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| The brass thing-a-ma-jig installed |
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| Putterer at work |
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| There's often a tipping point feature causing me to click the "buy" button. This great dealer sticker did the trick for this No. 4 ... |
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| ... or perhaps the gleaming, nearly nick-free shellac finish ... |
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| ... the quite shiney nickel-plating ... |
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| ... and the well-preserved decals. |
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We often quote a comment our granddaughter made on recovering from a blunder: "This is how we learn!".
In that spirit, I would suggest that when dealing with a shellac-finished typer, as this Underwood appears to be, that you be careful with drips when using denatured alcohol (loosening gunk and cleaning the type slugs) or brake fluid (trying to give a bit of tackiness to the flint-hard platen). Or not use them at all. At least test in an out-of-the-way spot. A xylene-based solvent did not appear to affect the finish.
This is how we learn.
That's a beautiful machine. Glad to see you persisted with it. Sorry to say this, but solvents really don't do that much to the platens. It just gives them a more rubbery surface. It rarely penetrates deep enough, and when it does it tends to break it apart.
ReplyDeleteGood advice, Scott - well supported by my research. I will use a light application of xylene wiped with a rag to clean platens in place, and maybe give them a tiny bit of tackiness. But I'll not apply brake fluid again when the platen is in place because of the mess and the chance of damaging the finish, as well as the actual damage to the platen that you have experienced. Out of the carriage, I will try a light application along with sandpaper to try to give enough tackiness to promote paper feed. Probably a 15-minute contact wouldn't do any harm, and if it did, then it's time for recovering anyhow! Thanks for the tip, Scott.
DeleteCongratulations on the repair. Very beautiful typewriter. It is great when all the decals are in good condition as well as the finish. I am always overly cautious about anything, even water, on many typewriter finishes. If I cannot remove the inner works from the housing or the housing itself I cover as much as I can with clean rags and then foil so the finish is protected from anything I am using whether rubber rejuvenator or brake fluid on the platen, solvent on the slugs, or brake / carb cleaner on the segment. Many solvents will harm plastic so key tops always get covered as well as the card guide if it is plastic and cannot be removed for cleaning.
ReplyDeleteNice shop.
I wish I could keep my shop so nicely organized.
Selective cropping of a photographic image can do wonders to the impression of workshop organization!
DeleteAlso that is good advice on being conservative with choice of cleaning fluids. I try to remember the rule to begin with the gentlest cleaner first, and then gradually work up. Like, if water doesn't take care of a stubborn stain, an application of the "universal solvent", i.e., saliva, just might!
DeleteAha, it WAS an Underwood!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a successful repair.
Your observations about gravity make me wonder about the challenges those poor astronauts must face when trying to use their Underwoods in space.
I have a Corona 3 with that same great International Typewriter Exchange decal. It's the first typewriter I bought after the collecting fever struck me in 1994. Astoundingly, ITE is still in business.
That's a fascinating history, and fairly humble presentation by ITE for a company that survived so well the transition from typewriters by being able to diversify into othe business machines.
DeleteRichard is too humble to provide this link, but there is good stuff on cleaning and polishing here:
Deletehttp://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-restoration.html
Nice reveal, that's a fetching Underwood. And that decal is a cool detail. All best in your repair project.
ReplyDeleteThat machine is a thing of beauty!
ReplyDeleteHmm... perhaps there's another thing-a-ma-jig on the right side of the machine, which would still have the same curved shape as the original? Perhaps replacing it with another non-curved piece, like that on the left? It looks like there was a slight difference in lenght between the thing-a-dings that activate the left shift and those for the right shift, which would cause the right one to not fully deploy the carriage... or maybe there's a bend piece somewhere on that side?
Miguel, this did occur to me in a way - that perhaps I didn't get the distance between the drilled holes quite right. But watching everything when the shift key is operated it seems that the piece I made just keeps the carriage from flopping back, and may not affect the alignment. But notice the qualifiers: "seems" and "may"! When I get the energy for another foray into the innards of No. 4 looking for the alignment settings I will keep your thoughts in mind. Meanwhile, after hours bending over that typewriter, I am taking a typing break, and enjoying creating letters in longhand. It is said that the best relationships are those where periodic breaks are taken.
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