I have a lovely example of a Noiseless Portable, which came to me from the estate of Australian collector Emeric Somlo nine years ago. This little three-bank machine was made in 1924 by the Noiseless Typewriter Company, shortly before it was absorbed by Remington. Remington adapted some of the mechanisms of this typewriter to create its own four-bank noiseless portable, which was successful in various models throughout the 1930s and into the 1950s.
The Noiseless Portable is a small device ...
... which gets even smaller when you fold its spacebar and carriage return lever, and flip the paper support down to make it a carriage lock.
It's all set to fit into a neat little case—but I've never had one.
So I got the idea to try to find a new case which would fit the Noiseless's dimensions.
On eBay and Amazon you can find hundreds of Chinese-made carrying cases for various kinds of tools and devices. They have black side panels and aluminum edge strips. They aren't generally of top quality, but they look good enough and they can protect your typewriter. They also often come with foam inside, which can be cut or picked apart to make a cozy space for your machine.
It took me a lot of searching before I found a case that was just big enough: 12 x 10 x 6 inches. This was a case that had been used to protect some unknown items.
When it arrived, I cut the foam into a shape that would hold the base of the typewriter snugly. I also lined the larger part of the case with felt, cut from a big old typewriter pad that had been sitting uselessly in my basement. This thick felt would interfere with the carriage, so I covered the parts of the case that had to fit around the carriage with some self-adhesive thin felt.
From a touched-up photo of the logo on this typewriter, Sticker Mule made 10 die-cut stickers for a bargain introductory price.
I stuck two of these stickers onto self-adhesive felt, which then provided good adhesion to the textured surfaces of the two largest sides of the case. Now it's perfect!
I couldn't resist also improving my laptop ...
... and my phone.
Would you like to do the same? Feel free to click on this image and download a nice, high-resolution version of the Noiseless logo for your own use.
So now I'm ready to go out into the world with my Noiseless in its neat little case and type up a storm, right?
No. My mainspring has a problem I need to solve first. The little protrusion inside the housing which catches the end of the spring has broken off, so the spring spins around without gathering enough tension.
However, I did manage to get a typing sample, and I'm looking forward to solving this problem before long so that I can put this soft-spoken gang of characters to work:
Nice solution! Good luck repairing the main spring. It's a pity it's broken, but this possibly prevented this typewriter from being used a lot more.
ReplyDeleteSnug as a bug in a rug! :D
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent up-use of an abandoned travel case for a large diaphragm condenser microphone and suspension shockmount!
ReplyDeleteSo that's what it was! Thanks.
DeleteRichard, I got mine from a lady in Canberra who said that her husband bought it new in 1924, I was lucky to find it with its case and full decal on the front. I cherish my machine and hope to use it shortly after it has been sitting there on my desk. I wonder how it will go?
ReplyDeleteWow!!
DeleteA nice job on making a case for it and I forgot to add, my Noiseless cost me $120 plus postage of $20 at that time.
ReplyDeleteA nice deal.
Deletediscovered the ebay/amazon cases last week. many come with the foam cut into little squares and all one needs to do is trim square by square until the perfect fit for your plastic hermes 3000. there are also leather & leather-like messenger bags big enough for a lettera 35 or galaxie deluxe if one want to lug one of those machines to the street corner and demand money. the prices for these things? mind-blowing in this world of soaring inflation. them chinese folk sure like to sweat i guess.
ReplyDeleteGreat job !!!
ReplyDelete