The Impex typewriter, A Bread Factory, and the end of a shop

Monkey at a Typewriter         A Bread Factory

Meet Frank and Larry

For appropriate musical accompaniment to this post, play this video while reading.

Sholes Visible: details, details

When you're restoring a typewriter it seems that there's always another little detail to be fixed. Every detail is both a frustrating delay in getting the typewriter ready and (potentially) a satisfying little experience in problem solving. Here are five examples.

(1) The Sholes Visible had no ribbon or ribbon spools when I got it, and it won't take any standard typewriter ribbon spool. It needs spools with relatively small diameters but large central holes. I took a ribbon spool cup and shaft from the typewriter down to Spitzfaden's Office Supply on Cincinnati's Typewriter Row with high hopes, but one spool after another failed to fit. Finally, in the last remaining drawer, I found the #64 spools, for Monroe 200 series adding machines. They're funny looking, with the square hole, but they fit!

Here are two spools. They came with red and black ribbons, but since the Sholes Visible doesn't have bicolor ribbon capability, I've put a black ribbon on them. That ribbon was new old stock, but dried out, so I rejuvenated it with WD-40 (almost the only acceptable use of WD-40 on a typewriter ... read on).



(2) Another problem was that the rubber had long ago crumbled off the feed rollers on this typewriter. I thought I found a solution at my local auto parts store:



But no, that hose was too thick, so the feed rollers wouldn't fit properly on the typewriter. Next, I looked around my local Ace Hardware store and found some latex tubing that you can buy by the foot.



This tubing is just barely stretchy enough to fit over the feed rollers. (Lubing up the feed rollers is the second legitimate use for WD-40.)



Note from 2020: I just looked at these feed rollers and see that the latex is coming apart. I can't recommend it as a long-term solution.

(3) I keep a large collection of photos of typewriters that I've seen on the Internet over the years, and sometimes they're helpful references. For instance, in a photo of the underside of another Sholes Visible I noticed a spring that was missing on mine. This spring works very simply, but is essential to the shift lock. For several years I'd had an appropriately strong spring lying around, but it was about twice as long as it should be, so I used my Dremel tool to cut it in half and I put it in place.



(4) I inferred the need for another spring by the presence of two little holes on the platen advance mechanism. (If there's a hole somewhere in a typewriter, there's probably a reason for that hole, and if it's a tiny hole, there's a good chance that a spring belongs there.) Sure enough, in some of my reference photos I could barely see a spring in that position. I turned to an Olympia SM3 parts machine and harvested a spring that fit (the one on the left in the photo below). Now the mechanism works very smoothly with this bit of added assistance.



(5) Finally today I'll mention the most daunting detail I've faced on this typewriter so far. The platen slides up and down in the carriage when you shift: the vertical rectangle you see in the photo above is an end of the frame that holds the platen, and that frame is supposed to slide up and down in two slots such as the one marked with an arrow in the photo below. (You can also easily remove the platen by moving a couple of hooks aside and lifting it out.) But the platen wasn't sliding smoothly, and it was particularly resistant to going all the way down in the slot. This was going to make proper shifting impossible.

I tried every non-invasive measure I could think of, with no result. Then I tried bending the platen frame, using clamps, so that it would take up a little less room. That sounds insane, I know, but you might be surprised at how many typewriter repairs officially involve “forming” some part into the right shape. Well, it didn't work and it clearly wasn't a good idea in this case. I was able to bend the platen frame back into shape by using toothbrushes as levers. (You'll have to make up your own picture for that one!)

I tried to think as logically as I could, and concluded that the remaining possibility was to make more room for the platen frame by grinding away some of the cast iron of the slot.


Why would such a drastic measure be needed? I'm not sure in this case, but metals can sometimes expand over the years, and I'm guessing that's what happened here.

I put the grinder attachment on the Dremel as shown above, and as carefully as possible, ground away at the left and right slots. Through trial and error, I finally found exactly where the platen frame was sticking. And when I finished grinding, the platen slid up and down in those slots as smoothly as you could wish. What a relief!

These little Mr. Fix-It moments give me pleasure. As you can see, I am making up lots of this stuff as I go along. I hope my experiences will help me, and maybe you, solve similar problems in the future. I'll also add that I was not born with mechanical aptitude. But I've learned that many mechanical problems, at least on typewriters, can be solved with a little courage, close observation, patience, reasoning, and yes, a touch of luck.

Cincinnati's Typewriter Row

Update: Are you looking for a place to buy a classic typewriter in Cincinnati? Check out Urban Legend Typewriters. I personally refurbish all the typewriters for sale there, and also offer typewriter repair services. All sales and service benefit the nonprofit WordPlay Cincy. Questions? Email me at polt@xavier.edu. —Richard Polt

The Algin Office Equipment Company -- formerly known as Elgin, but some upstart Elgin Corporation sued them and forced the change a few years ago -- boasts six stories of new and used officeana, mostly furniture. They've given me a tour by freight elevator.

 In the old days, a whole wall used to be filled with typewriters, and the third floor of the building was devoted to typewriter service. I recently (2018) was sent these old photos of Elgin by a friend.

 

A Corona #3 sits quietly in Algin's window display, a reminder of former times, watching the traffic go by.

Here's the Ohio Book Store, a wonderland. In addition to the four stories you can see here, there's a basement where they do bookbinding.

Click this photo to zoom in on their storefront:

Polinsky's is another office furniture store that used to sell typewriters. Online information says they're still located at 210 E. 9th, around the corner from Main Street, but if so, they're well hidden except for this old sign in an alley. (Main Street is full of faded signs painted on brick walls.)

I half expected to find a typewriter amidst this alley junk. No -- only an old catalogue of neckties.

The Player Piano Shop: how many cities can boast one of these?

The Waltz sign is a reminder of a business that has now moved to the suburbs. Since the late 19th century, the company has been a major office machine dealer and repair center. 

Founder F.C. Waltz is responsible for one of the very few typewriter inventions that have come from Cincinnati: a "triple typewriter" combining three Smith Premiers, used for typing multiple copies of tags used in the shoemaking industry.

The Hathaway Stamp Company has been here since 1901. They make rubber stamps and labeling devices. Behind them is Spitzfaden's Office Supplies, a newcomer (since 1956).

On the south side of Spitzfaden's are the former Bay Horse Cafe ("cafe" in Cincinnati means bar) and the Orient, a little Chinese-plus restaurant that serves a mean pad thai.

Would you like to go into Spitzfaden's?

OK, then.

Paperless office, shmaperless office...

Payroll Tablets, Employee's Attendance Record, Purchase Requisition, Treasurer's Warrant, Bill of Sale ... we don't need no stinkin' apps, we've got forms.

You are now approaching the typewriter and adding machine ribbon corner ...

The mysterious drawers ...

... open to reveal their treasure.

Read more about Spitzfaden's in this post by Robert Messenger and this one (including a history of the company).

Ode to Spitzfaden's