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Remington keyboard layout No. 645 (UNMIF)
The keyboard of this sunny little Remington Portable typewriter looked clearly Portuguese.Now confirmed that it indeed is Portuguese; it is Remington typewriter keyboard layout number 645. For ordering...
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Reproduction comma-indicators for the Thales pinwheel calculator
The Thales model CE mechanical calculator was missing 4 of its 5 comma-indicators. The originals are fairly fragile and are often missing from these pre-war Thales calculators. The bottom of the thin...
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Projects: group of three 'barnfind'-machines
Not so sure it was a worthwhile purchase now that the true state of the machines is visible, but definitely 'projects'. Yesterday acquired a batch of three typewriters that should last me for a while...
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Thrift-store find; a Comptometer JS 10 Supertotalizer
Last month on the way back from an errand in town, popped by a local thrift store to just have a browse-round. Right inside the entrance on the table that normally carries the typewriters sat this...
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Cleaning the Comptometer Supertotalizer
The fur between the keys is removed and the overall machine polished-up nicely.The keytops themselves were first cleaned of the runny 'goo' by simply wiping it off with tissue-paper. Much of the...
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Opening the Supertotalizer and getting the Comptometer to work (mostly)
How to open a Comptometer and get access to the mechanism is well documented in several places on the internet. The Supertotalizer is not much different, it starts with removing the front top panel by...
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Cleaning up the Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter (3-bank) and some...
It is again surprising how much an old typewriter benefits from simply cleaning it. This old Underwood 3-bank Portable looked a right project, with a brownish hue of rust all over the machine.Much of...
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Carriage height adjustment for the Underwood 3-bank portable
This 3-bank portable typewriter needed to be adjusted. The lowercase did not print fully (bottom-heavy) and the two shifts also did not line up correctly. The machine probably had something heavy...
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Effect of platen hardness on the sound of a typewriter
The sound that typewriters make is determined by the overall design - and by the rubber of the platen or cylinder. To be able to get an impression of the effect of platen rubber, one machine was tested...
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From Mr Kennedy's workshop came a small cactus watering can
The maker's mark underneath a small watering-can, a 'cactus watering can', states that it's from Kennedy in Loosdrecht.Amazingly, on the digitized archives of a local newspaper a photograph could be...
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How not to start fixing up an Erika folding typewriter
After starting to improve and fix-up a nice little Erika folding typewriter, things quickly devolved into this:The reason for getting to the bare carriage-frame was that one of these little ~3.8mm...
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My most worn wristwatch of 2021
Inspired by Teeritz' re-cap of the year in wristwatches that are always read with interest and nudged by Frank's follow-up, here's my most-worn wristwatch of 2021.Working from home nearly all the time,...
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Adjusting for wear of the escapement of an Erika folding typewriter
Continuing the fixing-up and full cleaning of the Klapp-Erika; with the carriage-mishaps resolved, on to the escapement. Unlike the Standard Folding typewriter, the Erika has a full 'office-machine'...
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Various small fixes completing the Erika folding typewriter
The little Erika folding typewriter had yet a few extra quirks to be fixed.Universal bar biasing springThe universal bar (of the machine-base) has to be in the forward position to mesh correctly with...
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Cushioned feet for the Underwood portable typewriter
The feet of the Underwood Champion portable still needed replacement. These Underwoods of the Typemaster range of the late 1930s have a slightly more complicated feet-arrangement than most machines,...
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An M's not Made for Maintenance
The Erika M typewriter is a magnificent writing machine, but it may not be the most maintenance-friendly machine. To give it a proper cleaning and to get at the feed-rollers of this 'barn-find' project...
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Thoroughly cleaning an Erika M typewriter's segment
To give the slots in the segment and the typebars themselves a thorough cleaning, the segment was removed from the machine. There was only so much that could be cleaned when still in the machine, the...
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Charles Boogie
Thrift stores are open again - on a treasure hunt with all the kids. There's something to see for everyone. Among the yards of bins with vinyl, one solitary shellac disk was lying on a bottom shelf -...
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Brightening of glass typewriter keys (of the Erika M)
To brighten the discoloured glass-topped typewriter keys of this keyboard,to make all keys have an even brightness and squeaky clean,they were all removed from the machine,and collected in plastic...
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Heavy precision instrument, a Nova Brunsviga
Arrived recently:After taking the item out of the padded shipping box, it's still completely wrapped in buffering material. The seller thankfully took extra care, using the online packaging advice...
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