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Who patented this spool and what part is missing?
Taken off an Underwood from the 1920s, this 5-spoke ribbon spool is probably an aftermarket replacement spool from a later date.It was originally lacquered black, but the paint on this spool had...
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April 2023 typewriter safari
Just on the off-chance of finding something interesting (it does happen); on the way home sometimes make a detour for a quick visit to the local thrift store. The two near-identical Olympias seen in...
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He Dunks Typewriters in the Kitchen Sink
When a typewriter mechanism is very dirty, with congealed oil, dust, eraser crumbs and general dirt, I've resorted to dunking the whole mechanism in soapy warm water. Using a lot of washing-up liquid...
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Impression strips for the Hammond Multiplex typewriter
The Hammond typewriter uses two wear-items; the impression strip and the ribbon shield. These two items were originally sold at modest cost by the Hammond Typewriter Company. The ribbon shield is...
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Small cosmetic tweak; red ribbon selector on the Underwood 5 typewriter
After testing it on the reference Underwood 5 typewriter, and seeing the difference a proper bright-red key-top makes, also wanted to replace the faded paper on the color selector key of the 'good'...
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Big Underwoods are in the area
Not often seen in-the-wild at thrift stores around here; large Underwood standard typewriters.The first standard spotted was this venerable Underwood 5.Sharp-angled front plate, so pre-1923. Has a...
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Sighting of a couple of Sholes and Glidden's and a Writing Ball
Sightings; seen last weekend - Sholes and Glidden typewriter serial number 1681:Right next to it, another Sholes and Glidden typewriter (or type writer), this machine with serial number 2698:And only a...
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Making new spools for the Hammond typewriter
Spools for the older models of the Hammond typewriter are quite large and made of hard-rubber flanges and a brass hub. Being as exposed on the machine as they are, and brittle too, many spools are...
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An old refurbishment - stripping off the paint
It looked quite awful, so the housing was taken completely apart. A mottled greyish-brown paint was all over the machine, almost certainly applied during an overhaul in the 1940s or early 1950s. At...
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Columbus bilateral letter-scale - repaint and polish
After a repaint and a polish, this little bilateral Columbus letter-scale is very shiny.This one, like many, looked rather dejected. The brass was severely tarnished from old attempts at cleaning that...
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Clipless paper fastener, all-steel version
The all-steel version of the Ideal Clipless paper fastener.Simply marked as 'Clipless' paper fastener. No longer marked Ideal or 'CK', not marked that it's made in Japan either. The construction and...
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An influx of Odhners and parts and tinkering
Because it looked very clean and with the paintwork intact, and it was the full-featured Original Odhner Model 39 version with tens-carry in the counter, back-transfer and check-register, and wanting...
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Color-match for repainting Comptometer panels
Coming back to the stripped panels of the Comptometer. The side-panels came out good enough from underneath the brown refurbishment paint, won't be touched. The top-panel was however a (1940-ies?)...
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Comptometer keys - making new
The project Comptometer model H got 'new' keys at its refurbishment in (probably) the 1940-ies, however these cream/green keys of a model J don't age well. Also, the keys of a model H Comptometer...
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Getting a Mignon to write again - feed rollers and adjusting the type
This rusty old Mignon index-typewriter needed some repairs to make it functional again. From browsing online, a fairly common issue with Mignon typewriters is that the feed rollers are 'gone' and glued...
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An inept attempt to hide stolen goods? Or crossing-out a factory mix-up?
To give the old Oliver 3 typewriter a thorough clean, so that it'd be rusty but not dirty, it was taken apart pretty completely. Down to its foundation, the cast-iron base.The unreadable main serial...
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Fitting new key-tops on Comptometer key-stems
Having printed a new set of key-tops for the Comptometer, these have to be fitted to the stems. The key-tops of a Comptometer cannot be pulled off, but the entire key-stem has to be removed from the...
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Comptometer decimal-makers re-fitting
After painting of the front panel, the decimal markers have to be re-fitted. On Comptometers these are originally fixed to the cover with rivets - actually F&T used rivets with a shoulder to be...
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Fitting the key-plate back on the Comptometer and re-mounting keys
To start the re-assembly of the Comptometer, they newly-lacquered key-plate is mounted back onto the mechanism. Before doing that, the red controlled-key button must be mounted (insert stem from...
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August 2023 typewriter ^D^D books safari
Last weekend's tour of the local thrift stores yielded 'the usual suspects'. The same gathering of Erika's that's been hanging around one store, and a couple of wedges at another store that have been...
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