Patiently Waiting for an Electric Typewriter

Fixing Dad's Typewriter...or...who broke this machine?

Who bent these linkages?

My father takes his typewriter off to college in 1956

Be the Machine

You'll enjoy the two blog posts I am referencing:
Joe Van Cleave's "Word Whittling" (Sorry for the misspelling of your name in my typecast!)
Richard Polt's "These Machines Saved Me"

The Hunt

Postscript:

I did fix those key tops.  Turns out that the 30's and 40's Smith-Coronas did not have celluloid or glass on the key tops.  Instead, the letter for each key is printed on some sort of vinyl-like plastic.  Fortunately, the keys from the Speedline were a perfect match for the Standard.

Also, please excuse the typos in my typecast.  I guess that's what comes from excitedly typing on a park bench.  In any event, the image has been scanned and there's no going back.

Lovers of Words and Things Mechanical

Copycat Corona

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!

So Fun to Let Them Go!

Broken Super?

Creativity or Heracy: The Rat-Riter

Your basic Sterling

Sand paper adds a distressed look and a paper towel soaked in bleach adds rust in under an hour. 

Random paint smears add to the rat look.

Yes, black and blue flames help.

Masked up for a semi-gloss clear coat

The Rat-Riter seems to draw the young crowd.

Typewriter Deconstructed

I blogged about the mint condition Smith-Corona Super Sterling that Jericho, VT resident Jon Ojala gave me a few posts ago.  (Actually, it is in Sea Foam Green condition - still quite nice.)  Jon had given me this lovely typewriter when I described my plan of having students disassemble a blue Super Sterling in disrepair that I had acquired.  Today I set the blue Sterling out on a desk with two screwdrivers and let some of my "typewriter hounds" know that they could take it apart.  Boy did they ever get excited about this idea.  They wolfed down their lunch so they could go to my office to get started.  Later in the day they begged their teacher to let them come down and work some more.  All in all, it took these three 8 to 9-year olds about 25 minutes to get the case off of the Sterling.  Surprisingly, it actually types better without the case.  Something must have been binding it up.  It also lost a ball bearing out of the carriage in the process.  I promise to post more photos as it gets further deconstructed!

Wait!  Don't take this one apart!

Blue turns to Lovely Green

It was fun to dream about the mystery typewriter that I found on Craigslist.  The only thing I knew for sure was that it was blue.  I liked "Words are Winged" suggestion that it might be a blue Royal Model P from the 30's.  I was pretty sure it was not John Lennon's typewriter!  I would have been psyched if it was a blue Quiet DeLuxe from the 50's.  I even thought about a Lettera 22, those come in that fantastic Olivetti blue.  But Ted was right, it turned out to be a blue Brother Charger. The ad did say vintage and not antique after all.  But what constitutes antique?  A 1966 Mustang is considered an antique but a 1966 Royal is vintage.  Where do you draw the line?

But read on, my blue disappointment turned to 

excitement when I found this mint condition green Super Sterling!