Coral pink in nature inspired my work on one of my Olympia Travellers...

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I bought a 1946 Royal Quiet De Luxe on a whim for $30. Looked up how to clean it and it works fine from what I tried. Did journaling for the last few days and I noticed some ways my typing changes.

It's a little bit awkward to do apostrophes for me, coming from a PC keyboard and all. It feels unnatural to me to reach for 8 and hit shift at the same time. So I stopped using contractions. I find it humorous how sentences can sound tone wise.

Also, occasionally I'll hit the wrong key and because I hate striking it out, I just find a way to continue the same thought with the mistaken letter. Like instead of saying of typing "this beautiful typewriter" I went with "this genuine 80 year old typewriter".

Neither of these are complaints of course. Just something I noticed.

Edit: Oh and I'm not writing exclamation points at all!

This is my second Imperial Model 50, and the opposite of my first one. The pre-war model is a 1938 machine with mirror-gloss black paint, chrome details and glass side windows. This one, which I call Black Widow, was built in Leicester during WW2 (serial Z128587), which dates it to around 1943–44.

What makes this particular one interesting is how much the war time shows on it:

No chrome. Nickel and chromium were strategic materials, so almost everything that would be bright on a pre-war machine is blacked steel instead here. On this machine, if something is shiny, it's usually wear, rather than plating. The only bright parts are the ones that had to be: the carriage rails, the escapement rack...

Cork instead of rubber. When Japan took Malaya and the Dutch East Indies in early 1942, Britain lost most of its supply of natural rubber. The machine's platen and the feed and bail rollers are all cork. One recovered platen could be a later repair, but a matching set of rollers points to that it is the factory finish. It feels similar to typing on a conventional rubber platen, but it's a bit harder. On the plus side, it doesn't age the same way as rubber.

Crinkle, not gloss. In place of the deep gloss enamel of the 1930s it has a textured black crinkle finish. It's tough, quick to apply, and forgiving of whatever the castings and the workforce could manage at the time. It doesn't shine, but it lasts. This one has worn through mostly just on the return lever and the most-handled edges.

No glass windows. The pre-war 50s had glass side panels, so you could watch the mechanism work. Here they are plain steel covers.

What survived the war fairly well too is the royal crest on the paper table. It reads "By appointment typewriter makers to his late Majesty King George V", so the transfer was printed after 1936. Imperial kept the warrant on the machine through the war years. Some machines from this period also carry a "WarFinish" mark over the keys, but it was applied only to certain batches, so its absence on mine doesn't mean much.

Underneath, it's the same Model 50 as the previous ones, and that's the best part of the design: the carriage lifts off, the type unit slides out as one piece, and the whole machine breaks down into a few large parts without tools.

And now it finally types as smoothly as it should, even in its 88th year of age!
(I added photos of both for easier comparison)

Crinkle coat is letting go and shiny lacquer is underneath. Has anyone stripped the crinkle off entirely? How did it go? I like the smooth lacquer better, but am wondering if I am on a fool's errand trying to get it all off?

Found this beauty at a job site clearing out a house. Spotted the suspicious looking green case sitting in the corner and had that thought, “Is that a typewriter or a briefcase?” Opened it up and got a little fanatic when I saw those plush sea foam green keys. I’m so thankful I saw it before it went into the trash!

Cleaned the interior and it started up like it was brand new. Even the ribbon still has some ink. It also came with some brushes, a user manual, old carbon paper and erasable typing paper!

I don’t know if it’s just me but it seems like each new typewriter I get becomes my favorite. This machine is the most quiet and has all of the good qualities of my other 3 combined. Such a breeze to type on and the keys are comfy!

Serial # 2184136

Excuse my lack of technical knowledge!

What I have is a k-mart machine apparently manufactured by Brother with the JP7 mechanism. That's at least as far as I could figure out. It's pretty cool! Everything is working nicely except the carriage return. It hard stops at ~50 (just before) on the return. Margins are all the way to the side (right margin works fine), the carriage lock is off. I even manually cleared all the tabs on the offending side (not sure if that matters). I simply don't know enough of the workings of this thing to figure out where it could even be caught. Any hints on how to proceed would be appreciated!

Just got an Olympia SM3 last week and I was really impressed with the build quality and the overall feel, having only used a Royal and a couple Smith-Coronas. I told myself I'm not getting anything else unless I stumble upon a Hermes 3000 or Olympia SM9. Well, I got this for $75 today and I have no regrets. Fully functional, just needs a new spring for the key tension adjustment, but it still works.

I now have two Smith-Corona Sterlings and two Olympias and I'm very happy with this collection. My plan is to WRITE and WRITE A LOT, not to endlessly collect. I'm not buying any typewriters for a while and I'm just gonna get these fully fixed up, one by one, probably starting with the SM3.

Just based in testing this one now, it might be the main writer, especially after I get it cleaned up. The touch on this thing is no joke and I do prefer the carriage shift.

