This Montgomery Ward catalog item was whiling away in eastern Washington for decades. The flat profile 3-bank up-strike machine was made by the American Typewriter Co. produced from 1908 to 1915 under a variety of names. Recently brought in to be repaired it is missing the spring drum assembly plus endowed with copious amounts of dust and rust. It must have been broken for a very long time as the previous owner rigged up a pull mechanism … [Read more...]

This customer machine is in the shop for a much needed tune up. It has been in the customers family for a very long time. Made in the UK, it is a fine example of a 1937 Remington. These are quite simple machines, manual ribbon reverse, no right margin stop and no bell. Typical of the Remington portables it needed paper rollers. The line space roller had broken off the machine so I found the same on one of the poor parts machines. The ribbon … [Read more...]

I service a lot of Hermes Rocket/Baby machines. I especially like the older models. This is a customer machine brought in for a tune up and adjustments. This 1951 machine features a Greek keyboard. Enjoy the photos. … [Read more...]

OK, this is no car yet a very nice typewriter. A customer machine in for a new platen, new paper rollers, new feet and a general tune up. The decal are superb. The machine is a base model featuring manual ribbon reverse, left side margin stop and no right side margin. Back space and upper/lower case and no tabs. I like the unusual feet allowing the machine to slide onto rails inside the case. It had mis-matched ribbon spools … [Read more...]

Nothing special here. Just your classic Underwood 5 typewriter from the year 1927. This is a customer machine in for some well needed deferred maintenance. Dusty, sluggish, ribbon vibrator frozen, and paper rollers all goobered up. A good cleaning, oiling, new rollers and some adjustments and this doggy is back typing. I like the looks of the older open frame machines. The mechanics are typewriter art. … [Read more...]

I like the Woodstock machines. They are a peculiar combination of L.C. Smith, Underwood and Royal. This particular beauty came to me for repair with bad feet (what is it with old worn shoes!), a stuck carriage, sticking keys, and the escapement mechanism frozen solid. If it wasn't for the perfect decals and no rust I would have recommended not even spending the money. In this case, I thought it would be well worth the effort. It needed a … [Read more...]

I like type faces. Congress Pica is a favorite and who would pass up a typewriter with Vogue type face! This customers 1957 Smith-Corona Sterling machine looks like an every day Joe Holiday typewriter from the 1950's. That is until you look closer at a few things. First, the ruler has a VERY low character count, only 50 per line. Second, around the back at the tab rack the same thing. Then you go to the keyboard and . . . are … [Read more...]

Here is another customer machine and was his Smith-Corona Sterling typewriter from his college days. This typewriter was a going away to college gift and he kept it all these years. The machine was gummed up solid with old oils and debris. This machine was destined for the sonicator bath plus plenty of degreasing! The segment even needed to be flushed with carburetor cleaner three times before the key action returned to … [Read more...]

I love the machines customers bring in for service. This example is a standard Underwood typewriter from 1956. It came in for a complete overhaul; new platen, rollers, you name it, the machine got it. These are common machines and are excellent typewriters. What is special about this baby is the 15 CPI typeface, Double Gothic. I love the decals from the original owner; Pacific Northwest Bell. Types like a demon. … [Read more...]

I applaud all of you who venture into cleaning and repairing your machines. I always hope working on typewriters sparks greater interest. When a customer comes to me confessing failure at working on their typewriter and brings it to me for service I empathize. Heck I fail all the time. You, my loyal customer, know I cannot repair everything. So when this dismantled Royal Companion (Quiet DeLuxe) came to the shop I was glad they did not … [Read more...]