I See Dead Keys
I didn't really think I was in the movie Sixth Sense, but I did see some strange dead keys the other day. Someone from town had been given this nice L.C. Smith Super Speed as a gift. It had come straight from the antique store with its crispy ribbon and coating of dust. I cleaned it up and installed a new ribbon after replacing the incorrect ribbon spools with two from a donor machine. Things were going along well except the period and comma keys were sort of dead. They would come about 3/4 of the way toward the platen and then stop. I was thinking the mechanism for these keys was jammed or their strikers were bent. Looking at the underside of the machine again I saw that two brass stops were attached to the comb (or guide) underneath. This dampened the period and comma keys. They key action returned to normal once I removed these stops. What I wonder is why anyone would put stops on the period or comma keys in the first place. Come to think of it, why put stops on any of the keys?
I put a call out to the typosphere for any enlightenment on what I found on this Super Speed. Thanks!
Hmm ... Stream of consciousness writing, with no punctuation or interruptions? Some mad neat writer perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThat's very odd. Wish I knew. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's very odd. Wish I knew. ;)
ReplyDeletePeriods and commas notoriously damage platens when struck too hard. Perhaps this was a method to reduce the heavy fingered typist from punching a period or comma through the paper and eventually dimpling the platen.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't need to remove them, you could have just adjusted them. They are there to keep those keys from hitting holes in the paper. You will find them on all LC Smith machines of this time period unless they have been removed. Usually if I see a machine like this at an antique store and these are missing it is a red flag that I shouldn't buy it.
ReplyDelete