number 24 – somewhat hidden behind the keyboard:

no24

I wish I had better luck removing the cracking layer of yellow varnish/lacquer/shellac around the decals.  I tried to Soft Scrub it off, but I wasn’t successful.  I will leave it to some future restorer with better products and methods.

decal

The back decal (“The Fox”) has worn off or been painted over:

back2

Lots of luscious curves in back though:

leftBack

Baby got back

The decal on the left side of the machine is in good condition:

left2

rightThreeQuarter

What Does the Fox Say?

The darn thing types like the proverbial champ:

typeSample2

It’s got fun special characters: manicules, pilcrow, section sign and degree characters.

keys

It has a double row of staggered type bars. These are called pin-mounted slugs, right?

slugs

The carriage comes off with four loosened screws.  You loosen the carriage scale pointer screws, slide the carriage scale pointer over and off; loosen the carriage screws, secure the draw string to the hitching post, and the carriage lifts off.

parts

dismantled prior to de-rusting

What a wonderful machine. After spending some time in genuine appreciation, I got down to typing.

Fox on the Run

Here’s a looping six second video of me typing away happily on my quick black Fox.

 

How about another six second loop?

 

To Do List

  • Continue polishing rusted and corroded parts – there is still so much to clean up. I hope I get that high-capacity ultrasonic tank full of solvent for Christmas 🙂
  • Try heat shrink tubing for a couple of the feed rollers which are a bit brittle and disintegrating.
  • I need to figure out the line lock set up. My Fox keeps typing at the end of the line, and I think there may be a rust problem that prevents the line lock from engaging.  I am looking at the patent documents for clues.
feedRollers

Crumbly feed rollers and surprise! more rust

This is what I want for Christmas.  Friends and family, please take note:

 

 

 

Typewriter Drawband Repair on a Shoestring

It is Labor Day holiday here in the US, and I labored happily over my typewriters.  I tinkered with the Fox No. 24, got stuck and decided to wash my collection of typewriter rags while I thought through the problem.

rags

Clean and ready for typewriter duty

I then read Richard Polt’s very interesting post on his Adler Universal that shows the ease with which the carriage is removed – and that jogged my memory. I needed to take my Lexikon 80 apart and fix the drawband.

The drawband on my Olivetti Lexikon 80 had slipped off recently while I was moving it.  I had replaced the drawband with fishing line not too long ago after it broke, and I worried that the slippery fishing line might slide off the mainspring drum at some point since the drum had no lip to hold the draw string on. Well, it did just that when I was moving it inside after the block party.

mainspring

Replacement fishing line draw string that slipped off

I decided to try my luck with shoelace since it would be a bit closer to the original draw strap material.  I bought some flat black shoelaces at the grocery – $1.79.

shoelace

I cut a piece of shoelace about 17 inches long – which is about the length of the original draw band:

measure

I had held onto the Lexikon 80’s two original drawstrap hooks for sentimental reasons. I found them and pried their little jaws open – these secured the old drawstrap.

hookEndOpenhookEnd

I made sure that the sharp triangular teeth were poking up – these grab the draw band. I inserted my shoelace and tapped the hooked retainer closed. I repeated this on the other end of my shoelace draw band.

I then removed the cover and carriage from the Lexikon 80 – see Rob Bowker’s great tutorial – and pulled off the old detached draw string. Using a bamboo skewer (I will always be indebted to Robert Messenger for his documentation and use of the bamboo skewer in drawband replacement) and fed the shoelace through to the mainspring.

Here is my shoelace hooked on the right side of the carriage:

hooked

And here is the shoelace hooked onto the mainspring drum (I wound the mainspring about 3.5 rotations before attaching the draw strap:

spring

Super classy!  We’ll see if it holds up and doesn’t slip off.

While I was replacing the drawband, I reflected on the typewriter drawbands that I have known:

I like junkier typewriters, so many of my typewriters have had drawband problems.

