The Call of the Corona

I had a Corona that had been calling out to me since the fall, a 1940 Corona Sterling three-stripe Speedliner.  I really loved how the Corona decal shone from the black crinkle paint ribbon cover.  But this machine had a fatal flaw, rust that had struck the segment, springs and levers on the 7, J and N keys.  Everything else was fine and I thought I could repair it, but I ended up breaking the linkage on the N key.  I set it aside and let my frustration subside- oh if I had been more patient and had learned about Evapo-Rust sooner.  My Corona sat in a back room calling out to me.  Every time I saw that beautiful ribbon cover I  promised myself I would put it to good use.  I started keeping an eye out for a "parts machine" that could use a new ribbon cover and then I found a 1947 Silent Speedliner that was selling on the cheap because it's ribbon cover had splotches of white-out on it and one corner had some discoloration.  When this new machine arrived I was pleased to find that it was a Pica machine that was in great condition with the exception of the minor cosmetic flaws on its ribbon cover.  No worries, I had a beautiful Corona ribbon cover that was calling out to me!

The rusty fatal flaw!

Not really all that bad!

I can see the Corona 4 heritage with the cover off

Transplant Successful!

Vermont's Spring Type-In is this Saturday, April 30th

I am looking forward to seeing typospherians both young and old at the spring Type-In on April 30th from 10AM - 1:30 PM.  This expanded type-in will be held at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, Vermont. Exciting events include:

• A visit via video by typewriter author Richard Polt.
• Activities for children based on the book "Click, Clack, Moo."
• Speed typing contest
• and more!

Join us with your typewriter or use some of ours!

Machine à écrire Safari

My wife and I took a machine à écrire safari, or, typewriter safari to Montreal, Quebec, Canada this past weekend for my birthday.  How lucky am I that my wife will allow me to drag her to "foreign lands" in search of typewriters.  Traveling to Montreal is a short two hour drive from my home in Vermont.  It's like having Europe next door.  As for the safari, I had scoped out a few shops the day before and was excited to find shops with multiple machines for sale.

This little shop looked promising, especially when I noticed a Corona 3 in the shop window.  But that excitement turned to disappointment when I found that this machine and the Underwood 4-bank inside were listed for hundreds of dollars and the other typewriters in the shop were Brothers for $60.  It was a fun shop, but they knew their "hipster" market.  

The next stop took me to the market street of St. Laurent to a funky shop called La Boutique du Collectionneur.  A local guide calls it a shop that is not for the faint of heart and it boasted a weird and wonderful collection of objects including a selection of typewriters.

Alas, the only machine I was interested in was a Facit until I noticed that it had an AZERTY layout.  I was in Canada's largest French speaking city after all.  I passed on the Facit and the owner told me about an Olympia that he had out back.  It was a wide carriage SM7 with the issue of the top three rows of keys not striking the platen.  I told him that a common issue with Olympias was worn out bushings and sure enough, the rubber on this machine looked pretty crispy.  I have not found this with my own Olympias so I am not sure if the bushings were the problem with this machine. I passed on this machine too.  My patient wife and I moved on to Montreal's museum of fine art and a nice dinner out before we drove back home. This was my first typewriter safari in a big city which, I learned, brought big city prices!

Spring Type-In Announced!

So Fun to Let Them Go!

Sure, I'll take that Hermes

Stowe Panorama 2 by John M on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/rCCQVc

As one Royal Leaves, Another Royal Comes

I have had a very serendipitous experience with  Royal typewriters this week.  I decided to sell my 1941 Royal Arrow to a man who was looking for a gift for his wife.  I had another machine in mind for this sale but it was experiencing a drag midway through the run of the carriage and I did not want to send someone off with my troubles.  My disappointment got me thinking about the Arrow which was a really fine machine with a basket shift and nice glass keys.  This Arrow even came with the original owner's manual which is a real plus.  The problem is, this machine just didn't speak to me.  I love my 1938 Royal Quiet and my 1959 Royal Futura 800, but this Arrow didn't have the tug that my other machines have on me so I am glad to have it go to a home where it will be appreciated.  

Now comes the serendipity.  My Craigslist alert (A typospherian's Bat Signal) lead me to a KMM with a stuck carriage for sale.  A nice gentleman had gotten this machine at an auction out of curiosity but he did not want to attempt a fix to the stuck carriage.  I couldn't blame him because this carriage was seriously stuck and I could see how it was out of alignment with the carriage rail.  I negotiated a D.I.Y. price and bought my second KMM just to make sure a key chopper did not come by after me to snap off those lovely keys.  Besides, after cleaning off the serial number (KMM12 2692496) I found that I have another 1941 Royal in my house just like the Arrow that is leaving!

I have had a bit of fun trying to bring this KMM back to life.  I was pretty sure I would have to take that stuck carriage off and turned to the Ames Manual found on Richard Polt's site.  "Remove right hand Cover Plate screws and Cover Plate as indicated in the drawing" it says...hmm....that will be hard with the stuck carriage covering the cover plate.  So, cover your eyes if you must, I applied a little force with a block of wood and a hammer and viola, I got the carriage back on its rail.  The carriage was a little loose, but it travels fully from right to left along the rail.  I did take that cover plate off to expose all of the dust and grime in the mechanism.  This machine will take some more work as the keys move but do not fully strike the platen.  The Back Space works though, so this gives me some hope about the escapement!  There will be more to come on this machine to be sure.

Don't try this at home kids!

Hmm, that crud might have something to do with the jammed keys!