This customer Royal Portable P typewriter from 1930 came in for some much needed love.
A filthy dirt bucket, the machine really needed a thorough cleaning.
Because of the wood grain finish, I took all the sheet metal covers off the machine. That way I can get to all the internal components and not worry about blemishing the paint. I also cleaned and polished each panel prior to reinstallation.
The ribbon vibrator was broken, no surprise there as that style of vibrator is a bit fragile. Soldering a new arm on those Royal ribbon vibrators is always risky. You never know if the decades of crap is going to allow a good solder bond. This time it turned out fine, oh so fine.
In the past someone got creative with attaching the machine to the base. I like how they used a combination of wood and machine screws. What, no baling wire!? The feet were smooshed having seen better days. I thought initially I could just pop on the center hole feet I buy from TTS Business products (Tony recently retired). Nope. Back then Royal was still experimenting with feet and this machine has the mushroom shaped thingy that a rubber foot slips over. Complicating things, that past creative person had already removed one on the back side and left a gaping hole. Yes gaping, it was quite boldly gaping at me. I called the customer and recommended I remove the remaining thingies and mount the feet “normally”. Permission granted and it worked!
I like the interesting finishes Royal made for the early machines and this typewriter is a nice wood grain look. So why go to all this trouble for a fairly common Royal typewriter?
Vogue typeface!