Typewriter review: MapleField

The MapleField typewriter did not disappoint!

I expected it to be junk, and it is.

This machine was made by Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company, the last remaining manufacturer of manual typewriters. The MapleField continues the tradition of low quality established by the Royal Epoch, We R Memory Keepers (here's a video review by Just My Typewriter), Royal Classic, and other typewriters that are essentially the same apart from their names and styling.

Given my experience with Chinese typewriters, why did I buy this one? Well, it was a Buy It Now on eBay for just over $20, and it was in Cincinnati. How could I resist this opportunity for research?

The Royal Classic had a metal shell; the MapleField uses lightweight plastic. 

At least they figured out that plastic type slugs on the Classic weren't a great idea (who knew?). The slugs on the MapleField are metal.

The platen knobs screw in and out of the platen. The platen itself is surprisingly heavy, and the "rubber" seems to be hard plastic. This thing feels like a policeman's truncheon in my hands.

The ribbon cover design looks pretty good, until you type. Then you realize that it obscures the typing. Just plain dumb.

Here's a view from below.

The escapement operates well. Note how the larger gear connects to a mechanism hidden in the white plastic housing. That mechanism is a tabulator brake, which works very well: when you hit TAB, the carriage moves in a civilized way toward the left.

Unfortunately, the tab brake is constantly engaged, which means that the carriage return feels stiff.

Here's how the tab set and clear mechanism functions.

That video was taken after I corrected the misalignment of the tab stops and the set/clear mechanism. The mechanism was operating between stops, so it was completely ineffective.

Two keys weren't working, because the links between them and the typebars were missing.

With a little struggle, I managed to replace the links with paper clips.

That may sound silly, but paper clips are actually great for this purpose. They're easy to cut and bend into the necessary shapes, but they're very strong when they're in place (just imagine trying to break a paper clip by pulling on its ends—you can't).

The motion (alignment of upper- and lowercase) was terrible.

I adjusted the motion and got the MapleField to the point where it could type respectably. I like that "3":

But I soon found that the motion was out of alignment again. Why?? Because the entire type basket was too loose. 

The ball bearings on which the type basket rides up and down are not snug in their housings. The left housing has more "goo" (some sort of glue?) than the right. Is that the problem?

As I fiddled with the mechanism, trying to make it tighter, a bearing fell out.

Soon the other bearing fell out as well. There was no way to get them back in and keep them in place. And that was the end of the MapleField. 

As I've said before, these China-made designs are not intrinsically terrible. If they were made with good materials and quality control, they would be all right. Manufacturing and assembling this typewriter takes a significant amount of equipment and manual labor. Why not do it right?

But as it is, the slipshod assembly is a downright insult to the consumer, and everything is made of low-grade material. Most of the metal pieces on the MapleField can be bent easily with your fingers.

At least I was able to harvest some potentially useful pieces: the keys, mainspring, small springs, and feet. The box, with its form-fitting styrofoam, should also be useful.

I also created a PDF of the user's manual, which is now on my website.

Sadly, these terrible typewriters are selling well at over $200 apiece. Amazon says that the blue version alone sold over 50 units in the past month. I take this as a sign of growing interest in typewriters. But many buyers will be so frustrated by the MapleField that they will judge all typewriters by this one, and decide that their momentary interest was nothing more than a foolish whim.

According to a label on the box of the MapleField I bought, it was returned to Amazon by a buyer in New York City. How it got to Cincinnati, I don't know. In any case, it is now right where it belongs.

It's almost here.

 

Typewriters, quilts, and the world's first typing manual: A Cincinnati story

Last summer, I sold my Royal KHM to Cincinnati writer Katherine Durack, who wanted to use it to type some of her research on Margaret Longley. Longley opened a typing school in Cincinnati, developed an eight-finger method, and published the world's first typing manual, Type-Writer Lessons for the Use of Teachers and Learners Adapted to Remington’s Perfected Type-Writers (Cincinnati: Phonographic Institute, 1882). She and her husband Elias were deeply involved in shorthand or "phonography," spelling reform, and suffragism. You can read more about them on Robert Messenger's blog. 

Katherine Durack recently asked whether I had a portable available, and in fact I had just received a donation of these two machines. I recommended the Royal Quiet De Luxe as a little sibling to her KHM.

Today I brought the QDL to Durack's downtown Cincinnati apartment, where I got to see her research in progress—all electronics-free. She works with pencil and paper, index cards, and typewriter. 

She also is an expert seamstress and quilter. Check out the cover that she made for the KHM:

Here is one of several beautiful quilts that Durack has created in connection with her research on the Longleys. It incorporates quotations from Margaret Longley's 1882 book, and arranges some of the sentences used in Longley's typing exercises to create a feminist message. The piano keyboard reflects Longley's argument that young women, who often took piano lessons, could adapt their dexterity to the keyboard of the Type-Writer. I recommend clicking on this photo to get a larger version, so that you can read some of the text.

I look forward to more of Katherine Durack's artistic and scholarly creations!

New Yost renewed

Here's yesterday's find after I cleaned it, lubed it, touched up the paint, installed a new drawband (Kevlar kite string—very tough, but installing it on this typewriter is tricky), and polished. It is missing the wheel that runs along the front carriage rail. Anybody have a Yost parts machine??

All Hallows' Day safari

What's at the crowded antique mall today?

A Smith-Corona Cougar Deluxe for $32.95:

A dirty Underwood no. 5 reduced to $125:

A clean Underwood no. 6 (?) reduced to $349:

A Royal KMM for $39:

And another Royal KMM for $29.99:

And yet another KMM for $29:

And yet another ... wait, what??

Reader, I bought it.