I’m sure I’ve mentioned we get quite a few Underwood model 5’s in the shop. The volume never stops the enjoyment each machine brings as I discover its history. This typewriter was a local machine and came with an aftermarket TAB activator located on the right near the shift key. This allowed the typist a quick way to hit tabs such as when you would fill out ledgers that had repeating columns. It was a real time saver to just nudge that plate … [Read more...]

I have a few of this model in the backlog of machines to get ready for sale. This is a customer’s that needed a good dusting (copious amounts of compressed air for the dust bunnies), cleaning, oiling and adjusting. Also, so typical of the Royals, it was not reversing the ribbon feed. The segment was kinda gummy and the type bar faces needed cleaning with a few slow keys, then it was on to the ribbon. The left side is notorious for getting … [Read more...]

Portable typewriters are a conundrum. Folks like them because they are portable (ha, ha), light, have an easy touch on the fingers and many have interesting designs. Folks hate them as the keys get stuck, ribbon feeds are finicky and are prone to skipping if the escapement gets out of alignment. This Royal portable is a real workhorse for the customer and when brought in you could tell it is used often. There was a lot of ribbon debris on the … [Read more...]

This Royal KMM was repainted wrinkle finish grey. Personally, I like the big shiny gloss black models (sooo shiny!) yet this grey finish was very popular after WW2 in the forties. This fine example of post war industrial art had a line space lever that was bent so bad it was hitting the ribbon cover. It is pretty hard to get any work done with that little disaster. The funny thing about being a typewriter repairperson is we look at the … [Read more...]

We don’t see too many Woodstock typewriters in the shop. Mostly they are not that great of writing machine so few survived. On the other hand, they are totally cool typewriters! I see many similarities between other brands in the Woodstock, and it is too bad their competitors won over the public. This grand beast came in for a cleaning, oiling, ribbon feed problems and general tune up. After the mundane task of cleaning, of which I found a cute … [Read more...]

This is a well preserved Remington 17 from 1939, and used often. I know exactly why we see so few in the shop and if you own one you too know as well. These Remington 17’s are well made and don't really break unless something catastrophic happens. I sometimes muse that these are an engineer’s typewriter. Every feature is well thought out, and when I open the machine for service each mechanism is a delight to ponder. Seriously, our shop … [Read more...]

This well preserved Underwood Champion from 1935 was hanging up mid-carriage and the owner, being mechanically inclined made adjustments. That worked just fine for awhile then…..that annoying hang up just wouldn’t go away and that ALWAYS means drastic measures must be taken! For me, drastic measures would be to call my local typewriter repair person (hint, hint). For this incredibly nice customer it meant taking the machine apart until there was … [Read more...]

This combination of an adding machine and a cash drawer was quite popular up until electronic cash registers took over the industry. This Clary is a well-preserved example of a nice hand cranked cash register. The machine came from a sewing machine shop in Seattle, and with a fresh ribbon and oiling and adjustment is fun to use! … [Read more...]

This lovely example of a Quiet-Riter came to us with an exceedingly annoying habit of type, type, type… STUCK… and I mean really stuck as the carriage would not budge. The owner is on a budget so we were all hopeful it would be an easy and fast fix. This one was a little complicated. We dismantled the machine to diagnose the problem and it was pretty apparent there were several things coming into play. The tab set mechanism was stuck, and … [Read more...]