Nico brought this nice red Olympia SF in for a new platen and a ribbon lift adjustment. We sent the platen out for recovering an lo and behold the metal core had two dents! One was a bit too deep so the core could not be recovered. The funny ha, ha is that he brought the typewriter in as one place on the platen, the print was REALLY faded. Just that one spot. Now we know. Nico, contacted that guy in the UK and shortly after, a new SF … [Read more...]

I experience people coming into the shop. Usually when I'm awake and not in the back taking a nap. Many are starry eyed with all the goo gahs that line the shop. Even I like the Bob Montgomery memorial. Heck, it is hard for people to get me to shut up about what a great guy he was. Well, we mostly sit at our bench and clean typewriters. OK, not ALL the time. For example, this Optima portable has a left margin stop that is hard to move and the … [Read more...]

This very rusty and dirty 1940 black Triumph Perfekt certainly needed some love. In for some much needed service plus a new platen and rubber feet. The case is toast. Where ever the typewriter was stored the moisture flaked the paper off the wood. Since I was able to get all the covers off the machine, I decided a partial dip in the ultrasonic cleaner would work. Yep, blasted off much of the surface rust and ALL THE GUNK. There were so … [Read more...]

This is a customer machine in for a new platen. Yep. Just a platen. The machine itself is in great shape and clean. You do not see many of these older Gossen typewriters in the wild. The customer was going on and on about the unique type face. I didn't really look at it until Griffin installed the new platen. Wow. The photos do not do this justice. The type is sooo tiny. I put on my double strength readers so I could actually SEE the … [Read more...]

Recently,  one of the folks who get my web update emails lamented I should show more of our work. Not posting just the copious amount of typewriters for sale, actual worky work stuff. They mentioned liking posts with before and after stuff. Well, I'm not much for the click and work, click and work, clickclickclick. On the other glove, I get it. You probably ask your self, what the heck are they doing? Lisa, Griffin and I were recently looking … [Read more...]

This Williams No. 2 typewriter was shipped to us for a well deserved service. A family heirloom. New platen, paper roller, felt ink pads and rubber feet. Such a work of art. Enjoy a few before and after photos.  Williams Circa 1899 11000 PL … [Read more...]

Well. We do not see many Monarch typewriters here at the shop. Mostly decorations on the shelf. This one arrived and the customer wanted it working. According to the typewriter database, this machine is from approximately 1912-1913. Dismantling the typewriter to clean it, I recognized influences from L.C. Smith in the carriage bearing assembly and Remington in the type bars. This old typewriter … [Read more...]

This fine example of a Royal Model 5 typewriter is a customers in for service. Most of the Royal 5 typewriters we get in the shop are totally beat up and are wrecks. This one is n i i i c e. Really, the machine has decent feet, all its parts and the type face is DOUBLE GOTHIC! All the typewriter needed was a decent cleaning and the margin release adjusted. Oh, and it needed some metal spools. Not plastic ribbon spools for … [Read more...]

This 1920 Underwood 5 Standard is in for service for a customer. Someone already replaced the key top legends. So sparkly. Pretty much each older Underwood 5 needs to be stripped down to what you see in the photos. They are almost always so dirty and with decades of accumulated oils. The only way to get to the gunk is to remove stuff. In the case of this machine that stuff is the lower type bar pivots, segment, type bars, ribbon … [Read more...]

Well here we are. Another Remington portable that needs all new rubber. This is sooo the thing with these older Remington portables. The rubber stuff is just worn out. This one got the typical cleaning and tune up plus all new rubber; platen, paper rollers and frame spacers. This clacker types nice. NA56777 … [Read more...]