The Lexikon 80 is happy to be functional again – the new shoelace drawband is very handsome. I had hoped to make more progress on my Fox 24, but overall it was a pleasant holiday spent tinkering with typewriters.

Total Fox: Fox No. 24 Typewriter

My new Fox No. 24 typewriter is a total fox – or a totaled fox. When I took it out of the shipping box from the eBay seller, I found the back left corner (cast iron) had broken off in shipment.

IMG_4300

ACK!

It wasn’t typing, so what mysteries lay within? I felt that it could type since hitting the keys was causing a flicker of movement in the carriage as if it wanted to type. Time to take it apart.

Words Are Winged has a great photo spread on the dismantling of the Fox typewriter which was very helpful.  Over at Google Books, The Expert Typist by Clarence Charles Smith (1922) is newly found resource for me. It has information on the general use and operation of Fox, Multiplex Hammond, Noiseless, LC Smith, Remington, Smith Premier, Royal and Underwood typewriters as well as more advanced typing such as stencils and mimeograph operation and the preparation of statistical reports.  It’s a window into the world before word processors, spreadsheets, and printers.

The dedication of The Expert Typist is heartbreaking:

dedication

The Expert Typist has a section on how to remove the carriage from a Fox typewriter on page 12:

“Carriage. – Carriages of the Fox typewriter are interchangeable, and different lengths can be kept on hand and used as the work requires.  To remove the carriage, first remove the carriage scale pointer (No. 2312), unfasten carriage drum strap (No. 189) and attach it to hook (drum strap post, No. 133), then take out, or nearly out, the two screws (No. 558) found near each end of the carriage.”

The Expert Typist
By Clarence Charles Smith
Google books

Following the carriage removal instructions, I took off the carriage scale pointer:

corrosion

I removed the two rusty screws that hold the carriage scale pointer in place

I was unfastening the carriage strap and the draw strap done broke.

drawBand

Oh. Heck. The ancient draw strap disintegrated when handled

Carry on. Backed out the two carriage screws on the back on the rear left and right:

screw2

Check out the green corrosion. There is a matching carriage screw on the left that I backed out enough to removed the carriage. This photo was taken just before I lifted the draw band (drum strap) from its anchor.  As I moved it to the drum strap post,  it fell apart in my hands.

I then lifted up the carriage to reveal large pieces of broken cast iron on both sides of typewriter. Good. Golly.

These two pieces should be one:

broken

And the other side was broken too:

broken2

brokenSide

Well. Heck.

It appears that those two cast iron bars are part of the shift mechanism though I am not sure of their purpose. They seem to support the basket during shifts. If you know the name and purpose of these broken parts, let me know.  I’ll be using JB Weld SteelStik or an epoxy adhesive to re-secure them.

Onward: the platen pops out after you loosen a screw on either side and move the platen slide back:

slide

Here’s the machine dismantled (I re-attached the carriage scale pointer after I cleaned it because I was worried that I would lose it).

parts

Fresh Hell: then the front bar fell off. I hadn’t noticed that it was cracked and broken as well:

IMG_4423

First thing first: I blew out the inside of the machine with my small air compressor.  It wasn’t terribly dirty – just very rusty and corroded.

rust

The front carriage rail was rusted and the carriage moved with a painful screech. The escapement wheel and pinion wheel were moving but stiff with rust. Many of the typebars were paralyzed with rust. The ribbon vibrator was rusted into an “up” position. Everything that should move smoothly was crunchy.

I saturated everything with PB B’laster Penetrating Catalyst, let it sit for a few hours and then began to move the parts gently with my hands.  They started to loosen up.

The detached carriage was stuck at certain points along the rail – a star shaped wheel on the rail was not moving smoothly along the rail so I doused everything in PB B’laster and moved the carriage back and forth manually until I felt something akin to a gliding sensation.

carriage

Carriage - upside down: star shaped wheel that moves along the carriage - there are small ball bearing in there too.

Carriage – upside down view: star-shaped wheel that moves along the rail was sticking.

