Monday, July 25, 2016

Holy Rust-oli: The Emerson From Idaho Falls

In what is thus far the oddest way I came to actually possess a typewriter, I had purchased this Emerson off of ebay (it had been listed as being in Oregon) only to have a message come saying that, lo and behold, the seller was actually based out of my own town. Drove 3 minutes down to grab it, 3 minutes back, and wala. Here she is, in completely abysmal shape.

This little peice of awesomeness, according to the seller, was dredged up out of an old industrial building in Idaho Falls, a city that back in the day dealt mainly with agriculture and assorted heavy industries. It makes sense that an early 1900's Idaho industrial business owner would choose the cheaper Emerson over a full priced Underwood or Remington. The nature of the office and related work was not quite so prevalent out here.

Because it was first used in Idaho, it is thus to me a naturally adopted Idaho typewriter. Which means I'll be doing everything within my power to make it shine and type once again.

However, it seems like when it comes to machines I want, I can only get them in a dilapidated state. Oh well, I've ample supply of steel wool on hand ready to do its best.

The carriage was frozen to the rail with so much rust that I found it easier to take the rails off (taking the carriage along with them, of course). Its missing its left side typebar cup, the back left of the machine is pure rust (It must have been partially submerged in water or something)


Dont be fooled; the paint in many spots is peeling and flaking off, and rust hides behind everything.


Not sure what I'm going to do about that left side cup. Maybe I'll make one out of hopes and dreams.


Ok, I hadnt realized, but this puppy uses a  BASKET SHIFT. Thats right. Freakin' ingeniously well done as well. Or so I imagine. This machine cannot shift with so much rust.


I'll forever be curious as to what happened to that left side. Rust, Rust, Rust.


In the shadow of its own profile, it doesnt look so bad. But...


Think again. Rust.


Back rail and thus also carriage off. The actual escapement was rocking properly, so theres that.


First prize to the person who can tell me what this serial number is!


Ok, so I'm rarely actually disgusted with anything I find or deal with on typewriters. But this... this takes the cake. The poor spring drum never stood a chance.


And after around 2 and a half hours of trying to work out how they built the bloody thing, here is where it is at.



I will be doing Complete and Ultimate restoration on this machine, which means new paint, new decals, new pinstriping, possibly even new nickel plating if I can find a local place, new platen and feed rollers, EVERYTHING. I want an Emerson I can use.

As a final note, I would like to say that this machine was well designed, with a lot of interestingly cool features. Someone somewhere compared it to a Hammond for some reason, and to them I say "no". A kink in the typebar vertical rod where the linkage attaches is how the typebar swings. Very unique, nothing else like it. 

If you have any questions about the workings of an Emerson, let me know. I'll do my best to answer with my new-found knowledge.


Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The Williams Typewriter: Advertisments

BEHOLD! The mighty cache of advertisements that have been found during a recent dive into the Internets dark, shadowy depths.

My word, they're bland.






















Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Here one minute, gone the next: Deconstructing a Hammond Multiplex


It's not commonly known that Hammond offered the choice of either a wooden case, or a more expensive and artistically designed case.


Carefully taken out of its intricately designed case, the Hammond shows off next to a Corona Sterling that was on my workbench. Its one of those instances where, based on pictures, you think they're way bigger than they actually are.




This machine arrived with the express purpose of being torn asunder and cleaned, so I dug in immediately. First, I took the front cover off.


Then I pulled the anvil out, and took of the nearby hardware.


Next, I took the top of the front lever guide off. Once its off, the keys pull right out. Quite an outstanding design feature really.


Here's a look at the underside. 


Now, we carefully.... oh. Never mind.


Here one minute, gone the next: Deconstructing a Hammond Multiplex


It's not commonly known that Hammond offered the choice of either a wooden case, or a more expensive and artistically designed case.


Carefully taken out of its intricately designed case, the Hammond shows off next to a Corona Sterling that was on my workbench. Its one of those instances where, based on pictures, you think they're way bigger than they actually are.




This machine arrived with the express purpose of being torn asunder and cleaned, so I dug in immediately. First, I took the front cover off.


Then I pulled the anvil out, and took of the nearby hardware.


Next, I took the top of the front lever guide off. Once its off, the keys pull right out. Quite an outstanding design feature really.


Here's a look at the underside. 


Now, we carefully.... oh. Never mind.


Thursday, July 7, 2016

How To Properly Tune A Blickensderfer Typewriter


I was experimenting with the creation of Hammond impression strips when I decided that I would go ahead and take another look at my Blickensderfer 9, which was still buggier than hell to type with. 

I ended up getting it working. Woah.

Let me share with you thus my newly acquired wisdom (I made another video filled with pauses and unscripted errors since I decided to make it on a whim. This blog post will detail the videos contents in a more coherent way) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-XNgg3wnyU


And here we go.

1) get the arm activators notched properly.

First, a picture of the front of the machine minus the front plate. You can see the right side activator arm most predominately. Note that the screw shown in the next picture is the one you use to raise or lower the frontal selection tab, which also adjusts where the typewheel activator arms settle, and you will need to make sure that they fall into their proper notch on the body's activator arms.


This screw with the nut is the one I just mentioned. Adjust it until the arm activators fall into their notches and dont lock up when you hit V or B.


2) Get the activator activation screws set properly

Youll see to the right of the ink roller the push-plate that hits the activator arms, and causes the left side ratchet to start moving at some point after you've hit a key on the right side, or vice versa. This timing is instrumental in the operation of a Blickensderfer.

These screws need to be adjusted so that when the actiavtors are at rest, they are at the relatively the same position. You will need to tighten or loosen these screws slowly, testing as you go, to see whether or not the stopping tab shown below hits the proper spot at the proper time on both sides, testing P and Q for the upper limit, and V and B for the lower limit. If these are not tuned right, you will often print the incorrect character.

As mentioned, they are the cause of the timing difference between the sides. Each key has two levers which it hits on the way down; One that turns the typewheel, and the other that activates the universal bar and the other sides ratchet arm (thus stopping the rotation of the typewheel and locking it in its print position for that moment).



Here you can see the stopping tab. It has hit the gear like section below the typewheel at its furthest point, allowing it to print Q. This will be instrumental in tuning the typewriter, and you will need to pay attention to whether it smoothly goes to its proper spot, or stops before even hitting the gear. If that occurs, you need to loosen one of the screws mentioned prior, because what is happening is that the other sides ratchet is being activated too early. If the stopping tab hits so early that its in the wrong spot, the reverse must be done. Its a careful balancing act all around.



In theory, its quite simple to tune one of these. In practice, you will need patience and a steady hand to get the screws aligned just right. But once you do, you will have a working Blickensderfer typewriter once again.