Rusty Royal

It pays to blog about typewriters.  A woman from a few towns over found this Royal P in her attic.  She found my blog after browsing the web and asked me if I was interested in buying it.  Seeing that it was a Royal P from the thirties,  I got my hopes up that it might have Vogue type.  I also wanted to keep it out of the hands of key choppers.  It turned out not to have Vogue type and is really rusty.  There is rust on the panels and the carriage return lever is rusted tight.  I am guessing it's from around 1931 as the case is square.  I will know for sure once I remove the rust from the serial number!  On the plus side, lots of its green paint is still in tact, it types, and the keys are in great shape.  It should make a nice restoration project.

A Royal Surprise

Like many, I have set a Craigslist alert to tell me about machines that come up for sale in the area.  I have gotten some really good leads that way but lately I have only gotten alerts about overpriced standards or electric machines.  Then this alert came in for a "suitcase typewriter in working order."  One glance and I knew they were selling a Royal P for a reasonable price.  I contacted the seller and found that they were seven minutes away from my office.  What are the odds of that!  I negotiated a nice deal from a young man who had bought a property and found the typewriter while cleaning out his barn.  With serial number P260534, my Royal P is from 1931. It has a few issues.  The feet are gone, but I can solve that.  The paint is a nice two-tone brown, but it has pitting on the paper tray and a bit of rust and a lot of flaking on the back.  I would welcome suggestions on the best way to address these issues as I do not plan on re-painting the machine. I was thinking of some very gentle cleaning in these areas and a bit of clear coat paint to seal things up.  I think the rest of the machine will clean up nicely and look great with a coat of wax.  Any thoughts from the typosphere?