I got the feeling that this thing might type since hitting the keys was moving the parts of the escapement assembly attached to the machine (the loose dog and rigid dog?). Cleaning and lubrication had freed those parts up nicely.

loose dog, wild dog, stray dog, hot dog

View with carriage removed: cleaned and lubricated loose dog (?) now moving and able to slip in and out of teeth in the escapement wheel during typing.

The escapement wheel looks battered – the beveled teeth are a bit chipped and worn.

chipped tooth

Chipped tooth

I made a new draw strap out of 80lb fishing line and set the carriage back on the body.

I need classier drawstring material. The fishing line works but it's a little hillbilly

I need classier drawstring material. The fishing line works but it’s a little down-market.

I tested typing. The carriage advanced one space for each key struck. I burst into song.

I spooled new red and black ribbon onto the old spools and tried her out.

IMG_4432

Looks like my Star of David is indeed an asterisk. Sometimes an asterisk is just an asterisk.

star

The Fox has a beautifully simple ribbon color switcher: a red key for red typing and a black key for black typing. Even I can figure this one out.

IMG_4424

Once I had the machine typing, I began cosmetic improvements. I took my bell and carriage return lever over to Good Neighbor Brian’s shop since he wanted to get in on the fun. He got to work right away.

IMG_4417

Brian used a slow buffing wheel (about 1800 RPM) and pink buffing rouge to polish the bell. It cleaned up beautifully.

back2

I was amazed at what he did with the carriage return lever.  I had gotten most of the green corrosion off, but it was dull. He polished it to a mirror-like finish with a small 4″ diameter buffing wheel at 1800 RPM and pink buffing rouge:

IMG_0870

Remember – it was really bad before:

carriageReturn

This makes me want to get my own variable speed bench grinder and buffing wheel.

I had removed some of the old brass / nickel / chrome pieces that were easy to detach and soaked them first in Evapo-Rust and then in Lime-A-Way.

The Evapo-Rust took off surface rust but did nothing for the green corroded parts. I had tried chrome polish on the greenly corroded pieces, but it wasn’t doing anything. I dug around in the garage and found Lime-A-Way which has a list of powerful acids in it.  It was the Lime-A-Way that removed the green corrosion. Unfortunately, it also turned some of the pieces slightly pink after a prolonged dunk. The acids in the Lime-A-Way are a bit much for the metal I am dealing with here and caused copper leaching/displacement that was then deposited on the surface of the metal (I am guessing here).

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I found an interesting post on a home barista website that described the chemical reaction and fix, so I started polishing to remove the copper deposits with my Dremel and a polishing disc. There wasn’t much shiny chrome on the paper fingers to begin with and less after my polishing.  I may walk it over to Brian’s and see if he can put a shine on the metal. I’m planning to wax all the parts to prevent future rust and corrosion

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Onto the rusty typebars: they look bad but don’t really affect the functioning, but I wanted to clean them up anyway. I drenched the typebars and their joints with PB B’laster Penetrating Lubricant. While it doesn’t make rust disappear, it seemed to loosen up rust for removal. I scrubbed the sides of the rusty typebars with super fine Scotch-Brite and super fine sandpaper to get the worst of the rust off them. I followed up with my Dremel, polishing the sides with a 512E Finishing Abrasive Buffs 320 Grit and a 442 Carbon Steel Brush.  I scrubbed the type itself with denatured alcohol and a toothbrush and got century-old ink out of the crevices.  The typebars are still looking “vintage”, but a little less rusty.

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I am still perfecting my methods – though trial and error is not the best way to go about dealing with a fine old machine. I’m a little worried that my very liberal use of PB B’laster will come back to haunt me in the form of solidified gunk and dirt attraction.  I may follow up with a flush of mineral spirits, a blow-out with compressed air and then very targeted lubrication. I would love to dunk the metal machine guts into a high-capacity ultrasonic tank full of kerosene or solvent – though it sounds like the makings of my very own Superfund site.

Coming up next: gluing her back together and taking glamour shots of the foxy lady.