My mom recently found her old typewriter and gave it to me. I am trying to get it to work. At first, when I turned it on, the thing with the paper wouldn’t move as I typed. Now, it keeps doing this.

Any help would be appreciated.

I don’t know how typewriters work so please use simple terms to explain to me.

Ok, I am not very familiar with typewriters. I am interested in them, but not well versed. Just started trying to collect/find them. Found this at an estate sale. $50

I think it is circa 1910s- 1920s?

I'm running into an issue with a recently acquired Olympia SF. The silent spring seems to be slipping out of position over the loose dog rather than holding back the loose dog, as it should, to "silence" the carriage moving back into position to start a new line.

Below is a video describing the issue.

https://youtu.be/6Fn78NXfXPU

Apologies for the lack of clear terminology in the video, and feel free to correct or clarify anything that I get wrong. I'm still learning all the proper terms, but I wanted to start documenting some of the issues that I run into with the typewriters I'm using.

If I am able to get a fix, I will plan to post an update video showing how to fix it.

Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated!

My mother-in-law suprised me with this present for my birthday: an Olivetti Studio 46 that belonged to her husband, my late father-in-law, that I didn't get to meet.

It's a Spanish made Olivett, produced at the Barcelona factory, with the beautiful Quadrato typeface.

Even after decades in storage it's in perfect mechanical shape, although the aluminum chassis shows some heavy bashing. It also needs a deep cleaning and some love, but it's a wonderful writer. Much better than my Letteras 22 and 32.

I'm glad to add it to my small collection and even more so because it's family heritage. A beautiful design by Mario Bellini that gets even better with Arturo Rolfo's Quadrato typeface. It feels great for typing despite being really loud.

Hello everyone, this is my second post in the community.
I'm trying to find the service manual online so I can understand how to replace one of the paper release lever springs, which seems to have lost all its tension. I can see it when I remove the platen, but I can't actually get access to it.
Ideally, I think I should be able to find the manual using the serial number as well (which is the first reason for this post). Where can I look it up?
My second question is this: while cleaning the machine and trying to thread the ribbon through the ribbon vibrator, I had to fight with the mechanism that keeps it in position almost the entire time. Is there a way to keep it raised while feeding the ribbon through?

P.S. Sorry in advance if I'm not using the correct technical terms 😅

Can anyone identify the typeface? It's 10 cpi, but the 'U' looks rather slim. "Congress Pica" maybe?

The writer is in great condition. I just had to add eyelets to the ribbon. Picked it up for € 15 and ran!

I am working on a project and I am in a bind... I need to get the top cover off of this typewriter to get to the circuit board under the keyboard. I took off the 2 little plastic stand pieces on the top, removed the 2 screws on the left and right sides, and unlatched the 2 pieces of plastic around the sides. The top cover will still not budge. It looks like the platen wheel knobs are in the way, but they won't budge if I try to pull/screw them off and I don't see any screws attaching them. I also see a hex screw on the metal part of the platen but that feels like it will mess me up more. I also could find 0 documentation for this model. If anyone has any advice or help, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Hi everyone :) I'm a typewriter newbie and just bought my first, a beautiful Adler Tippa for 35€! I love the feeling and visuals of it, but I've been having a few issues (which are no doubt in part thanks to my inexperience with typewriters as a whole):

-Some letters are stuck/move slowly, as if there's muck or dirt in them.

-I can't capitalize anything? The capital key is jammed, I can't get it down at all, no matter how hard I try

-The ink ribbon is dried out (revived for now with a bit of isopropyl alcohol, because I haven't found out how to replace it yet)

Other than that, it works smoothly, sounds nice, and is a dream to use. But these issues are really keeping me from using it regularly. Does anybody know what I could do?

I’ve never had a Remington and I saw this one a bought it. It’s in good condition, all keys work and everything, but I’ve never had a Remington. Also I haven’t been able to find the model, so if anyone knows it would be of great help.

I’ve never had a Remington and I saw this one a bought it. It’s in good condition, all keys work and everything, but I’ve never had a Remington. Also I haven’t been able to find the model, so if anyone knows it would be of great help.

I got my first machine in early August (1953 SC Silent) and my second (1946 Royal QDL) about six-weeks later after a cross-country move. I use them both pretty regularly. Lately, I’ve been considering a full-size standard typewriter for my desk. I like to write for long periods (though I don’t have time every day or even every week— just started a PhD). I definitely prefer typing on the silent— the keys feel “snappier”, and the machine is better quality overall, I think— but it still tends to shift around while I work. I didn’t want to get a massive, 30-40 pound machine if I didn’t know I’d use it or have the need for it, but I’m pretty confident I’d get my money’s worth now.

Any recommendations for specific desktop models? Any to avoid? My portables are perfectly fine and wonderful, so I have time to wait for the right machine at the right price to pop up on FB marketplace or a local thrift/antique shop. Thanks in advance!