Monday, February 13, 2017

The Noiseless Portable Typewriter, Back In Action

Continuing where I left off last, I was in the middle of cleaning and repairing the "Lion Without A Roar" as I've dubbed the machine.

With the mainspring easily fixed (I can stop pushing on the carriage now!), I had to tackle a not so easy problem. The escapement rail is held in its proper place by two torsion springs that are engaged slightly when the escapement lever is thrown. Both were somehow broken on this machine. It took a short while and a good bit of cursing, but I was able to fashion a properly working, new torsion spring (just one, I wasn't ready to test my luck) out of a bit of standard spring coil I had on hand. I can use the escapement lever again!


I forgot to take pictures of the old feed rollers, but lets just agree that almost any feed roller that old is going to be petrified. They had turned a yellowish-white, were hard, but definitly not brittle. It took some serious effort to get the old rubber cleaned off so I could make some new ones using my patented heat-shrink tubing method. Two in front, two really big ones in back (I can insert paper now!). I've determined that the quality of a machine is often told by how many feed rollers a machine has, and how big they are. Its the weirdest thing.


Next was the bell ringer. The original spring quite literally disintigrated when I touched it, so I had to try to find a replacement. I stole a keylever spring off a Fox portable parts machine, and it proved so be just barely small enough. The original spring was impossibly thin, and anything bigger creates far too much tension on the carriage as it goes by. And now my bell is considerably louder than it probably should be. But hey! Now I can tell when the end of the line is approaching!


As I started putting it all back together, I found that the A key wasnt printing. It took a solid half hour or hour (I lost track of time), but I tested the following, in this order;

Are the typebar linkages gummed up? No.
Is the keylever being prematurly halted? No.
Is anything bent? No.
Is there damage to the keylever from use? Yes.

As is the case with plenty of sliding-activation designs, constant use had worn a good hole in the typebar. So, I took it out to try and see what I could do. Amazingly enough, you can take each keylever out without any trouble. Just rotate the little rod holding them in, and pull the lever out. That's it. Ridiculously simple.


A rather unique keylever.

But.

It was not the problem. So I continued with the query;

Is the ribbon moving correctly for the A? Yes.
Is the escapement worn where it activates? No.

I noticed that when I tilted the machine a bit, the A printed. This just confused me even more, because it theoretically meant that force wasnt being transferred to the typebar well enough, and a bit of gravity helped.

But, that wasnt it. It couldnt be, after my other efforts.

Turns out, the A typebar, for no apparent reason, was actually just barely striking the edge of the printing guide, losing its momentum and rebounding back. I couldnt see this, of course, until I placed a screwdriver along the edge of the printing guide so that the A typebar, if it truly had its momentum, would slide into the proper place. It worked, and I had to carefully "form" (I had to bend it, ok? OK!?) the arm of the typebar to get it to swing into place properly. Now I can type the full alphabet!


A swath of my tradmark purple ribbon installed, I had a fully functional Noiseless Portable Typewriter. Its in need of some adjustment still, but its working pretty well as is. You would not believe how quiet it is. Shifting is louder than the typebar action. This machine could, quite truly, be taken into a library and possibly not get you kicked out.


Noiseless Portable Status: On Standby



Noiseless Portable Status: Type at the ready




I have to test a thought that came to mind; can my Underwood Noiseless ribbon caps possibly fit on this machine, since its based off of this design anyway?  Place your bets!



And hey, look! Random video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFemJ226M9U

Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Noiseless Portable Typewriter


I've heard other collectors have a sort of "First 30-Cleanup", where they do some standard procedures to spiff up a machine they just got. I have the First 30-Breakdown.

The Noiseless, though in "good" condition, was absolutely filthy (as is expected of a machine this age).


About 3 minutes in, this is what I ended up with.


I love 3 bank machines. And I definitely love 3 bank machines with basket shift. The carriage on this puppy came off after just taking out two anchoring screws. The sides are decorative, so they popped right off without any effort as well.


Which left me with the base mechanics, all exposed.


The escapement is very simple, yet seems to be pretty well developed. It actually wont activate if the keys are hit hard enough to get the typebar all the way to the platen.


The motor is one issue to be dealt with. Outstandingly, these machines have a steel weave drawcord and it has held up very, very well.


The typebars and their unique weights. As can be noted on almost any noiseless design, its a scissor action. Also note that shifting for Cap lower the typebasket, an Fig raises the typebasket.


A ribbon crank is always a nice feature to have. This machine has all the features; margin release, backspacer, shift locks, etc.


Close of up of the dirt. Oh wait, I think there's an escapement under there.


And the underside of the machine. As can be seen, its an incredibly efficient, open design.


On todays agenda was motor repair. As is the case half the time with "broken" mainsprings, the little hooked part of the spring had been overwound or something, causing it to bend off the central catch. A slight bend to said spring got everything working again.


Reinstalled, and tension on the drawband. This machine will, hopefully, be fully cleaned and good to go by the end of next week.



Question for anyone who knows; how do I take the platen out? No screws are in use, and I cant seem to tell if its based on the twist-off knobs. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

My First Typewriter for the Year


It arrived in a sea of packing peanuts.

Layered with cardboard and wrapped carefully, it found itself suddenly in the land of pine trees and potatoes.

And now, with much excitement, I can scratch it off my list of "Most Wanted Typewriters".


Behold, the "Tiger Without A Roar"!






The Noiseless Portable, manufactured by the Noiseless Typewriter Company, is a marvel of engineering. I have been wanting one for quite some time, and finally was able to get this one. It has a broken drawband and a few other small issues that I will need to contend with, alongside getting it cleaned up, but once all is said and done. I can already be guaranteed of a good ol' typing time, no matter the time of day or night.

Stay tuned for a post detailing every last little bit of this unique portable.